What was the hardest thing for you to learn how to do when you first started wearing makeup? Share!
False eyelashes, and I still suck at it, LOL. I suppose you could say that I’ve yet to learn!
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The beauty lesson that took me the longest to grasp was learning to accept that I have fair skin. Ladies, don’t paint your face with blush and bronzer to somehow mask the porcelain. Beauty comes in all complexions. Less is more. Natural, porcelain skin is just as beautiful as the so-called “healthy glow.” Halloween is over. Let the Oompa-Loompas take a holiday.
My worst skill has got to be(and has always been) painting my fingernails, FAIL! I am getting better though, I just have to do it regularly. My left hand seems to hate doing anything except opening jars… it’s really good at that!
Lots of things, since it is I am involved only for the enjoyment. It’s all about trial and error and learning from a few good peeps who enjoy helping others try. False eyelashes and me do not get along. It usually involves the loss of my own eyelashes. WTH do they put in Duo lash adhesive.. my eyes water like a SOB.
Eyelashes for me too! I cannot get those damn things on 🙁
Eyeshadow and eyeliner. I’m still bad at it. I can’t get a straight line with eyeliner and eyeshadow just…I never know how to use what colors where, and my eyelids are kind of wrinkly to begin with, plus I wear tinted glasses, so most of the time I just don’t bother. If anyone has tips for getting eyeliner right, I’m all ears.
Hi! I used to struggle for such a long time with eyeliner and watching countless tutorials didn’t seem to help either. I ended up getting myself a small roll of micropore/surgical tape and stuck it from the outer corner of my eye to where that line would meet the end of my eyebrows, and practised with applying using a magnifying glass to see where I was going wrong. I still use tape when I do my eye makeup now, but I don’t need to keep wiping and reapplying because one side is completely different to the other! Hope that helps x
Liquid/gel or pencil?
Liquid – I stand really close to the mirror and put the elbow of the arm I’m using against it, it provides extra stability. I like a thin line so I don’t use much pressure. if you want a wing draw the bottom line, then the top line, then fill in. And practice, I used to spend time practising before I went to bed so if I made a mess of it I didn’t matter and there was no pressure.
Pencil – the key for me were good pencils that are soft enough to deposit colour but hard enough to hold shape. Check reviews and test on your hand, I like ones that will leave a reasonable line without having to use any pressure.
I would start with pencil. As Jax said, soft/creamy are best. If you don’t want to invest too much money to “practice”, L’Oreal or Milani have good ones. I find with a pencil you I have more control, and if it doesn’t look even, or it looks too harsh, it can always be blended out. You can also try lining your upper lash line with a darker eyeshadow. HTH
If you choose liquid or pencil, you don’t have to actually DRAW a straight line. You can dot liner: draw dots across the lashline, and then connect the dots. Or draw a ton of tiny line–one after the other. Sounds like a lot of work and time–but it’s extremely easy and doesn’t take more than a minute to line both eyes once you get used to it. Once you get used to the feel of your chosen liner, you can practice actually DRAWING straight lines by making the dots further apart from each other.
Magnified mirrors help if you wear glasses like I do.
If the idea of a potted gel liner and a brush doesn’t intimidate you, I know people who find a flat liner brush much easier to use than an eye pencil or liquid liner. There are tutorials on youtube for this method.
False lashes as well! Gosh, at least I’m decent at it now and they look good unless you stand very close to me. But I always end up with one pointing up and one slanting downwards!
I’ve just been using individual lashes lately, much much easier.
Interesting that you find individual lashes easier – I’ve never had trouble applying strip lashes, but I’m still working on getting individual lashes to look good.
I find individual lashes to be incredibly finicky too. I’m much better at strip lashes. The key with ALL false lashes is to let the glue dry for about 30 seconds, or until it’s “tacky”. If you put it straight onto your lash line without waiting, it will just slide around.
I think falsies and cat eyes are the most difficult things for me as well – and getting my eyebrows to look even. I get so many compliments on them now because I quit overplucking them but I think one looks way different than the other. XD
Anything overly graphic or artistic is difficult for me as well. I know I’m good at pairing colors and making ‘pretty’ looks, but edgier things are far more difficult for me.
