8 Common Beauty Mishaps And How To Fix Them

We’ve all been there. A last-minute home tanning job ending up in dodgy looking streaks, or circulating at a party thinking you’re all that, only to discover you’ve had lippie on your teeth for the past hour. To help you avoid your next beauty fail, we’ve rounded up 8 of the most common mishaps, and some handy tips to prevent or remedy them.

#1 – Lipstick on Your Teeth

Lippie on your teeth is never a good look. To avoid the risk altogether, stick with a lip stain like ModelCo Cheek + Lips. If you’re a fan of a classic lipstick, try this nifty trick. You’re your lipstick is applied, slide your finger into your mouth. Close your lips around the finger and slowly slide out to remove any colour from the inside of your lips. Wipe off your finger (obviously), and you’re good to go!
 

#2 – Eyeshadow Fallout

There’s nothing more annoying than getting your base all perfect, only to end up with a dark shadow under your eyes after the apply your smokey shadow. Hot tip: Do you eye make-up first! Then you can simply sweep away the excess product that lands a little off mark. Give it a quick swipe with some make-up remover (try Bioderma Sensibio H20), dry with a towel, then apply your foundation and concealer. Easy peasy.

#3 – Over-plucked Brows

If you’ve been over-zealous with your tweezers in the past, chances are your brows have never quite returned to their former glory. Which is particularly annoying as the current trend is for Cara Delevigne’s power brow, rather than 90s grunge-girl arches.

Applied nightly, a brow serum like ModelCo’s Lash & Brow Growth Stimulator can do wonders for sparse brows. To fake a fuller brow, a brow pencil is good, and a brow powder even better. We love Anastasia Brow Pencil – developed by the Brow Queen herself, and Ottoman3 Brow Powder.
 

#4 – Streaky Fake Tan

Repeat after me, “if I want a flawless tan, I must exfoliate first.” Whether you’re heading to the salon, or getting your glow on at home, you’ll also need to make sure skin is clear of make-up, skincare products, deodorant and perfume. Follow the application instructions (typically long, even strokes) and let the product dry for a few mins before popping on loose, dark clothing.

If something goes awry and you end up looking like a zebra, or on the tangoed side of the scale, there are a bunch of tan removal products out there. Our pick for removing streaks is the tanGO Tan Removal Cloth. If your palms are the issue, try an at-home scrub solution of lemon juice and sugar.

#5 – Chipped Nails

I am the absolute worst when it comes to this (seriously, what do I even do with my hands that gets my polish so chipped??), so my fail-safe solution is gel nails or Shellac. Chip-free perfection for two to three weeks; so low maintenance, and so very very shiny.

If you’re a fan of regular polish, a protective top coat, like INM Out The Door Top Coat, is essential to keep nails in tip-top condition. And if you do still get a chip, you can clip it off with nail clippers (if it’s at the tip of the nail where chips tend to occur) and then even up your other nails, before applying a fresh top coat, making sure you ‘wrap’ the polish along the tip to seal it and prevent further damage and chipping. Alternatively, you can spot treat the chip by applying a thin layer of polish to the chipped area only, then carefully blending the edges (while wet) with top coat.

#6 – Blush or Bronzer Overload

Less is definitely more when it comes to blush and bronzer. So how to fix a heavy-handed application? Using a CLEAN powder brush, sweep the product outwards, removing excess colour. To get at more stubborn pigment, try rubbing softly in a circular motion with a cotton wool ball. Follow this with some translucent powder and your cheeks should be sufficiently toned down.

#7 – Angry Pimple

You know you shouldn’t have, but you did it. You squeezed that teeny pimple and have now created an angry red monster. What now? Wrapping an ice cube in a tissue and icing on and off for a few minutes is a favourite technique of mine, but I have recently learnt of a quicker, less chilly alternative. Break open an Advil Gel cap and dab some of the liquid onto the spot. Allegedly it’s a makeup artist trick that works a treat.

Next up, apply concealer. Apply around the spot, then blend towards the centre to avoid drawing too much attention to the problem area.

Naturally, prevention’s easier than treatment, so to avoid future breakouts, invest in a targeted but gentle cleanser like MooGoo Acne Cleansing Cream.
 

#8 – Hair Styling Fail

You decided to give your GHD a whirl for the first time, an hour before you’re due at a fancy-pants event. You did not do a good job. Instead of bombshell waves you have kinks and weird straight bits. Don’t panic and frantically try and straighten hair, you’ll just damage your poor tresses. 

The ballerina bun is never a bad look. Slick back hair with a wet-look product, then fashion into a cool-hair-don’t-care tousled bun. Pop on a pair of statement earrings and you’re good as new.