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Is there one beauty-related skill you'd love to master but still can't get the hang of?


Is there one beauty-related skill you’d love to master but still can’t get the hang of? Share!

False eyelashes! I’ve tried SOOO many tips and tricks, but I know the only way I’ll ever master it is if I really commit to and practice applying them. Well, that’s the hope.

Thanks to Kristin for today’s questions! Do you have a question idea? Submit yours here.

73 Comments

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Cindi Avatar

Eyebrows! Mine are sparse and blonde, and whenever I try to help them out a little I look like a mugged myself with a magic marker. I just can’t get it.

Nancy T Avatar

I know the pain, LoL! I have that same issue with false eyelashes, except that that when my daughter worked at Sephora, I got nudged into buying some, and I have NEVER even worked up the nerve to at least try again! Terrible, huh?
Another one for me is putting my nail polish on without my left hand shaking and making a mess? Never fails to give my right hand a “6 year old did my nails” look! Yet, I am able to apply mascara lefty, go figure!

CassDavis Avatar

~ Exactly, Christine! I had to wear them when I was selling them, oh-so-many years ago. They fell out of fashion, I haven’t worn them since. Well, now I need to wear them and just can’t seem to get the hang of it again! Like you said, Christine, practice makes perfect, eh?

Katherine T. Avatar

Well, I have 3 …the cat eye, false eyelashes, and skilled contouring. Between work, the kid, and always rushing around in the morning, I don’t have the time or patience, but it’s on my wish list to master those skills.

Nabeela Avatar

I once watched a video of Becky G applying eyeliner and she said something to the effect of “We don’t want them to be twins, we want them to be sisters” and since then I haven’t been so hard on myself to get perfectly even flicks/lines, and you shouldn’t either! 🙂

Áine Avatar

Same! Full strip false eyelashes are just so hard. I feel like part of the issue is that when my eyes are closed, my lashline is quite straight and flat rather than curved around my eyeball, if that makes sense–applying a pair of lashes with a curved lashband feels like trying to push a triangle through a circular hole. I don’t have trouble with individuals at least.

Lisa Avatar

I would have to agree with false lashes. I bought a few pairs with good intentions to wear them for date night, but it just never happens. Also filling in my brows. I never feel confident or really happy with the end result. But I get by!

Paz Avatar

EYELINER. I feel actual pain when I try to line my upper water line, I wonder if it’s because I’ve had laser surgery on my eyes. And winged eyeliner shouldn’t take like half an hour to do semi decently #justhoodedeyesthings

Rachel Avatar

I don’t think I’ll ever get the hang of applying eyeliner to my upper lash line. I’ve used pencil, gel, and liquid and it always looks terrible. I also have hooded eyes so I feel like you can’t see my eyeshadow when I use eyeliner. I guess it’s not meant to be.

Cat Avatar

I also have hooded eyes and have trouble with pencils, gels, and liquids. However, I discovered that a cake liner applied along the lash line with a small, firm, flat, thin brush is perfect. It adds a lot of definition and creates the illusion of much fuller lashes.

Dani Avatar

Haha me too!! For me I think it’s not just lack of practice but my eyelids are kind of thick and my eyelashes grow in different layers already…so I just couldn’t place an extra layer of lashes on top of all those…don’t know if I am making sense here, but I have given it up and always envy those who can rock a pair of false lashes!

Pearl Avatar

Cheek color – I get blush and highlighter but I don’t really know how to apply contour and bronzer or what shades of each, really. I don’t see any real impact with my face and maybe it’s because I’m not applying it correctly? I have Kevyn Aucoin’s Medium powder for contouring and a few others, and I have bronzers but I don’t understand the placement or how it’s supposed to work. When I do use them, I think I apply too little because I don’t want to look stripey or overdone.

Heather Avatar

Concealer (for acne, etc–I’m good at undereyes). Even when I carefully follow a step-by-step it takes forever and ends up too powdered/cakey or too slippery and wears off quick. I’d like to be able to wear concealer + tinted moisturizer, but for the time being I guess I’ll just stick with full-coverage foundation and call it a day. 🙁

Kat Avatar

I second falsies. I can get the right eye perfectly, but I always totally screw up the left eye and spend a week picking glue out of my eyelashes! I’ve never actually gotten the left eye ON. I feel the need to wear them on a day to day basis, but it’d be nice to have the option for special occasions.

