Beauty advice to my teenage self...
Hi everyone!
This week I got a Facebook message from my younger cousin, Esme. She’s entering into the world of cosmetics and messaged me to ask about recommendations for make up brands that I like and that aren’t too pricey. She mentioned that she already has some MAC products and some other branded make up but wanted to expand her collection. I’ve got to be honest, this surprised me a bit. She's 13. It may be me being the inherent granny that I am but at her age, while I lusted after the more expensive make up brands, I can’t say that I ever actually owned any, not until much much later anyway! In early teenagehood, there is massive potential for some pretty horrific make up mishaps… cue over plucked eyebrows, stripy blusher and some very questionable eye make up…and that’s just from my own experiences! So on that basis, it kind of concerns me that from the offset, girls are feeling that they must own the massive brands straight off. If you’re born with make up artist abilities, then brilliant. But if you’re just starting out and experimenting why waste your time and money on products that you're not entirely sure how to use which will most likely clog your shiny new skin and leave a rather large void in your purse.
This got me thinking about beauty advice I would have given my teenage self. Things that I wish i’d have known or indeed, advice I wish I’d taken heed of when other people told me. I’m by no means an expert, this is based purely on my own experience but hopefully this will give a helping hand to some other people…
Expensive make-up isn’t always amazing make-up…
Yes, MAC and Benefit and all the other shiny looking cosmetic counters look fantastic. With rows of stunningly presented products and impossibly attractive, perfectly made up assistants, for a teenage girl having a wander through Debenhams, they’re like shining beacons of fabulousness. But as with anything, it’s trial and error. Different products work for different people. Just because your friends skin looks glowy by using a certain foundation, that’s not to say yours will. Everyone has different skin, spending £30 on a foundation won’t give you the perfect skin you see in make-up adverts, that my friend is down to airbrushing. I’ve been sucked in many a time by seemingly ‘miraculous’ products that I’ve read reviews of or seen in magazines. I’ve spent ridiculous amounts of cash on products, got them home, applied them exactly as the assistants told me and ended up looking absolutely rubbish. By the same token, I’ve seen some incredible make up done with super cheap make up brands. Price does not reflect how a product will work for you. If Rimmel foundation works better with your skin than MAC does, use Rimmel. If you prefer MUA eyeshadows to Urban Decay ones, use them. It’s not the price of something that makes it brilliant, it’s how you use it!
A dark foundation does not make you look ‘more tanned’… it makes you look ridiculous…
A dark foundation does not make you look ‘more tanned’… it makes you look ridiculous…
This is one I’m massively guilty of… in fact theres some pretty horrific end of secondary school photos where my face is actually a completely different colour to the rest of me because I’d tried to create the illusion of a fantastic tan. Everyone likes to look a bit more glowy, but don’t go covering your face in something that’s 3 shades darker than you actually need. Looking a bit more tanned or glowy looks much more natural when created with a bit of well placed bronzer and highlighter on top of a foundation that actually matches your skin. Similarly, if you do tan during the summer, you’ll need a foundation to match it… nobody looks good with a beautifully tanned body and neck and a ghostly pale face because you’ve used the same colour foundation all year round… Foundation should perfectly blend, not look like a mask so a perfect match is essential, make use of assistants, try out different ones to see which one is best. It’s trial and error but it’s worth the trial!
