8 of the most common makeup mistakes and all the tools and tricks that you’ll need to correct them.

Making mistakes when you’re doing your makeup is no big deal. There are many cunning ways to sort things out if you’ve gone too far or done a blob. I think lots of people have been scared off makeup because they think they’re bad at it, but everyone makes mistakes, even professionals, they just know how to sort them out. That’s how you get good at something, you learn how to deal with mistakes and stay cool.
Here are a few tricks to help you on the way to sorting out your inevitable goofs. That way you’ll keep a cool head when your mascara is all over your nose. 

What you need

It’ll help if you have these certain things to hand, just in case things do go awry. I’ll explain what to do with them further down the page-

• A cocktail stick
• Cotton buds
• A little concealer brush and concealer 
• A spoolie (clean mascara brush)
• Baby wipes 
• Fixing spray
• Micropore (or sellotape)

1. Eyeliner shakes– This has to be the top of my list of boobs. Liquid eyeliner is hard! Maybe if I did it every day I’d be able to smash it out, practice makes perfect after all, but for now it’s always a bit of a fiddle. Taking it off and starting again is a pain because you’ll remove all the other makeup around it and your poor little eyes will start to get sore.
   If you have taken an inadvertent detour with your liquid liner or blinked before it’s dried, take a small firm brush (a concealer or eyeshadow brush will work) with a little concealer and gently brush at the faux pas once it’s dried. It will flake off and you can retrace the line to smarten it up.
2. Too much blusher– This is no problem at all to fix. Just go over it with foundation. Sometimes I even do it on purpose. I just take my foundation brush and a dab more foundation and go over the offending rouge. It actually makes for a really natural flush.
3. Too much powder– This is easily done. Fairly often I’ll do my makeup and appear to look totally fine, then I’ll catch myself in the bathroom mirror with the better light and gasp “Way too much Powder!”. Then run back to the bedroom and just spritz with fixing spray. It gives back moisture and brings down the cakiness a couple of notches.
4. Blocky brows– Doesn’t it look weird when eyebrows are  dense and blocky. It’s so unnatural. I have an internal wrestling match when I see eyebrows like this. It’s not polite to blend a stranger’s eyebrows without their consent, more’s the pity. Brows look more realistic when the inner and upper margin are less dense.
   No probs if you have inadvertently ended up with face slugs. Take your spoolie and brush through to remove the product. Brushing on loose powder helps too. Then you can smarten the edges with concealer.

   

5. Clumpy mascara– I really don’t like it when my eyelashes are glued together, so I use a cocktail stick to push through my  mascara-ed lashes, once they’ve dried. I first got the idea when I read that Audrey Hepburn used to separate her lashes with a pin. Not so keen on approaching my eyeballs with something that sharp I tried a cocktail stick and it works a treat. Just push the point up through the base of your lashes and gently drag it up.
6. Mascara blobs– Mascara again, causing problems, tut! When you’re trying to get all the little lashes under the eye and by the nose it’s really easy to splodge mascara onto the skin. Again, you can use your concealer brush to flake it away or, according to Pixiewoo, take a dry cotton bud and roll it over the mascara blob. It works a treat. Using something dry will preserve the surrounding makeup.

   

7. Lipstick smear– Lipstick is a messy business. It can get everywhere. It’s easier to apply if you use lip liner first, but failing that, wrap a wet wipe around your fingertip to clear up any blunders. I think you need to use something moist to remove lipstick because it’s so staining. You can go over the line with some foundation on a small brush.
8. Eyeshadow fallout– When you’ve created an eyeshadow masterpiece, doesn’t your heart sink when you look at all the dusty fallout sitting on your cheek? Just take some micropore and wrap it round a brush handle to roll over the fallout. It will pick up the powder without disturbing your foundation too much. (You could use sellotape around your fingertip, but it’s not quite as elegant). Trying to brush it away will just spread it about.

I hope I’ve given you some good tips, makeup application needn’t be daunting if you know how correct your mistakes.