Olivia Avatar

Eyeshadow! I can’t apply eyeshadow for the life of me! Unless I do just one shade. But the whole “outer V and blend blend blend” thing is just impossible for me. Now I usually just use cream shadows. One swipe all over my lid! I’ve accepted defeat.

xamyx Avatar

Gel liner; I can get a nice, simple line, but when I try to wing it, the result is just a big, globby mess… I recently bought Inglot Duraline, and if I use a “regular” liner brush, I can get decent to good results, but I still find liquid to be much quicker & easier. It took years of practice to get it down, but a winged eye with liquid liner really is second nature now (it’s something I’ve been doing for 25+ years!).

Abby Avatar

I have a similar problem with fake lashes, but Ardell Lashes just launched Press On Lashes that come pre mounted on a flexible plastic applicator. They are self adhesive so you don’t event have to put glue on them. They are so easy to use!

Kristin Avatar

Yes!!! False lashes are impossible for me too! I usually end up gluing them to my lids, or else apply them crooked and have the corners lift up. And I *love* the look of full lashes :/

Zoe Avatar

Waterline anything. It’s not comfortable and doesn’t look good on me. Part of me is convinced a professional can make it work, but sometimes things aren’t meant to be.

Also I have hooded eyes, so cat eyes are a struggle.

Elisa Avatar

Contouring for sure! I can never find the right products so I don’t look too muddy, or aren’t shimmery, etc, and then I can’t get the hang of actually making it appropriate for everyday.

Cory Avatar

Omg yes, Christine! & they’re sooooo in too! I can do accent lashes ok I guess cuz they only go on the outer part, but full-on falsies, uhn-uhn. Guess I need to practice.
& cut-crease. I’ve nvr even tried to do it on myself

Kimberly Avatar

I would love to master completely covering my dark undereye circles and expertly blending out my eyeshadow! If it had to be only one though, completely covering my dark circles! I have tried numerous highend and drugstore quality correctors and concealers, but they still peek through a bit! I’ve just learned to do the best that I can and go on! As far as eyeshadow blending, I’m sure a very good quality brush and practicing would work, so I need to jump on that!

trudi Avatar

Dramatic eyes- smoky or glittery eye shadow, winged liner and applying falsies- I love how it looks but am still at the duo shadow neutral stage. I actually plan to treat myself to a makeup tutorial with an artist to learn this technique this Christmas…

lynn Avatar

Smokey eye and would like to know the proper way to contour..(and if we are making list.. sorry think you said one but eyebrows.. I am used to the “thinner look” which I like but the fuller look is in so I guess how to wax/pluck just enough to get the “in” look)

Tova J Avatar

It’s false lashes for me too! But I think so far, Eylure’s have been the easiest to apply. The band on theirs are curved. I also think eyeshadow shapes are tricky. (My easy way out is wearing winged liner, it makes almost all looks more cohesive!)

Cat Avatar

I was just trying to apply false lashes (again) one evening last week. I can’t seem to figure out how to best hold onto the lashes in order to apply them. I end up poking myself in the eye or attaching the falsies everywhere except where they should be! Two coats of mascara on curled lashes looks good enough for me to give up on falsies… for now.

I would like a quicker brow technique. I just don’t enjoy doing my brows but, at my age, I have to or it looks really odd after I’ve applied the rest of my makeup. I always joke that I’m going to have them tattooed on so that, by the time I’m eighty and gravity has pulled everything down, I’ll have permanent eyeshadow! 😉

Anne Avatar

I’ve never even tried false lashes because the idea of glue + eyelids squicks me but I wouldn’t mind if I could get over that and be good at it to wear some of the crazy new ones with feathers and lace and such, or just more oomph-y ones for evenings out.

Jane Avatar

Dealing with hooded eyes in general, but most of all, creating a natural-looking cut crease.

An amazing makeup artist did one on my eyes and all it took was a few master strokes of the brush and it looked amazing! Plus you could barely tell I had eyeshadow on.

Can I replicate it? No. ARGH!

Natalia Avatar

Gel eyeliner. Eyeliner is the most important part of my eye makeup, but I cannot seem to make it smooth and even, it’s always a struggle.

Eyebrows. All I do is just brush them with MAC Beguille eyebrow set and that’s it. Would never be able to draw a perfect pair of eyebrows 🙂

Using more than two shades for my eye makeup. Just cannot grasp the concept, they just end up mixing to the point that they all look like one shade 🙂

Karen Avatar

Lol I was about to say contouring then I read Christine’s answer. Yes false eyelashes and eyebrows. The brows because I have pretty full brows but occasionally get gaps which can be more difficult to mask than when your brows are less full.

Fabby Avatar

At first it was eyebrows but I managed to use a light hand and blend well.. problem solved… But now I feel like my foundation is not the best.. See.. I have acne marks and pores .. Not so great but I have seen other people who have horrible acne and their makeup looks great.. Im not sure what I am doing wrong..

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