Beauty Tips and Tricks I've Learned Over the Past Year

As most of you know, I've been at this blog for a little over a year now and I've really learned a lot! So I listed most of the things that I've really benefited from learning and put them down here for you. I hope they can help and make easier the world of cosmetics for some of you!

• Find your brows are just slightly unruly but not enough to warrant wax or a brow gel? I like to use the remnants of my face primer from my foundation brush.  Not overkill, not crunchy but a little bit more in the lines!

• If you do have crazy brows but don’t want to pluck them down to nothing, I recommend clear mascara from the drugstore. Cheap, comes with a spoolie and you can mix a bit of your brow powder in it to give a really subtle tint for extra coverage.

• I have issues with over-filling my brows. Because I’m not naturally Auburn (shhh! Don’t tell!) I like to use a coloured brow pencil in auburn to make my colour look more natural. However, to tint my brows and create a natural look (while still making them look fuller) I find it best to only do a couple swipes of pencil in the middle of my brows and the with a small brush or a q-tip blend out. I don’t get such a harsh line where my brows are on my pale face.

• Suck at eyeliner pencil application? I do! I also hate wasting pencil products, they give you so little as it is! I don’t want to sharpen it until I absolutely must i.e. it’s flat! My solution is to use an angled liner brush. I can get a sharp, even line across my lashes without wasting the pencil and without major agitation. Plus if you want to tone down the intensity of the liner colour you can blend the liner out more with the brush.

• Need to tone down blush your after you’ve accidently overdone it? This happens to me all the time when I’m a bit overzealous! Use your setting powder (either translucent or coloured!) and lightly buff a little over your blush. This will also make your blush last a bit longer!

• Have an angry red zit, and you’ve got to be in a photo in fifteen minutes? Believe it or not Visine eye drops on a pimple will take some of the redness away. Just like with red eyes! Dropping an extra drop in your eyes will make them whiter too, so with a little cover-up you should be good in a fix and able to draw the attention away from your spot. The redness will come back- the Visine’s effects aren’t permanent but for a shorter period of time this could be exactly what you need!

• You’re daytime moisturizer with SPF will not last you all day! Chemical sunscreens break down overtime on your skin. To keep on top of protection from the sun this summer try a powder or physical sunscreen that you can apply over makeup really easily- this will keep you matte and protect you from skin cancer. (Remember- the sun will damage your skin through the window- not as much, but UVA rays do penetrate glass!)

•  Use a liquid highlighter on your undereye circles before your concealer. It will subtly shine through and make you look much more awake!

• Another trick to looking awake is to use a nude matte eyeliner on the inner rim or water line of your eyes. This will cover the redness naturally there and will make your eyes look bigger and more awake.

• If you have some eyelid discolouration (like me) I recommend using a matte semi-opaque to fully opaque eyeshadow in the same tone as your skin. I personally use Wet n' Wild's Brulee and it's perfect for making my eyes look more youthful as well as providing a highlight shade (as I cover from my lash line to my brows) before adding what ever shadow colours I want to wear for the day. Or if I'm super lazy it looks very natural if I just leave it!

What are some of your beauty secrets?