Although to some, rainbow eyes are edgy even if they are blended out and “soft”
Your eyebrows are supposed to be sisters, not twins anyway! At least that’s what I tell myself. Mine are never even either! My problem is winged eyeliner. Can’t do it to save my life!
Eyeliner. I can be a bit of a perfectionist, so it was hard to meet my own high standards, lol.
When I first started wearing makeup, I was nervous about putting pointy objects near my eyes, so I’d have to say lining my waterline, followed by a lash curler. For some reason, I never seemed to have an issue with mascara. Everything else seemed pretty basic; I just followed the natural contours & planes on my face.
The hardest thing to learn was how to apply liquid eyeliner precisely and how to paint my right hand nails using my left hand.
blush because i have chubby cheeks, and cat eye style eyeliner (i still can’t do it lol my eyeliner doesn’t match and i get frustrated
Learning to love my skin color. In all it’s bronze glory. It was really hard to accept that some brands and some products are just completely off limits (*cough* Benefit *cough*) because they don’t make anything dark enough for me.
eyeliner and falsies are the hardest for me.
More so since I wear glasses, so I need to stand really close to the mirror to put them on.
Winged liner was definitely the hardest skill for me to learn. False lashes are annoying too, but I don’t wear them on a regular basis like I do cat eyes so they’re not as frustrating to me.
I’ve been wearing makeup for many years now, and just this summer I decided to start wearing black gel liner on my upper lashline (for years I was out of touch with eyeliner) I didn’t neglect eyeshadow though. Getting the line even is…. hard lol. Some days it turns out perfect with no effort, and other days no matter how hard I try, it looks less than stellar. I also want to try lashes but that will probably take me a while lol
It took me the longest time to learn how to apply eyeshadow in a way that doesn’t look muddy. I guess part of the problem was that I started out using drugstore eyeshadows with the little sponge tip applicators and that can only get you so far. It was a great revelation when I figured out that the right tools can make all the difference.
I’m a pro at it now, I would have to say liquid and cream eyeliners, what I still haven’t mastered yet is false eyelashes
Took me forever to feel comfortable with my eyeliner application!
Wore false eyelashes for the very first time last weekend, for a halloween party. Got them on first try, I was very proud. Next day, severe reaction from them. Don’t know if it was the adhesive or the fact that there were feather bits on the lashes. Neither my skin or eyes are particularly sensitive, so never again!
to this day I cannot apply falsies either and I’ve been trying for 5 years!!
Blending. I’m can do it well enough to get by, but I wish I was better at it. Eyeliner is also a bit of a challenge, sometimes I get it right and sometimes not. I do find that eyeliner brushes make that a bit smoother.
I would look at your brushes, to be honest. I thought I wasn’t very good either, then I bought a few blending brushes and now it’s really easy!
Eyeliner! I’m reasonably good at it now, though there are still days on which it simply wouldn’t turn out right!
Yep, false eyelashes for me too. My eyes are a tad too sensitive for them so I had a lot of problem trying to practice.
It makes me feel great when I read all these stories. I will go for Eyelashes.
Strangely Blusher
I grow up with the 80s stripe and never liked the look so never used blusher. For a long time I could do a great eye and lips were ok but cheeks I found really hard. Still my weakest place.
I still have a hard time blending shadows… some looks I feel I just can’t do which is a bit sad!
Pencil liner. I don’t know if it’s because my eyes are deep set, but I find it much harder to use them gel or liquid.
False lashes and winged eyeliner, got the wing perfected, still working on lashes.
Hardest thing still is contouring….when I try, I either get nothing or if I go a bit heavier, it looks like 2 stripes of dirt! And a flicked eyeliner – still can’t do it well and I think it’s because my eyes are quite round so the flick ends up in a funny spot and just looks silly. But I’ll keep trying.
For me it was learning how to choose a foundation that matched my skin tone. This was especially difficult when I was a teenager, because I was restricted to drugstore makeup (I didn’t have much of an allowance back then, lol) and we all know drugstore foundations don’t come in a wide range of shades and are often beige instead of yellow.
That was a big challenge for me too. I have two problems: sensitive, oily skin and a warm, yellow/olive complection. Most foundations break me out and/or melt off. Add in the difficulty of finding a color match and it has been tough finding the perfect foundation that lasts, doesn’t break me out AND looks natural.
