LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Sunday 19 October 2014

Make-Up Mistakes We All Made In Our Early Teenage Years


Ok. So firsly I'll offer my apologies for the cruddy quality of the header image, but come on - how could I not use a reference from '13 going on 30' for this post?! No other photography was going to cut the mustard here - Jenna Rink was the ultimate way forward to sum it all up.  I have no idea why I've decided to type this post - call it a spur of the moment ramble - but I was reminiscing about my early teenage years after stumbling upon a rather battered Barry M Dazzle Dust - (more on those in a moment...) and simply had to share some of my makeup mishaps with you from back in the day. Why? Because I know for a FACT you've made them too. I'm an early 90's child so please bare in mind that my experience is taken from those good old days before beauty blogs and YouTube even existed - I'm sure some of my younger readers haven't made these blunders! So sit back and feel free have a good chuckle at my past makeup misfortunes - I do hope it manages to conjure up some fond memories of your own school years... It certainly did for me! Now,  I'd better wrap up this introduction before I get caught up in the moment and swiftly go and grab myself some Dream Matte Mousse for old times sake ;)....


Choosing your foundation shade purely by name. There was no swatching, no 'natural daylight test' and no pre-purchase review reading. Ohhh no - your badass younger-self chose foundation based on whatever shade-name sounded remotely like your skin colour. OR, if you were really throwing caution to the wind, your shade of choice was probably settled with 'sand...hmm...I like beaches...I like sand! Therefore, '04 sand' is perfect...' Wrong. So wrong. In truth, you were more of a '01 True Ivory' kinda gal but the name just wasn't as appealing, ya know?

Using foundation as a form of fake tan.  Ok. So maybe you weren't exactly aware of your foundation shade mishap and maybe this wasn't your intention, but at some stage in your life, I bet you've used a foundation waaaay too dark for your skin and tried to make it work.  This was probably in your first year of secondary school when, in a bid to look like the school 'it girl', you dash off to Boots and buy the first bottle of foundation you see.  It's far too dark and far too orange but you roll with it anyway and wonder why you look like a streaky mess after a rather taxing hour of PE.  Similarly, at some stage in our lives, I bet we've all had that bright idea of buying a shade darker than our usual foundation shade because, in theory, it should make us look a little more 'sunkissed'.  It's a mistake everyone needs to make. Once you've made it, you'll never deliberately make it again.

The inevitable over-plucking of the eyebrows. Ohhhh eyebrows. I apologise for the way I mis-treated you during my teenage years but when you're 13 and armed with an eyebrow plucker, all manner of eyebrow crimes are committed.  Crimes that, although you have no idea at the time, you will still be paying for in your mid-twenties. It's thanks to my 13 year old 'YOLO' moment with my mother's tweezers that I now have to spend that extra 5 minutes of a morning filling in my sparse, barely there arches - attempting to craft a decent eyebrow shape from powder and wax instead of actual, physical eyebrow hairs.

The inevitable ignoring of said eyebrows. There comes a time in one's life when you realise that eyebrows are actually pretty important, who would have thought?! All of a sudden you have this life-changing epiphany moment when you realise that your eyebrows have the power to make or break your entire face.  Of course, throughout your teens you think it's all about the kohl eyeliner and fail to even do so much as lightly groom your poor brows with a pencil. 10 years later, you'll look back, cringe at photographs and realise you looked more like Mr Potato Head than that 'J-Lo' sultry look you were going for. With or without the kohl eyeliner. Lesson learnt. Never. Neglect. The Eyebrows.


GLITTER OVERLOAD. Again, this was probably in your early secondary school years. The good old days when you spent months and months planning your show-stopping outfit for the annual school disco, swapping notes under the table with your friends whilst you discussed, in great detail complete with tick-boxes, which denim skirt/gypsy top combo would be most likely to help you succeed at catching the attention of that Year 5 boy you're completely head over heels in love with (for realzzz). The night you've been waiting for arrives and you completely drown yourself in glitter of all kinds - glitter hair mascara and Barry M Dazzle Dusts aplently! And who remembers those body glitter roll ons?! Who even invented those?! GENIUS! Now there was maximum glitter potential and even more hope of luring in all the boiizzz with your dazzling, mesmerising sparkle.  Now, I'm all for a bit of glitter but in reality, you just looked like a unicorn threw up on you.

Treating 'Sugar' Magazine's beauty tips as GOSPEL. Ohhh yes. Who remembers this little gem?! Long before your mother allowed you to read Cosmo (heaven forbid, the sex tips section) your monthly treat was Sugar magazine - with its fail-safe flirting tips and flow-chart quizzes galore! Whatever Sugar magazine told you, you did it. To be fair, it's probably where you got the idea for that body glitter roll-on...

