15 Commonly Made Beauty Blunders

I’m no beauty queen, but I know a thing or two about maintaining good beauty techniques. Besides the obvious (don’t watch The Notebook right before you’re planning to go out unless you want tear stains down your face), there are a few simple beauty blunders to avoid if you want to maintain a fresh look.

1) Wash Your Face Right

After a long night on the town, you may be tempted to use a make-up remover and go straight to bed, but this can lead to more skin problems than you might want. Avoid the remover wipes, you guys. Really. Trust me. Using face wipes can push the makeup further into your pores and get you nowhere. Instead, you should wash your face with a cleanser first, then use makeup remover to take off any unneeded residue. After, you should apply a quick cover of toner to restore the pH balance of your skin.

2) Don’t Use Conditioner All Over Your Head

You know in movies when the female protagonist is casually lathering her scalp with conditioner seconds before getting murdered? As relaxing as that is, it wouldn’t kill her to pay a little more attention to her hair maintenance and less attention to the shower stream. (Guys look, I made a pun!) I love conditioner as much as the next person but squeezing it along your hairline is only going to weigh your locks down and leave it feeling greasy faster.

3) Spraying Perfume On Your Clothes

While perfume usually seems like the last thing you should do before you embark on a late night adventure, in reality, this is not the case. Perfume, when sprayed onto clothing, can leave fabric stains (not to mention it will permanently infuse that smell into your favorite shirt or dress). Dump the entire jar onto your body before you put on clothes and you will be all set. (I’m kidding, obviously, unless you want to lose your friends.)

4) Don’t Over-Medicate Your Pimples

You can sense it coming – that one spot on your face where a pimple always comes starts to bulge. A whitehead is coming and you want to cover up its existence before someone notices. Be careful not to overcompensate. Sometimes, leaving globs of anti-acne cream on your skin can dry it out and make your face flaky, which is equally as unattractive.

5) Avoid Acne Creams Before Waxing

Okay, so now you’ve over-medicated your pimples just like I told you not to. Great. Well, if you want to redeem yourself at this point, don’t put any anti-aging or acne cream on your face before you go to wax your face. These products can make your skin more sensitive and waxing immediately after use can pull a whole layer of skin off. (Yes, this is a scare tactic. Is it working?)

6) Re-Apply Top Coat Daily

If you want to avoid chipped nails, you’re not going to do it by painting it once or even twice. A good, strong nail needs to be pampered with an extra top coat at least a couple times a week. This will prevent the nail from becoming thin and breaking.

7) Clean Your Makeup Brushes

Just like you wouldn’t use the same toothbrush for too long, you shouldn’t be using your makeup materials for too long. Over time, your makeup applicators can build up grim and oil and essentially become useless. Either replace your makeup brushes at the start of every season or wash them out. 

8) Exfoliate Before Foundation

Exfoliating is an important part of the beauty routine. Trying to cover up blemishes with foundation before you’ve exfoliated is like trying to paint over a black wall with thin, white paint. If you don’t remove the layer of dead skin, people are going to see right through it and it won’t be as effective.

9) Maintain A Normal Temperature When Ironing

Not too hot, not too cold. That’s how you achieve the perfect hair. While some people tend to stay a little on the cold side when ironing their hair, in reality, this is worse for your hair than overheating it. Putting your straightener on a setting that is too low forces you to straighten sections of your hair multiple times, which can cause more damage than a high temperature.

10) Avoid the Yellow Nails

Smoking isn’t the only way to produce yellow nails. Consistent nail painters will often find their nails slightly tinted. Rather than just leave nails this color, you can simply mix some lemon juice with hydrogen peroxide and wipe that nasty tint away.

11) Too Much Gloss

Forget what everyone says about “having more is better than having less.” When it comes to lip gloss, or any kind of makeup, really, do not overdo it. I mean it, you guys. When your lips look like they’re about to start dripping, you’re wearing too much makeup and that’s never attractive.

12) Wrong Hair Color

Boxes lie to you. Not regular cardboard boxes but boxes for hair dye. What looks good on the model may not look good on you. Plus, 90% of the time, the color advertised in the picture is different from what actually comes out. To be safe, ask a stylist before you invest in any over-the-counter dyes.

13) Unfinished Nails

Your manicure from a few weeks ago is starting to fade, but so what? You might as well leave it there rather than wipe it off, right? It’s better to have some nail polish on there than none at all, right? Not exactly. Chipped nail polish comes off looking sloppy. Nothing says “I don’t finish the job” like unfinished nails.

14) Roll with the Seasons

When you’re going out in a neon tank-top on a bright, sunny day, it doesn’t make sense to wear the dark blue, shimmery makeup that is usually reserved for cold weather. Unless you’re Ke$ha, don’t try to pull this off. Experiment with colors, sure, but make sure you match your makeup to the seasons.

15) Too Much Mascara

Mascara is meant to enhance your flirtatious vibe and make your eyes pop. When you put too much, though, what was meant to be sexy starts to look more like a venus fly trap than an intentional beauty move.

And now you’re ready for your close up! But I lost my camera so we might have to do this some other time. (Sorry!)

Image via Shutterstock.com