This was, and still is, my biggest makeup challenge. The foundations that match my skin’s undertone (neutral red with no blue or yellow), are almost always too light, and everything else is too yellow/orange or beige. I’m essentially a MAC W15, no N. (And I’m old enough to remember when they did make it.) My HG was Px Virtual Foundation in the lightest “R” shade, but they quit making it.
Oh my gosh that was over 15 years ago. I think it was how to get a thin line with a eye liner pencil. I still try, but I get better.
Now, it’s how and where to apply my blush that I don’t look like a clown afterwards.
Winged liner! I’m trying to master it, but I’d say I still have a ways to go. I do also struggle a bit with keeping my eye shadow in a winged shape for the days when I want it.
Cat eyes, There was a time when I had it down, but now I still struggle.
Eyeliner, for sure! Even now, liquid eyeliner is best left in the bottle…trying to get it even is an epic fail every time!!
Full eyelashes! I can do half lashes no problem, but full ones are impossible. I doesn’t help I have rather small eyes so I always need to cut them which makes the whole task even harder!
How to properly apply foundation so that it covers up my redness but doesn’t look fake.
Working with my hooded eyes is the hardest thing – I think I’ve finally figured out flattering ways to wear eyeshadow, but it took some experimentation! And I’m still trying to figure out how to make cat-eye liner work.
I have hooded eyes, too, and that cat-eye is a bitch to master, especially with my shaky hands. I eventually realized I had to settle for a “tamed” cat-eye so it wouldn’t transfer to my upper brow. It’s still one of those things that I have to practice consistently, or I lose the touch.
I don’t know if it helps, but I’ve more or less come up with a general routine when I want to do cat-eye: First, I do a thin line first and draw it out straight at the edge slightly above the outer corner. (I don’t worry about it being completely straight or smooth, since it’s just the base line.) Then I start with a dot in the middle of the outer corner, just above where the lower lash line meets the edge, and carefully draw a curved, triangular shape to meet the previous line. Afterwards, I’ll smooth out the line along the lid to fix any rough spots, as well as fill in any spots between the lashes where my lid is peeking out. Hope that helps. 😀
LIQUID EYELINER. I wear glasses, and am blind as a bat without them. My first attempts at liquid eyeliner when I was a teenager were such a disaster that I didnt attempt it again until recently (and I’m in my early 30’s). A super magnifying mirror has been a godsend. 🙂
Eyeshadow.
I still don’t do it very well.
False lashes! I’m much better than I was, but they still take a few tries to put them on correctly.
I use Latisse. Don’t need false lashes.
Hmmm, liquid liner for winged out looks.. So hard to do at first, I’m pretty good at it now, blush was hard too on me, and false lashes…. It’s funny because I can do those 3 perfectly on OTHER people lol
Eyeliner. I’ve always been incredibly twitchy when it comes to my eyes (which is why to this day I still don’t wear contacts). I’ve gotten much better about it in general, but I still don’t wear eyeliner on the waterline.
Learning how to properly apply eye shadow was difficult for me. I had a hard time learning this as there really isn’t one proper way to apply eye shadow and it really depends on your eye shape and eye color. I watched a lot of youtube videos and played in front of the mirror (a lot) until I found some techniques that really worked for my eyes!
I also drew eyes on art paper with pastels (chalks) and added eyeshadow colors of chalk and blended them- learned a lot.
Getting perfect winged eyeliner was the biggest challenge, but once I learned and practiced – it quickly became easy. With other makeup techniques, it’s been more of an “a-ha!” moment, where I will come across 1 tip that just changed everything. I think loose powder application and foundation application was like that for me.
Bronzer & Eyeliner 🙂
Well, the most difficul thing for me is blending eyeshadows, especially dark shadows. Maybe I don’t have the right brushes to blend it. I apply easly eye liner and pencil and I am good at making precise lines on different kinds of eye, giving them the right shape. But when I apply shadows, the risult is alwaya quite artificial!
I’d say false lashes but I never really have found the occasion where I feel the need to wear them.
