Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Worst beauty sins-according to me, at least.

I've given lots of tips about makeup and fashion, but here's a bit on the opposite of the spectrum-the beauty and fashion DON'Ts that I live by.




These aren't necessarily listed in any order, but I do think that my biggest beauty don't would be,

1. Overplucking/waxing your brows. We've all done it. Gone a little overboard with the brows, and before you know it, you're sporting tiny little arches. And the worst thing is, once you've done it, it's hard to grow them back and stop. I look back at pictures of myself in high school and think, 'why did I do that to myself!?' I see so many young women who overpluck their brows and can't help but thinking they would be so beautiful if it weren't for that. That's the thing about your brows...they can completely change the look of your face. I am not saying that it's not okay to pluck little hairs here and there and give them some shape, but the thing is, you want to shape them, not take down their size. If you are reading this and think that maybe you are overplucking, even if you have been doing it for years, I strongly encourage you to try to grow them out, and I promise if you take a before and after picture of yourself you will like the after. While you're growing them out, try using a shimmery light-colored shadow under your brow to disguise the little hairs growing in (it will reflect light and make it harder to see them).

2. Sizing down instead of up. In college, I worked at the Limited, and was frequently exposed to a strange phenomenon. Young women actually purposely buying clothes that look too small on them. I remember this one really pretty, tiny little twenty-something girl coming in to buy a few pairs of pants for work. She tried on both size 0 and size 2. You could say that they both fit. But the zeros fit really snugly, giving her slight love-handles that she didn't really have. I was SHOCKED when she stood in front of the mirror with her mother and announced she thought the zeros looked better. The truth was, she actually looked thinner and even tinier in the 2s. Even if you can zip them up and button the top, doesn't mean that you should rock a smaller size. The truth is, no one is going to know if it says 8 or 10 on your size tag. But if you're between sizes, chances are you're going to look better in the bigger size. Wearing clothes that fit too snugly doesn't make you look smaller-it makes you look bigger than you actually are.

3. Picking at your face. The bottom line is, if you're doing it-you absolutely must find a way to stop, no matter what it takes. It will always make it worse, last longer, and make it harder to cover with concealer. You've probably read that in magazines or heard it from dermatologists. But take it from a real-live woman: it makes your skin look worse.

4. Lining your whole eye in eyeliner during the daytime. There is a time and a place for loads of eyeliner. At night, with a smoky eye. I wear eyeliner in the daytime, but I line only midway across my lashlines to the outer corners. If you line your whole eye, it closes up the line of your eye and makes them look smaller. I would suggest trying the same thing as the brows-take a before and after pic and look at them side-by-side. I am willing to bet you will think your eyes look larger and prettier without the heavy liner.

5. Not getting enough sleep. I know it's hard to get to bed at a decent hour-especially if you're in college or have a very full social life. I've been there...but now I'm on the other end of the spectrum, and I don't really have anything stopping me from getting to bed at 10 every night. And let me tell you, with 7-8 hours of sleep a night, I look worlds better. Back when my G baby was an infant and waking in the night, I learned fast that there is no matter how many makeup tricks you use, when you look really tired, you're going to look really tired. Sleep will do wonders for your body in so many ways.

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