For eyeshadow, I might try to keep adding products or else slap glitter all over the lid (distraction!!), and if it doesn’t seem like I can salvage, I just remove and start over. For blush/bronzer, I’ll use loose powder or whatever’s left on my foundation brush to tamp down excess shimmer or color.
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So, so easy when it’s only my lipstick making me give my mirror the stink-eye! A different story if it’s my eye look, however. And it HAS happened! There have been a few times where I seriously didn’t like where my eyeshadow look was going and had to take qtips to the offending shade and redo that area. Almost always the crease shade, for whatever reason. But sometimes I’ve been able to salvage a look by putting a shadow over a lid shade to alter its tone or coverage. Cheek products are fairly easy to fix by using a bit of my face powder over it. But an eye look gone bad is the bane of my makeup existence!
For face/cheek products, I buff face powder on top, which helps to blend difficult products as well as tone down the color. If an eye look has gone way out of line, I’ll just wipe it off and start over. If my foundation is looking weird, then I’ll just have to start over.
Wash and start over. If it’s a look gone wrong, adding more or different makeup won’t make it better. Not in my mind anyway. I will just have to move and start over
Same as you, Christine. I’m better about monitoring a look as I create it now but before I’d just plow ahead and end up with a muddy mess. I’m not so reliant on my face charts these days, partly because of memory and partly because I feel like I can experiment a little more because I’m beginning to understand what colors and undertones play nice with each other. But when all else fails, slap on some glitter.
Powder everything down and add a brownish lip. Works with most looks for me.
I love the suggestion of glitter for a distraction! I’ll have to try that sometime. I tend to remove whatever isn’t working, smudge it out, or try to par it down, but I’m not in a position where any of the looks I have seem all that risky to me, since I only have a small stash of makeup! The worst I can do is sort of clash my eyes and lips or overapply, in which case I remove the part that isn’t working.
I try adding in a lighter neutral color to tamp down on anything and blend it away otheriwse I just remove it all and do a quick eye look instead.
For blush, I use my powder brush and a bit of powder to blend it more and blend away the color some more as this usually happens when I use a brighter/darker blush.
For lips, I try out a lipgloss or another lipstick on top usually helps.
I think it depends upon the reason why it isn’t working. In the case of the eye makeup not quite working with the rest of the lip and face makeup, for example, one easy fix might be to apply a gentle sweep of the blush color between the eye contour and highlight colors. Sometimes I see people who are wearing cool-toned eyeshadow and warm-toned cheeks and lips. This combo rarely comes together. It just looks off. Sometimes I see people with too many shiny products on their face all at the same time — metallic and sparkle everywhere. It’s just too much. Sometimes I see people who wear too much makeup period. There’s no balance, because every feature is competing with every other feature for attention — lips, cheeks, and eyes. Sometimes I see people who simply haven’t blended their makeup well enough. There are hard edges everywhere and the whole look needs softening. Sometimes a little more blush on the cheeks is all that is needed. I guess what I’m trying to say is the fix depends upon the problem.
And, please don’t think I haven’t made my fair share of makeup mistakes. That’s not the vibe I intended at all. This was a tough question to answer, because the not-coming-together problem can be due to so many reasons — even a poorly performing product.
Head out the door and remember not to repeat the look again.
If it’s lips, I take it off and try another color or use my go-to. If it’s eyes, I usually take it off and try again (ugh, the bane of my existence because it normally ruins my concealer as well). Thankfully, I’m good as adjusting as I go along so I rarely have to take my eye makeup off, just blend more. With blush/cheek products, I either use my beauty blender with excess product on it, or slap on some extra face powder. If it’s foundation of concealer, I take it off and start all over.
*If it’s lips, I usually just wipe it off and start over. Lips aren’t so complex that I can’t do that. If the lip color I chose was wrong, and I can’t figure out what will look good, I go for one of my tried-and-true nudes or MLBBs and call it good.
*A too light nude lipstick is usually cured with either a slightly darker lipliner, or a gloss or shimmer put over the top to give it some dimension.
*If I overdo it with blush or highlighter, I tone it down with some powder.
