Beauty Problems Solved

Perfecting an enviable face of makeup can often be a tricky task, fraught with everyday little hiccups that we just can’t seem to master. So in a bid to make the daily makeup routine that little bit simpler here are six expert solutions to the most common beauty problems…

Concealer and Eye-shadow Creasing

Eyeshadow Primer Potion | £16 | Urban Decay

Creasing is recognised as the biggest struggle of applying makeup. If it’s not the lines of concealer that sit underneath your eyes, then it’s the creasing of the eye shadow upon your lids. The best way to banish creasing is by using an eye primer that will allow makeup to sit on the surface of your skin instead of sinking into the skin and producing the oils that create these dreaded lines. Urban Decay sell an incredible primer potion available in three different shades. Another anti-crease trick is to look upwards after applying your concealer, and setting it with powder.

Mascara Smudging

Another soul-destroying beauty mishap is when your mascara smudges just seconds after you’ve perfected your eyeliner and eye shadow. Our instant reaction is usually to wipe off the mascara, but this in fact makes matters worse by smudging the mascara further. A handy trick here is to continue with the rest of your makeup, let the smudged mascara dry up and then once it’s dried, wipe it off gently with a cotton bud. Alas the dried mascara will flake off without taking the rest of your makeup off with it!

Harsh Eyeliner

Precision Ink Eyeliner | £20.50 | Illamasqua

Too much eyeliner can drown your eye of colour, but also look harsh and unflattering, taking away from your features. Leave the heavy liner to the rock stars and instead use a little black eyeliner in the outer corners of your waterline and some natural-coloured liner on the rest of your waterline. This allows you to maintain a minimalist, classy look, while accentuating the outer corners of your eyes, allowing your eyes to appear larger and doll-like.

Liquid Liner & Lid Wrinkles

Even the beautiful Blake Lively suffers from hooded lids

Everyone’s eye shape is different, so creating a cat-eye liner flick on a large eye may be a breeze, but working with a hooded lid or an eyelid with a few wrinkles can prove difficult when aiming to create a straight flicked line. A great tip for creating an eyeliner flick with wrinkled lids is to look upwards instead of down when applying the liner, so that your lid lines are evident. Then, gently trace an estimate cat eye line over the wrinkles so that, when closing your eyes again, you have an idea of where to draw your cat eye flick. Now close your eyes, paint on your cat eye flicks and you will see that, when opening your eyes, your eye flicks are in place and not distorted from any eye wrinkles.

Lipstick Bleeding

Moisture Renew Lip Liner | £3.99 | Rimmel London

Lip stick bleeding is another common issue with makeup; especially when enjoying a night out and realising that your favourite tipple has smudged your perfect pout. To prevent this from happening, purchase a clear lip liner that serves as a primer to fill in your lips and prevent any smudging or bleeding like Rimmel’s Moisture Renew Lip Liner. Also ensure to moisturise your lips and highlight above your top lip and below your bottom lip to clean up any lipstick and create more dimension. Once finished  always remember to blot your lips with a piece of tissue.

Heavy Contour

Honey Bronze Highlighting Dome | £8 | The Body Shop

If you’re finding that contouring your cheeks looks heavy, to prevent that line of harsh contour use just a few dabs of bronzer instead, starting from your lower cheek bone and continuing subtly to the top. It is assumed that to create the ultimate defined cheek bones we should only contour the bottom and not the upper but if we use a little bronzer on these areas too it creates more of an even, natural finish. Complete this look with a speck of highlighter above the cheek bones.