I still can’t do liquid eyeliner. I’d love to do winged liquid eyeliner but I stink at it. I tend to just line my lower waterline (occasionally my upper) with either gel eyeliner or eyeliner pencil. I’m liquid eyeliner challenged.
When I was first learning to do makeup, I found eyeshadow intimidating. I’m actually very good at eyeshadow now thanks to watching a zillion youtube videos.
Doing the cat eye winged liner. Though I’m going to use the excuse of being legally blind in one eye.
To the ones who have some troubles with eyeliners: I’ learnt to draw a precise line with eye liner drawing small strokes with a grey pencil before appling liquid eyeliner.Then I’ve started using only the liquid liner! I’t also easier putting the eyeliner only after appling mascara because the mascara! Have you ever tried one of this ways? (sorry for my imprecise english)
For me, it was definitely applying and blending eye shadow. In fact, I was so bad at it that I would just avoid wearing it all together. However, with some at-home practice and the help of my favorite YouTube gurus, I’ve managed to put together some techniques that seem to work for me. Now, I’m not ashamed to leave home wearing eye make up! 🙂
The hardest thing for me to learn how to do when wearing makeup was how to apply and blend eyeshadow. For the longest time, all I would wear was a neutral shade of brown all over my lids and I was scared to try out any colors because I didn’t know how to apply it correctly without making a *mess* on my eyes. Over time and some practice, I’ve finally learned how to apply and blend eyeshadow. I wouldn’t say I’m an ‘expert’ but I think I’ve definitely gained some skills and I don’t shy away from shades of green, blue, and purple on my eyes anymore. Something that I’m still trying to learn, though, is how to contour my cheekbones with bronzer and apply a highlighter.
For me it’s false lashes and winged eyeliner…I feel I will never have that type of sexy eye look! Makes me sad. LOL
Applying eyeliner has always been difficult for me. When I was younger I didn’t know you weren’t supposed to tug on your eyelids when putting it on. Years of that has given me very loose eyelids so I can’t get a nice solid line because my skin pulls and the liner skips. Most days I just go with a black eyeshadow smudged on the lashline. Although last night I did master winged eyeliner! I use a piece of a tape at the corner of each eye to guide myself so each wing is even!
Contouring, hands down. My eyeshadow, my face, everything! It always struck me as wrong that you would use bronzer for contouring, shadows aren’t bronze! So for years I just didn’t do anything.
Bronzer – yeah still getting there with that! I hate anything dark on my NC15 complexion, however it adds dimension to a flat face, so I persevere! Somehow I’ve never really dabbled with highlighter either, that’s changing now!
Lipstick I just did NOT do, unless it was super shiny or shimmery, almost gloss-like in texture. I’m getting better at lipstick, but I don’t have a very well defined lipline so my cupids bow is difficult for me. I use a fine lipliner brush, but I don’t have a normal lipbrush, which I suspect may make a big difference.
I used to wing my eyeliner all the time, but now I never do, and I’ve probably forgotten how to do it now. I’m thinking I need to go have a practice 😛
Jade, if you’re still looking for an excellent contour powder, you must check out Chanel Notorious. It’s limited edition and yes, it’s a pricey, but it’s everything I could ever want.
I’m joining the crowd on the side of applying and blending eyeshadow. For a long time, I didn’t bother with it just because of the frustration. I’d put on eyeliner and go. But I’m glad I started searching for help in my mid-20s. I get really focused on watching the makeup I see on the few blogs I read and trying to figure out how they do it (including you). It’s a lot more fun for me now to sit down and play with eyeshadow.
Looks like I’m in good company with the blending of eye shadow!! I STILL have a hard time with applying the right colour in the right place and blending (or not over blending) and I’ve been wearing the stuff for 15 years! okay, maybe more devoted for 10 years. But still, you’d think I’d have it figured out by now.
Figuring out just the right formula and application technique for foundation took ages. It’s probably the most basic step, but my skin wasn’t having any of it. The advent/ explosion of Mineral make-up was the game changer.
APPLYING EYELINER! I’m stll bad at it. I would love to learn how to apply gel eyeliner! 🙂
The hardest thing for me was hiding the fact that I was wearing makeup from my parents. Once I got rid of the bright blue cake mascara and used black or brown, it was easier. Also finished in the girls room at school.
