It’s more like what beauty product I wasn’t using – and that’s sunscreen! It took me a few years to get into the habit of wearing sunscreen daily, and I wish I had started sooner.
— Christine
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Brown toned lipstick. It took me a decade to figure out I just can’t wear it with my peachy pink complexion. Now I just admire it and keep moving. And lip liner several shades darker than my lipstick. Yikes.
Too light a foundation shade and blusher with a heavy hand. I still shudder whenever I look at pictures of myself during a particular wedding party with that makeup on.
I used to use a korean bb cream that at the time seemed to suit my skin tone. Looking back now it was a million miles away from ok. I looked legit grey in that bb cream. I can helped but to wonder what was going on in my head all those days.
Dark brown lip liner. Shimmery and/or might as well be orange powder to contour with. Those are the only 2 “oh heck no’s” that I can think of that I used to use that now has me wondering WTH was I thinking??
Aqua Net… Need I say more?
Basically, any attempt to use powder eyeshadow before I started using eyeshadow primer! My eyes are deep set enough that everything powder creases without some sort of extra creamier product to bind it there.
I gave up and used cream shadows exclusively for awhile. That wasn’t a horrible mistake or anything, but it limited what I could do for looks!
When I was 16 I had a nude lipstick that pretty much was the colour of concealer. It looked awful but I wore it because it was trendy. WHAT WAS I THINKING lol
I remember that trend! A friend of mine in high school actually DID use concealer on her lips.
I’ve definitely worn a couple of bad foundations haha. I’ve also used some skincare items that were not for my skin type.
I used to use black eyeliner on my lower water line, which works for some people but just made my eyes look really small and raccoon-ish. Also really surprised it took me so long to start using moisturizer.
Don’t feel bad, Shea. :). I see more and more make-up “professionals” –artists, magazine stylists, etc.–encouraging people to do this, and it just amazes me. I’ve never seen anyone whose eyes DON’T look smaller with the waterline “done”; plus, there’s ALWAYS a risk of infection. Makeup pros should really know better, IMO.
Actually, I don’t find that it makes my eyes look smaller. In fact, I’ve found that I look a lot better with my lower lashline (which, due to the shape of my eyes, looks like my waterline) lined, because if I didn’t, my eyes wouldn’t stand out—they visually blend into the rest of my face.
When I was a kid and a newbie to makeup, I used to take a black Maybelline eye pencil (the kind you sharpen), heat the tip with a lighter — I never smoked but I would carry a lighter for this purpose — and line my waterline with it. I shudder to think what I was putting right up against my eyeball.
My grandma and my mom still do that:) I used to do it too until I realized that pencil eyeliners are not as hard as they used to be and there’s no need to heat it up. I actually have a tiny dent-like thing on my lower waterline(!) and it is probably from doing that.
Yasssss! I cannot believe I was not blinded!
NARS Orgasm. It’s a beautiful color, it just doesn’t suit my complexion. It shows up sort of orange on me.
A long time ago I used to use a cream eyeshadow from Revlon that creased terribly on me, yet I persisted in using it.
My boyfriend finds it weird that I wear sunscreen daily. I’m 28, and I wish I would have started years ago. I don’t have any strange make up regrets. There are a couple photos where I am stark white thanks to flashback. I wish I could go back to those days and wear SPF free foundation, lol.
Yep, I wish I had been more serious about SS years ago. It took me ages to apply moisturizer regularly, now I’m obsessed with sunscreen.
Christine does it count if there is SPF in my daily moisturiser? I have always wondered about that or do I need to be wearing a separate sun screen? Even though I know about the harmful effects of UVA and UVB rays (having grown up in India I really do know) I hate the oily sticky feeling of sunscreens and the white streaks they can leave on your face even so as much a single drop of rain or sweat hits it!
Hi!
It really depends on a few things…
1.) What active ingredients are used (so whether it covers both UVA/UVB)
2.) What the SPF rating
3.) How much you’re applying
Dermatologist guidelines recommend using at least 1/4 teaspoon of sunscreen (SPF 30 or higher) for your face and another 1/4 teaspoon for your neck. Do you use 1/4 teaspoon of makeup on your face? No? Then you’re not using enough sunscreen. Sunscreen in primers and makeup certainly help, but unless you’re slathering them on, they don’t begin to provide adequate protection. And while you’re applying the corrct amount of a dedicated sunscreen, don’t forget the top of your shoulders, back of your neck, and your chest if they 43 going to be exposed. Older women will be quick to tell you they wish they had been more vigilant about applying sunscreen on their chests. As for an oily feel or white residue, there are many sunscreens on the market that employ dry touch technology or which are mattifying. Most chemical screening agents and transparent zinc oxide and transparent titanium dioxide won’t turn white when wet.
Sorry about that “43”. Typo. I meant “are”
That Bonnie Bell bronzer, the one with tons of sparkles. Remember that one? haha
Red lipstick. Looks like crap on me. Also super-glittery eyeshadow. To work in an office. In my 20’s.
Before I started really getting into MAC eyeshadows I used to use this shimmery Covergirl taupe color from the “Cafe Au Lait” trio as a transition color. I would blend anything with that color… It doesn’t sound as tragic as it looked in some pictures — too much shimmer is never good! I don’t think I really regret it… you live and you learn. I’m glad I never jumped on the brown lip liner bandwagon though! 🙂
do you put on sunscreen or primer first?
I don’t use primer usually, sorry! But I can’t see a situation where I’d put primer on before sunscreen, since it should be on the skin directly!