Over plucked, barely there eyebrows aren’t good. They just make you look constantly surprised…
I think everyone’s guilty of this at some point or another. If you have a nice natural shape, go with it. Don’t try and change your eyebrows drastically yourself, it will very rarely go to plan. If you absolutely must do it yourself, there are some fantastic YouTube tutorials with tips and tricks on how to achieve lovely eyebrows. The best thing I ever did was to get mine professionally shaped, I now only pluck my eyebrows when I get any hairs that have gone a bit awry and as for filling in (which isn’t for everyone but it’s something that makes your make up look much more put together in my opinion…) I simply have to follow the shape of my brows with some wax and powder and I’m good to go. Eyebrows are overlooked at times but lets be honest, they’re right there, on your face, they need looking after too…
Over plucked, barely there eyebrows aren’t good. They just make you look constantly surprised…
I think everyone’s guilty of this at some point or another. If you have a nice natural shape, go with it. Don’t try and change your eyebrows drastically yourself, it will very rarely go to plan. If you absolutely must do it yourself, there are some fantastic YouTube tutorials with tips and tricks on how to achieve lovely eyebrows. The best thing I ever did was to get mine professionally shaped, I now only pluck my eyebrows when I get any hairs that have gone a bit awry and as for filling in (which isn’t for everyone but it’s something that makes your make up look much more put together in my opinion…) I simply have to follow the shape of my brows with some wax and powder and I’m good to go. Eyebrows are overlooked at times but lets be honest, they’re right there, on your face, they need looking after too…
Skincare is important and will make a massive difference…
Skin in your teenage years is a colossally massive issue. One thing you always have to keep in mind is that some people are just lucky, some people are just blessed with amazing skin. Others aren’t. Everyone, no matter who they are will suffer with breakouts at some point, they’re not nice, but good skincare can make them much easier to deal with. Again, I’m not suggesting you all go out and spend huge amounts of money on expensive skincare but clean skin is happy skin. I personally use Benefit because it works amazingly for me, but as a I said before different things work for different people. Nivea do some fantastic cleansers and moisturisers…their toner is actually one of my favourites. One of the best ways to make your skin better? Drink loads of water! It’s simple but you’d be amazed at the difference it makes. ALWAYS take your make up off properly before you go to bed. I’ve been guilty of this a few times and it plays havok with your skin. At the end of the day, your skin is your skin. It’s with you forever, so it’s worth looking after!
Straight hair is not necessarily perfect hair…
Skin in your teenage years is a colossally massive issue. One thing you always have to keep in mind is that some people are just lucky, some people are just blessed with amazing skin. Others aren’t. Everyone, no matter who they are will suffer with breakouts at some point, they’re not nice, but good skincare can make them much easier to deal with. Again, I’m not suggesting you all go out and spend huge amounts of money on expensive skincare but clean skin is happy skin. I personally use Benefit because it works amazingly for me, but as a I said before different things work for different people. Nivea do some fantastic cleansers and moisturisers…their toner is actually one of my favourites. One of the best ways to make your skin better? Drink loads of water! It’s simple but you’d be amazed at the difference it makes. ALWAYS take your make up off properly before you go to bed. I’ve been guilty of this a few times and it plays havok with your skin. At the end of the day, your skin is your skin. It’s with you forever, so it’s worth looking after!
Straight hair is not necessarily perfect hair…
Like your skin, everyone is different. Not everyone’s hair is the same. I have naturally wavy hair but when I was younger I straightened my hair nearly every single day because I genuinely believed that wavy hair wasn’t attractive whatsoever. It’ll be no surprise to anyone, but heated tools frazzle your hair. Poker straight hair looks amazing on some people but not on others. It’s good to try out different things but it’s much better to have healthy hair in an amazing condition than frazzled locks and split ends through over straightening. My cousin that I mentioned earlier has enviously lovely hair in the most amazing condition, hair that many people would spend thousands to achieve and that’s because it’s been looked after amazingly! If you straighten, use heat protection sprays. Theres plenty of heat protection products on the market, make use of them, you’ll thank yourself in the long run… take it from the girl that not only frazzled her hair with straighteners but later went on to bleach her hair… it’s taken over two years to get it back to a healthy condition. Completely not worth it.
Find a make up look that works for your face…
Copying a make up look that works on Alexa Chung won’t morph you into Alexa Chung… believe me, I’ve tried (much to my annoyance…). Different make-up works for different face shapes, skin tones or even eye colours. Experimenting is fun, try different stuff out. But don’t force yourself into make up looks that simply don’t suit you. In my blonde phase I had a penchant for ridiculously dark smokey eye make up… seriously, more eyeliner than you could shake a stick at… fine for a night out, but for a day in uni lectures I looked absolutely ridiculous. Some people look amazing in crazy make up, others not so much, find what works for you.
Blusher is not applied in a stripe up your cheekbone...