Thinking that translucent powder was the miracle of life! There's also a moment when you discover powder in all it's glory.  Probably sometime around Year 9 when you begin to spot all the popular girls powdering their face mid-biology sesh with a sponge and mirror compact.  Of course, you simply must do this too. Even if you have a seriously dry skin-type and could probably do with a dose of moisturiser instead. You fail to understand the t-zone rule and the fact that, in general, powder needs to be applied sparingly to set your makeup but instead you use yours as a form of foundation.  You pile it on in the understanding that it's supposed to cover blemishes and feel slight confusion when you end up looking a little bit dusty...  Quick! Someone get the Pledge!
 
Blend? Who needs to blend?! Sometimes, you forget there was life before your professional blending brushes... But ohhh there was! You simply used your fingers or those free plastic sponge thingymajiggys and hoped for the best. Your hadn't got the foggiest what an 'eye crease brush' was or how on earth to properly apply an eyeshadow - you just piled it on. It also took you a good year or so to realise the importance of blending foundation into your neck...


This fake tan wipe is a really good idea... There comes a time, probably before that much anticipated school disco, when you discover that miraculous invention - the fake tan wipe. In fact, you probably threw it in your basket along with that body glitter roll on 2 days prior to the event of the century. There's no doubt that a fake-tan wipe is a great idea in theory, but for a 14 year old without a pair of protective gloves and zero fake-tan experience it's a recipe for a bronzing disaster. Not only do you end up smelling like a digestive, but you have to face going to school the next day with streaky arms, a patchy face and rather toxic looking fingernails. 

The black kohl-liner/white eyeshadow combo. Surely it couldn't have just been my school where the whole white shadow/kohl liner thing was in vogue? You lined your inner-eyelids with cheap kohl pencil (the blackest of blacks you could find) until they watered, topped it up after every lesson (because heaven forbid, your natural eyelid began to show through) and at the end of the day it congealed in the corners of your eyes and you resembled some sort of Avril Lavigne/panda/pirate/eye casualty mash-up - but that's ok, because it's all about definition, right? You coupled this fetching look with stark white eyeshadow (sometimes with a dash of glitter if you were feeling rather experimental) which contrasted really nicely with your black kohl overload...

Buying products purely because everyone else did. Ok. Who remembers the 'Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse' era? *sheepishly raises hand* I do. Surely it wasn't just my school? It graced the inside of every school bag in the area - mine included.  I'm not by any means knocking Dream Matte Mousse - but back in the day, you didn't quite grasp the concept of skin types did you?  It was a nightmare for dry skins and probably wasn't the best option for teenage skin - but we all bought it anyway simply because it was the product of the moment. The same went for Miss Sporty lipgloss, black glitter nail polish and that bloomin' kohl liner - the blacker and smudgier the better.

So there we have it, a small selection of the makeup mishaps I made in my early teenage years. When you actually sit and think about how much trial and error you went through in your younger years, it just goes to show much there is to learn about cosmetics and beauty industry - we all have to start somewhere!  I guess you could say (in the words of Drake), 'we started from the bottom, now we're here' (oooosh) - with a beauty blog, a rather sizable collection of makeup brushes and not a single sponge eyeshadow applicator in sight...

Have you made any of these Make-Up mistakes when you were younger?

33 comments:

  1. I definitely only bought Dream Matte Mouse because of the hype!

    Josie xoxo | Fashion Mumblr

    ReplyDelete
  2. These are all so true, great post :)

    http://zoemountford.blogspot.co.uk/

    ReplyDelete
  3. Omg *head in hands* Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse was my obsession, even though it always ended up looking grey on me and absolutely flawless on the "pretty" girl in my class. Loved this post!
    http://www.hollyeverafter.com/

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love 13 going on 30. Don't even get me started about dream matte mousse ahah!

    Sophie x

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love the pics you chose for this post, one of my favorite movies ever! I once cut my own hair when I was 13... NEVER doing that ever again!
    xx

    ReplyDelete
  6. My word I LOVE this post! I remember Sugar magazine, I loved it back in the day! haha

    Emma | The Fashion Six

    ReplyDelete
  7. Grew up where very few people wore makeup unless they were the "bad students" so this list didn't really apply to me, besides the sponges, overpowdering and the wrong foundation shade. Made those mistakes when I just started!

    Love this post, it's so well written and 13 going on 30 is so funny! May have to go watch it again now...

    Dusty Foxes Beauty

    ReplyDelete
  8. it's so funny, even though maybellines dream matte mouse is quite old they recently started showing it in tv advertisement again ! such a throw back every time I see it but I'm so glad I never owned one of those :D

    Brilliant post ! *thumbs up*

    xoxo Anna

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dream matte mousse was my life when I was younger! It's probably the only thing I ever repurchased...in the wrong shade of course!

    www.thebeautyideal.blogspot.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  10. I relate to every single one! I loved Dream Matte Mousse and wore it in a gorgeous shade of tangerine along with Urban Decay glittery eyelids. It was a great look....