Apply sunscreen first and let it set a few minutes. Lightly pat your primer over your face and do your makeup as usual.
I used to wear cheap eyeshadow without primer. When I discovered Urban Decay’s eyeshadow primer I didn’t understand how I had survived without it lol 😛 Also, it took me way too long to start using a moisturizer regularly
I love my UDPP!!
In high school i had a bright teal eyeshadow that I was in love with and wore often. Now you couldn’t pay me enough money to wear that! Not my style now!
I used to pay a lot of money for Estee Lauder’s Idealist Even Skintone Illuminator skincare in the light green bottle. I went through three before I realized I was wasting my money. I don’t know if that stuff works for other people, but I felt like I got scammed. I’ve found that the only thing in skincare that really works is preventive care-moisturize, spf,spf,spf, and eye cream. As for the other stuff, I strongly feel like it is just a huge corporate scam on women.
I used MAC Studio Tech two shades too dark. It was a really heavy foundation and I of course used too much. If I purchased it now, I would of course use the correct shade and use my Real Techniques buffing brush to make sure the application is sheer enough.
I never wear sunscreen. I guess that’s bad, altho I do avoid sun, I know the UVA (or B) can even get to your skin on cloudy days. I wouldn’t even know what sunscreen to use, since all I can remember from the ones for your body is that they feel and look so greasy
When I was 13-14 I wore black lipliner every day with no lipstick LOL. I wasn’t even goth, just weird. I copied some other girl doing it. I also wore foundations way too dark for me because I kept saying, “I’m going to get tan soon.” (now I love my PPP skin) And brown lipstick, yuck…
Any moisturizer. My skin can not tolerate them, but year after year I kept trying to use one and always ended up with breakouts.
When I was about 14 I used to wear shimmery (almost) lime green eyeshadow to school everyday. Terrible.
OMG. In the 80’s it was Revlon’s “Silver City Pink” (they still make it!). In the 90’s it was MAC’s Stone lipliner and Relic lipstick. I looked like a drowning victim.
I bought Silver City Pink a few years ago because the color looked nice, brought it home and holy frost, straight in the trash. (I know, I should have returned it, but meh). I didn’t know that by SILVER city pink they meant SILVER SPARKLE GALORE
In the late 90’s, I wore a Bath and Body Works lipstick that was a very frosted brown shade. I shudder to think why i thought this looked good. My sister’s held an intervention to get me to stop, but I was still convinced it was flattering (imagine it with braces; my whole mouth was metallic).
UGH. When I was younger and first starting out with makeup, I thought bronzer was supposed to be used to make yourself look more tan. It’s safe to say I used bronzer all over my face and normally had a dark face over a fair body. I never blended anything together and always used a heavy hand. That’s the reason why I strayed away from makeup for a long time and I’ve recently just started getting back into it (with more promising results!).
Yeah mine is also more of a what I wasn’t thinking product and that would be eyeshadow primer. My discovery of THAT opened up a whole new makeup world.
Mac spice lip liner with mac lust (purple frosted) lipstick.horrible horrible horrible
I had this frosty sky blue lipstick that I wore in college. I don’t regret it at all but I would never wear it now. It was such a pretty color…but I think it’s better suited to eye shadow…or car paint.
That actually sounds really cool.
Cream foundation caked onto perfect teen skin (I didn’t start getting acne until my 20’s).
Dark brown lipstick, with my fair complexion just terrible, worse of all I did this in the mid 2000 and not in the 90, in the 2000s I was a teenager and the stuff I would use…I also had a period of time, for about a year that I only used thick purple lip liner and nothing else on my bare lips, I hide myself in shame when I think about it…I still use lip liner for polished lip looks but only as a base for my lipstick and the lip liner is not notorious at all, since it looks like the same shade as the lipstick and once the lipstick is applied it disappears. What was I thinking back then?
I’m turning 40 this year and I have no regrets over things I’ve worn. I’m glad I had fun with makeup when I was young. Fashions change and so does what’s age- and lifestyle-appropriate so I certainly wouldn’t wear it all today. It takes experimentation to figure out what works though.
I was always really good about sunscreen on my face but I really wish I was more careful about the backs of my hands. They were the first place to show my age and they’re not looking great so take my advice on that one girls.
I used to use pink eyeshadow all over my eye when I was 14-15. It’s probably not quite as bad as I think it was but I know that when I wear pink shadow now I cringe!
I am SUPER pale… and i foolishly assumed if i just chose the lightest shade it would be a fine match (many days of a pink or orange face…) and flashback so bad that my eyebrows and all my features appeared to disappear in the pictures!! I almost exclusively wore grey eyeshadow (maybelline quad) and glittery lipgloss. Oh boy… plus I had to learn how to use bronzer carefully! Many days of putting it on WAY to heavily since it shows up so dark on my pale skin. I remember using physician’s formula bronzers a lot years ago.
Christine, do you also put sunscreen on your body every day? Or just your face? I have a tough time even putting moisturizer on my body, hah.
I put sunscreen on wherever is going to be showing 🙂 I’m usually cold *inside* places, so even in the summer I have a shrug or something on (too lazy to take it off for the 3 minute walk inside a place with AC), but if we go for a walk or play tennis, I definitely use sunscreen on my body. I try to avoid getting my arms a darker color at all, since that’s where I swatch so I don’t want there to be a dramatic difference between January and June swatches! I actually wear SPF-rated clothing for outdoor sports, LOL! (I was tanning SO quickly, even being slathered in SPF 50.)