What makeup aesthetic do you love on others but doesn't seem to work for you?
Barely-there makeup–like almost no makeup makeup, and dewy skin–I love luminous skin on others but never like how it looks in my photographs, LOL.
— Christine
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Glitter lip top coat or lip strobe! Especially the light gold or very pale shades—they wash me out!
Very elaborate eye looks like cut creases and dark smokey eyes. I feel like they totally overwhelm my face and I tend not to go very deep with eyeshadows. I have no problem with palettes that do not have a black or super deep black brown shadows.
Possibly the “nude lip” – it can look okay on others (still not my preferred look) but on me – “death warmed up”.
A few things: My eyes are too hooded and downturned, and my eyelids are too narrow for cat-eyeliner. I can’t use color under my bottom lash line because my eyes are so teary it washes away at the outer corners leaving a gap where it should connect with the rest of my eyeshadow. Speaking of my bottom lashes, they are so sparse I can’t wear mascara on them or it will look like a lash here and a lash there and blank space in between. I also wish I could go without foundation, but my skin is too uneven.
Anything with lots of glitter or too obvious highlighter. I’m at an age where very matte makeup highlights lines and pores and makes me look older. I also don’t wear blue or black lips. Makeup needs to be pretty.
I LOVE the dewy look, but don’t know how to pull it off without looking oily! 🙁
I agree! I also love the “no makeup makeup” look, but not on me. I have a lot of hyperpigmentation and my skin is really oily, so I need a decent base and a lot of powder. My hair is also light enough and my brows thin enough that leaving my brows/eyelashes without product just washes me out and gives no structure to my face. Jealous of those with naturally clear skin and thick dark hair. I feel like my makeup routine would be a lot different if I didn’t require a heavy base and tinted brow/eye products to give my face some definition.
I feel you on this! I have very light and sparse brows and eyelashes that are light as well, despite having very dark brown hair. So even when I do a natural look, I still need to fill quite a bit so I don’t look dead and bleh!
Highlighters. They just don´t work for me and my oily skin.
Eye shadow looks! One of my eyes is more hooded and eats lid color within 20 minutes (even with primer, etc) while the other eye keeps more lid color longer so I pretty much leave my lids bare and stick to subtle crease and browbone shades.
I also really admire others’ eyebrow styles, I can’t pull off anything thicker than what I’ve got without feeling it looks really strange.
Holographic hightlight colors – would love to pull off the lavender/cool pinks but my skin tone clashes with anything blue based
The unusual lip colors. I’ve bought several greys, blues, and greens but they’ve never looked good or cool enough for me?
This! I only have one “out there” lip color and that is the discontinued version of Kat Von D’s Poe Studded Lipstick. I bought it mostly because 1. I knew the line was about to be reformulated and 2. I had heard really great things about this one particular shade! I have yet to bring myself to wear it because I’m scared to see how that color will look on my very very very fair skin.
Gray-black smoky eye. I love it on others. How could I not, I came of age in the 00s. Sarah Cheung actually just did an old school Kim K look on youtube that was so cute and retro that I did it myself yesterday. But I hate the way it looks with my eye shape and the whole look reminds me of guyliner on myself? I know that’s weird, but I legit feel like I look like Jack Sparrow or Green Day. And I never think that when I see gray scale smoky eye on others (unless they ARE Jack Sparrow or Green Day).
Cat eyeliner, and grayish mauvish lavender lips
The vampy bold eye and and lip – I think it looks chic (when done well) and I’ve done it, but I just don’t feel comfortable with my makeup looks being that bold.
The true barely there makeup and super glossy highlight. Maybe it has something to do with me being very fair but the super minimal makeup and very glossy skin seem to make my pale skin look sickly
For me this would be colourful eyeshadow! I only like neutral colours on myself. Or maybe I’m only able to create decent looks with “traditional” eyeshadow colours.
Metallic eyeshadows — on my ageing eyelids it just doesn’t flatter though can be so lovely and rich on others
Stronger highlighters — I use a very subtle one but anything more does not look good
Red- and violet/pink-leaning eyeshadows — I just look like I have been crying.
I’m also impressed by top-lid eyelining and tightlining, but I cannot see those techniques working for me in the first place because of my eye and face features.
Anything with a dark or dramatic eye look. My eyes are deep set and heavy lidded and dark eye looks are just way too much. I love it other people but it makes me look like a crazy person.
1) Cool-toned eye and lip products– my skin is so yellow-based even a true neutral can look very cool on me.
2) A LOT of eyeshadow and intricate looks–I have almond-shaped eyes without much lid space and it all gets lost. My face shape is quite similar to Chrissy Teigen’s and a heavy eye look makes everything look sunken with my giant cheeks! I pine to be able to achieve a cool, grungy eye look..
I can’t wear a cat eye or dewy skin or a lot of purple eyeshadow. My eyes are too small for the first and my pores and lines are too pronounced for the second and I look like I have been hit in the face for the third (although I can wear a little bit of purple if I place it carefully.). I don’t like blue or green lips on anyone so it doesn’t bother me that I cannot pull those off.
I cannot do bright (or really, any color) lips. Nude is the only thing that works on me!
Blue, green, black lipsticks. I just cannot pull these off even if I wanted to! (and I kinda do) Between the lines just above my upper lip (ex-smoker), gappy teeth and uneven looking lips, I need to stick with everything else. Funny thing is, I do sometimes rock my Bite Kale or CP Getty in the privacy of my own home. It’s not that I don’t like these colors, just not on myself. It was very difficult to talk myself out of MAC x Aaliyah Street Thing yesterday!
I’d have to go in the opposite direction and say glam looks. I can NOT pull off heavy foundation, smokey eyes, and vampy lips. I feel like it ages me.
Dark, defined brows. I can’t pinpoint what it is, exactly, but brows any deeper than light-medium (especially in warm tones) look SO weird on my face.
Gosh, there are so many looks that I love on others and just look terrible on me. I have very hooded lids with small eyes and a lot of distance from my hood to my brows. I love the look of a shimmery white/gold lid, bold black liner and a red lip. I have no space for any liner, little own a bold one! Shimmery white on my lids wouldn’t show at all since it would be behind my hood. I love the look of pale lips but I have such dark natural lip color that they always turn concealer like on me. I love smoked out lower lash lines but it just makes my eyes look like tiny lines above my cheeks. The list is endless, LOL!!
Multi layered eyeshadows – it’s doesn’t work on me as I have hooded eyes.
Lots of ladies look great with natural or “no makeup makeup” looks, but I think I look usually look awful. I really only try to do them in the hottest days of summer. I’ve found a couple lighter makeup looks that are not really “natural”, but work for me and are not my usual full-blown makeup look.