    Jessie | allthingsbeautiful-x

    ReplyDelete
  11. They are so true! I have bought products because they were so hyped and everyone seemed to love them!

    bblacktulips.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. This post made me chuckle a lot! I was definitely a victim of over plucking my brows that I am still paying for now and totally ignoring them while at it! Oh god and the glitter phase so wrong x

    www.beautywithcharm.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hahahaha yes me and glitter were BFFS! These are hilarious and SO true! Nice post :) xo

    http://lilliemysel.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  14. This is such a good blog post, I can relate to so much here!! Me and my friend are now laughing at all the things we did with out makeup, I wore 8 layers of foundation when I was 14 every day...so grim! I absolutely love your blog! <3
    Katherine Rosie | UK Beauty Blog

    ReplyDelete
  15. Haha this made me laugh as I can relate. To be honest, a lot of girls in my year got into makeup around year 7, were all orange and absolutely caked - it put me off a bit! I did like lipgloss and Barry M Dazzle Dusts a bit TOO much though, haha cringe! Awesome post xx
    ELEANORMAES

    ReplyDelete
  16. Did every single thing on the list minus the fake tan. Oh, the 90's, haha.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Such good points! I used to choose my foundation shade by name pretty much xx
    alicekatex ♥

    ReplyDelete
  18. If anyone didn't over pluck their eyebrows they are like a God to me!

    Annabel ♥
    Mascara & Maltesers

    ReplyDelete
  19. This is too true ;') especially the dream matte mousse part, why did everyone have it?! ... I chose that foundation using the 'I prefer that shade name' method, what a nightmare.

    Georgia x

    www.georgiavanilla.blogspot.co.uk/

    ReplyDelete
  20. Blending is a step I think everyone skipped out on whether it was foundation or eyeshadow.

    nueyork.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  21. I love this post! All of these are so true. It brings back some awful memories... My worst was orange foundation not even attempted to blend in and bright blue eyeshadow.



    www.sophieslittlesecrets.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  22. I used to live by Sugar magazine!!

    Leonie ♥ IkonikBeauty

    ReplyDelete
  23. Ohh I did a couple of these things when I was a teenager too~ ^ ^
    I feel so happy to have learnt from those times to not do those things now ehehe! ^ - ^

    www.thedailydollyblog.com

    ReplyDelete
  24. Fab post I think every 90s girl made these mistakes

    ReplyDelete
  25. Whilst reading this post I was thinking ahhh Dream Matte Mousse, only to read on and find you mention it too! Haha! Made me giggle, lovely post!

    www.britishbeautyaddict.com

    ReplyDelete
  26. This post actually made me LOL. The £1 tan wipes! I used to be obsessed with johnsons holiday skin as well and go to school look jauntiest every day *cringe*

    Laura Kate | Beau La Belle

    ReplyDelete
  27. Lovely idea and i can totally relate to some of the points (glitter eyeshadow definitely)! Haha so embarrassing to think back at how cool you felt by wearing makeup that made u look like out of a horrormovie *guilty*

    ReplyDelete
  28. 13 Going on 30 is one of my favorite movies! I think everyone can see themselves in Jenna. Also, I totally agree with almost every one of these. Especially the overplucking and ignoring of eyebrows.. so bad!

    Watching for Pigs on the Wing

    ReplyDelete
  29. Oh golly these are priceless Beth! Lol. Well imagine I'm a child of the 80's so I absolutely did the overplucked brows at a later stage too, but also, those awful brown colors were very in! So I did the unplucked brow (thick/bushy), with one awful brown shade all over the lid and top it off with the sam awful brown lipstick. Fabulous (not). All my matric farewell photos have this makeup look going on, it's bloody shameful haha. xxx PS - LOVED this post!

    www.dressedinthecity.com

    ReplyDelete
  30. Absolutely loved this post! Gypsy top and and denim skirt combos galore. Oh and I'm sure everyone at my school had a dream matte mouse. I bought mine and instantly hated it but continued using it till it was all gone. Oh dear. I'm sure this generation of 13 year olds have a lot more knowledge with blogs and youtube!

    www.emandthem.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  31. I'm laughing! I used to walk around with an orange face - I used my mum's unwanted foundations, and I'm so pale compared to her. I was so silly! And I think every teenage girl had Dream Matte Mousse!

    ReplyDelete
  32. I definitely had dream matte mousse and it dried my cheeks out something awful! I never did the white eyeshadow though, I was far too trendy with my navy blue eyeshadow, wobbly liquid liner and lashings of clumpy mascara. Fabulous, dahhling!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Oh, the white shadow and black liner days......too much, too much! haha xx


    Brooklynn | That Brooklynn Paige

    ReplyDelete

I always read all of my lovely comments. Make sure you check back as i often reply but if you do have a specific question and want a quicker response then please do email me over at birds.words@yahoo.co.uk or tweet me (@Beth_BirdsWords). Thank you for all your support! x