This is more of an anecdote than a tip. For some reason I got it into my head as an impressionable young female that blusher was best applied by making some kind of fish like face in the mirror, dousing your blusher brush in an alarmingly brightly coloured powder then applying in an upwards painterly like motion, in a continuous stripe up your cheekbone to your temple. No. Just no. I remember being quite proud of myself, wandering downstairs and my mum looking slightly taken aback. She then informed me that I looked like I was dressing up as a Native American Indian. Fine for fancy dress, but not so much for a shopping trip. Horrific. The best advice I can give is to learn properly how to apply your make up. Don't assume that you know, even if you do theres always little hints and tips that are handy and worth learning. Watch YouTube tutorials, there are more than you could imagine out there, many of them absolutely brilliant. Read blogs, theres some brilliant tutorials on them. It's invaluable and something you'll always use... and will ultimately save any absolute disasters!
Finally…
You don’t need to wear make-up just to answer the door…
Now, this one I’m still getting to grips with… but I’m getting better. My mum was hugely into appearances, before she was ill, she always looked immaculate, which is something she also expected of me. Make-up was a big thing in our house, and she was brutally honest at times which in a way is good but in another isn’t so. Until the past couple of years I would go nowhere without make up on… in fact when I first met Dan, I’d wake up early just to put some on and get back into bed before he woke up so he couldn’t see me without any, ridiculous in hindsight! I’m still guilty of wearing make up to the gym, but I am getting better. Days when I’m just around the house, I’ve realised that a full face of make up isn’t essential. I don’t need make up on to pop to the shop for a pint of milk. My skin is fine and I shouldn’t still be under the illusion that as soon as I walk out of the door make-up less people will recoil in horror. Don’t wear make-up because you think other people expect you to, wear it because it makes you feel good.
Hindsight is an amazing thing and I think it’s always wise to use it. It worries me that theres so much pressure on girls to look a certain way. I’m the eldest cousin amongst my family in Devon, theres about 6 years between me and the next eldest so they all do tend to look up to me a bit (theres much better role models in my opinion, but hey, needs must...). All I’d want them to know is this. You don’t need to be skinny, or tanned, or have perfect skin or impeccable make up to make it in life. If you want those things, do it for you, nobody else. If people judge you entirely on appearance, they are not worth a second of your time. You’re more than that. This has taken a bit of a cheesy turn but after hearing of some of my horrific make up mishaps, my advice can't be a bad thing can it?!
Hope you’re all having a lovely week!
Hope you’re all having a lovely week!
Great post, if only I could go back in time and tell my younger self to look after my skin/hair I wouldn't have so many problems now!
ReplyDeleteHannah
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Thanks so much =) hindsights a lovely thing isn't it! If only i'd have listened to advice then! xx
DeleteLoved this post! Great advice xx
ReplyDeleteThanks so much =) glad you liked it xx
DeleteSuch a great post! Totally agree with everything you've said. I think it takes years of practice to know what looks good and what suits you :) xx
ReplyDeleteonthedressingtable.blogspot.co.uk
Thanks =) and definitely! A whole lot of trial and error! xx
DeleteLove this post haha!
ReplyDeleteChloe xxxxx
www.underestimatethegirl.blogspot.com
Thanks! =) xx
DeleteI wish I'd not been so obsessed with straighter than straight hair... it made my locks so limp in my teenage years! <3
ReplyDeleteOh gosh mine was such a mess for so long! I literally never straighten it anymore I think I look quite strange when it's not just left to it's own curly ways! xx
DeleteFab post!! Had so much fun reading this, it reminded me of my cosmetic experimental year 7 mistakes! :') xxx
ReplyDeleteMutsyspocketfulofstyle.blogspot.com
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed reading it! Looking back on old photos from school I made some BIG mistakes! haha xx
Deletethis is suchhh a good idea for a post - so jel i didnt think of this!!! the straightened hair is a definite one i'd say, i wish i hadnt got my damn GHDs!!! i was a bit gothy so i wore way too much black eyeshadow! xxx
ReplyDeleteThanks lovely =) yeah definitely, I could have saved my hair so much heat damage! xx
DeleteGreat advice! Loving your blog Xx
ReplyDeleteolivia erica ryan ♡ fashion, beauty and lifestyle blog ♡
Thanks so much =) xx
Delete