*If my look is too matte, I’ll add a shimmery blush topper or highlighter, and put some shimmery shadow in the inner corner of my eyes. Another fix is to put some shimmer over the matte lip color.
*If an eye look is too dark and/or too muddy, I just take it off and start over. I will always just make it worse if I try to fix it. I’d rather go without eyeshadow, if pressed for time, than go out looking muddy and feeling less confident because of it.
*If an eye look is just looking bland, or the lid color wasn’t all I’d hoped (lighter or sheerer than I thought; color not true to pan), I will put a pretty, high shimmer (ColourPop or UD Moondust, for example) on the lid, and that usually perks things up. Adding a bright pop of color on the lower lashline can really help an eye look, too.
*Nails: A super-glittery topcoat can hide a multitude of sins, if one doesn’t work in a conservative profession.
Hehe lol “a too light nude lipstick.” In my world, there is no such thing as a too-light lipstick. I even rock white. I run into issues if a lipstick is too dark, or (very seldom) too bright. But there aren’t too many too bright in my life.
I’m so pale, I don’t think I can pull off the really light ones. Urban Decay x Basquiat Artistry works surprisingly well, and is the lightest nude I can pull off without bringing in other products.
I would rock white for an edgy look. 🙂
Usually the only time I run into this is when my eyeshadow has gotten too dark or too unattractively warm. When it has gotten too dark I will usually take some miceller water, a cotton pad or swab and remove everything so I can start over. If I am not happy with the warmth of it sometimes I will use the Viseart neutral matte eyeshadow palette to fix it, as those eyeshadows seem to blend well with all others.
I have also run into bronzer problems like streaks and unevenness, usually if I am going to apply bronzer I will do it as a first step so if it goes wrong I can either start over, or if time is a factor, try to buff out with powder.
When I am rushing and I over apply eye shadow I will try blending it out if it doesn’t work then I will add a little eye cream to remove some of it and continue. With blush I do the same I will try to blend out if not with my beauty blender I will just add a little foundation over it and then blend some more till it is lighter.
It would generally be my eye shadow or lip stick shade that isn’t right as my foundation and blush remain pretty constant. If the lipstick shade isn’t doing it, I would add another shade to fix it up.
If it’s an eye shadow look, I either blend it out, add a softer colour and do some more blending. That usually works.
For looks that aren’t working out, I…
Eyes: Add black or a dark color and make it into a smoky eye
Lips: Use a red or a lip color that looks like “my lips but better”
Cheek: Blend with foundation or powder and a buffing brush!
Laughed out loud at “(distraction!!)” haha. The glitter is a good tip!
So many times I have put makeup together that I did not like. However when this happens, it is hilarious because people have complimented the look ?. It’s like we have something invisioned and fails, but someone else will like it.
There have been times where my eye looks did turn out horribly that instead of fixing it I would just start over even if I applied liner.
I have learned before any important setting where I will be wearing makeup- do not try anything last minute, stick with a “signature look,” and use fave products instead of new ones.
I used to fail alot when starting out, but with practice, I’ve managed to smoothly create looks without having to start over. When I do fail on a look, I will just own it and not over think it.
Luckily this doesn’t happen often but has a couple of times recently too much shimmer all over I used setting powder and once bad patchy uneven eye shadow I used my beloved hourglass finishing powder and buffed the heck out of it. I don’t have the time to start over. It’s always the crease shade.
I feel like bronzer or a really flattering finishing touch – lip color, highlight, eyeliner – something that always looks good on you can bring it together. I usually pick bronzer because it does always look good on me; darker skin is more forgiving of color clash; and it goes over most of my face, so it’s unifying.
Lipstick is easy…just wipe off and start over. With eyes, it’s a major ordeal. Like this morning, my eyeshadow look from Too Faced Sweet Peach palette was perfect, but I accidentally blinked while putting on black liquid liner and of course the line bounced right across my lid. There was no way to fix it so I washed everything off and started over, sans eyeliner because of time constraints. Argh!!!
Really depends for me. I rarely go too far outside of the box, so normally blending and blotting will solve my problem!