I've worn makeup since I was about thirteen. (That's twelve years. Nearly half my lifetime?!) So, in that time, I've made some pretty hefty mistakes. Please, for your own benefit, learn from them.
Stay away from the orange!
Is it just me, or did you also wear horribly orange-y toned foundation, added with cheap streaky fake tan; which coincidentally looked very fake. High street makeup brands never had anything remotely near my pale skin tone on offer a few years back. It was orange or nothing.
You do not need heaps of foundation as a teenager, or in your twenties (but that doesn't stop me. Whoops.) as your skin is probably in the best state it'll ever be in. Be proud of your skin, or at least try to be, even if you've got spots, redness, or eczema. Trust me, blemishes are better than looking like an Oompa Loompa. (Even though I totally rocked that look for years.)
You don't need that streaky fake tan
Every single fake tan body lotion, and I mean EVERY ONE I have ever encountered over the years, makes you smell of biscuits (not in a good way) and leaves streaks, no matter how hard you exfoliate.
Also, if you were like me, washing your hands afterwards (as you should) always left a weird line at the end of my wrist where the orange stopped and the white began. Never a good look. Embrace your paleness. I have. It's not as hard as you think to carry off a deathly pallor, guys.
Get rid of the spider legs
As a teen, I loved Rimmel Magnifeyes mascara with a passion (does that even exist anymore?) It was great, if you used one coat, two max, but I opted for loads more than that. Several coats left me going to school everyday with horrendous spider leg lashes. (Even on the lower lash line. Ugh.) I can't look back at photos from that time without totally cringing at them. Take it from me, don't overdo the mascara.
Listen to your skin
Every now and again, my skin goes horribly dry, seemingly for no reason. Now, I deal with it by altering my skincare routine to cope. But back then? I'd carry on regardless, treating my skin badly, letting it get progressively drier and just generally ignoring my skin's needs.
It got to the point where I'd have horrible dry patches on my face, and for some reason, I kept on applying heaps of powder on it, thinking that it'd cover it up. Obviously it didn't and made it ten times worse. What was I thinking?!
Wash that makeup off
Please, please, do not commit one of the biggest skincare sins in existence. Take your makeup off at the end of the day, it'll thank you in the long run. As a teenager, I was lazy and sometimes used to leave my makeup on at night. Aside from the horrid makeup smears on your lovely pillowcases, you wake up looking like a disoriented panda; which is not a good look. Even if you're too tired to go through a proper skincare routine, at least just use some micellar water or even face wipes. (They're not great for your skin, but surely they're better than leaving your makeup on all night!)
At least try and be healthy
I'll be honest, I really wasn't healthy as a teenager. I love food, but I loved it a lot more back then, and had a total disregard for what was good for me. Even though I drank a lot of water, my diet wasn't amazing. It didn't show on my skin, but I guarantee if I ate like that now, it would definitely show.
I'm not saying here that you shouldn't do any of these things. It's your life, and your teen years are the ones where you can kind of afford to make mistakes like these. After all, I did, and I've learned from them!
What beauty mistakes did you make as a teenager?
Katie
x