I still haven’t found the perfect concealer and not for lack of trying a lot of brands. My golden brown complexion with yellow undertones is hard to match! Putting on false lashes will take me an extra 30 minutes but I’ll eventually get them right. The darn cat eye is frustrating because I’ll get one eye perfect and then can’t match it with the other eye! Lol
I suck at lining my upper lash line with liquid eyeliner. I can barely make a neat line with pencil/gel liners.
I need to practice it more. I’d like to be a pro at doing the cat eye/winged eye look. xD
BLENDING! I never picked the correct foundation colour and who knew a foundation line was a bad thing? LOL! I also was bad at blending e/s. I want to add eyeliner as well. I have hooded lids and for that reason I stay away from liner 95% of the time. I do like to tightline though.
Mascara – I remember the first time I tried to apply it I stuck the wand in my eye! Lol.
Omgosh! It would be everything! There were NO Internet back then when I first exposed to makeup. Do I hear a collective gasp?! That means no YouTube or google. My first impression of ladies wearing makeup was blue eyeshadow, bright pink cheek, red lips, and sharp red nails. It was a bit scary and intimidating. Thank the makeup and beauty gods for the World Wide Web. Now, I can google anything. So…I’m still learning. Still haven’t tried false lashes yet. I bought three different brands. It’s still sitting in my makeup box. Waiting…
Get my eye liner to stay put. Now I realize it was the formulas I was buying!
Applying false eyelashes- took me a year or even more … xo Beth in Pgh 😉
Cut crease, at least getting it even and placed right!
I think putting eyeliner on my top lashline. Putting it on the bottom was simple, but it was so hard for me to get it close enough to the lashes without seeing a gap. I only wore eyeliner on the lowerlashline for the longest time!
Also, I was terrified of foundation for the longest time, I just didn’t understand how it works. I watched tons and tons of videos on application. Seems funny to me now because foundation is pretty straightforward.
I don’t wear fake eyelashes enough to count that, though if I did, I’d probably say that! But liquid liner was definitely the hardest for me! I used to be in awe of my friends who could pull it off and never touched the stuff until a few years ago. I still prefer to use just pencils or a shadow for liner, but when the look calls for it, at least I know I can make it happen now if I need to!
Liquid liner for sure, I still have issues with it.
Foundation/concealing… I am still a work in progress but boy have a come a long way. I have come to the conclusion that it will take me longer because I have poc marks left over from acne from my teen years until now basically. I am still trying to make my skin look like well.. skin.. I am not complaining it is what it is.. I just chalk it up to not have internet access-ie You Tube when I started getting into makeup.
Getting my shade of foundation right. I’ve worn the wrong shade for a VERY long time LOL. And applying false eyelashes, that’s still not my thing. I still struggle getting them on evenly and glued right.
When I first started, it was blush…..I always seemed to overdo it no matter what I did. I guess it didn’t help that the first blush I had was a cream one that seemed turn more intense once it was on my cheeks! Today I get along better with blush, but it is still the cosmetic I buy less of!
False eyelashes are STILL a pain for me. And getting my top eyeliner flick to be symmetrical has always been hard. It doesn’t help that my face is very asymmetrical.
EYELINER!!! It doesn’t look good on me on the lower lash line and I’ve always known that, but it took me SO LONG to be able to draw a line of desired consistency with liner on the top lid. liquid is too harsh of a line for me, so I started out with potted gel liners and a brush, but I could never get the line to be thin enough. I graduated to creamy pencil liners a few years ago (like UD 24/7 and MUFE Aqua Cream) a few years ago and it was my best discovery ever! Even though I consider myself to be quite knowledgeable about makeup, I didn’t learn to apply eyeliner in a flattering way until I was 25-26!
i still cant do liquid eyeliner at all it looks horrible when i do it so i just dont and i have absolutley no idea how to apply false lashes
Lashes were hard for me too! I’ve been using makeup for almost 10 years and I just learn a few months ago. The Duo glue with the brush applicator helped me out a lot!
everything!!!my family never wore make-up so i learned by looking at magazines and really studying color and prices…i’ve gotten better but i still go to every make-up counter asking for samples..i’m not so sold on all the high brands…lately i like paul and joe