11 Makeup Mistakes You Don't Realize You're Making Part 3

Mistake No. 8: Using pencil on your eyebrows 

"A penciled eyebrow looks painted and weird (hello Joan Crawford)," Patel says. Nevertheless, many women still go this route to fill in brows. A better option: "Choose an eye shadow color that matches your hair color and apply with a thin, stiff, angled brush using tiny strokes," Patel says.

We confess: "I used to use pencil to fill in my brows and I recently switched to a waxy powder," says Meghan. "I can't tell you the difference it makes! With the pencil, you could totally tell that I did some fill-in work. This waxy powder is so much easier to use, easier to fix if I mess up, and looks way more natural."

Mistake No. 9: Wearing black eyeliner in the daytime 

"Here is a general rule: dark colors shrink and recede," Patel says. "Light colors advance and bring forward." That's why she recommends skipping black eyeliner (especially underneath eyes) during the day, so your eyes look more open and awake.

We confess: "Yikes, I do this almost every day," says Sarah. "I do like how the liner defines my eyes. I think I look tired without some liner on. But I will admit that black can be a bit harsh for daytime, so maybe a switch to brown liner is in order. Same effect without the goth undertones."

Mistake No. 10: Wearing glitter

"The thing that bothers me the most about glitter in makeup, besides the fact that it shouldn't be worn by anyone over the age of 14 (fabulous club kids get an exception here), is that it travels on your face, leaving strange sparkly spots where they shouldn't be,” Patel says. Instead of chunky glitter, she recommends shadows with finely milled shimmer -- used sparingly, of course.

We confess: "I got super into glitter in junior high when I discovered Tony & Tina, this fabulous line that specialized in glitter-packed makeup," says assistant editor Sharon. "While their products were amazing (sadly discontinued), I unfortunately used glitter on more than one area at a time. So ... glittery eye shadow, glittery eyeliner, sparkly blush, and glitter-infused lip gloss. Yowza. In hindsight I probably looked like I got into a fight with a tub of glitter -- and lost."

Mistake No. 11: Going nuts with "luminizing" products

"Luminous particles have been added to everything in the past few years, most notably foundations, powders, and highlighting products," Patel says. "One or two such products can make a woman look fresh and glowing. Too many can make her look very, very strange." Think glowing head on a matte body, or like you spent your morning leaning over an oil vat -- not exactly sexy. Patel suggests limiting your illuminating products to these areas: cheekbones, inner eye corners, and (if used sparingly) under the eye.

We confess: "I had this great Stila luminizing powder -- I wore it everywhere, every day," says Beth. "It was part of my uniform. Then I caught my reflection in really strong daylight one time, and I realized how it was highlighting every bump, scar, and wrinkle on my face. From then on, it was a nighttime thing only -- and even then, only when I was going to a darkly lit place."

Publications: Febstore

11 Makeup Mistakes You Don't Realize You're Making Part 2

Mistake No. 4: Trying to "plump" your lips

You've probably heard, or tried, the trick of lining just outside your natural lip line to make your lips look bigger. But it's way easier said than done. One wrong move and you'll end up looking like Pamela Anderson circa 1993. If you are going to attempt it, Patel says to use a lip liner the same shade as your lipstick on the outer line of your lips, without passing over it. Fill in your lips as well -- that way if your lipstick fades, you don't wind up with only a line around your mouth.

We confess: "The makeup artist for my wedding drew lip liner outside my lips -- I guess it was to make my lips look fuller, but all I kept thinking was 'porn star,'" says editor in chief Beth. "Not exactly what I was going for. When she packed up and left for the day, I dialed it way back with a Q-Tip and vowed never again."

Mistake No. 5: Over-tweezing (or ignoring) your eyebrows

"When [brows are] well groomed they can enhance your eyes and your entire look," Patel says. So go to a professional to get an ideal shape. While you do want to tame overgrown brows, Patel stresses that you don't want to tweeze too much. "As we get older, our brows naturally become sparser, so if you tweeze your brows too thin they might never fully grow back," she says. So just stick with cleaning up the area around your brows and follow their natural arch for your best shape.

We confess: "I've totally over-tweezed my eyebrows," says associate editor Alexis. "What usually happens is this: I try to clean up the strays and notice a few stragglers on the end. I remove a few hairs from the end, and then think it looks uneven. Before I know it, half my eyebrow is missing. On both sides. This is why I get them threaded -- professionally."

Mistake No. 6: Wearing an entire eye palette on your lids

"Just because your compact came with four or more colors packaged together doesn't mean you have to paint them all onto your eyelids at once," Patel says. Instead, she recommends wearing no more than three shades at a time: a medium one on your lids, a lighter one near your brow bone and a dark one as liner. But for everyday, you really only need a sweep of one shade across your lid.

We confess: "Yes, I had delusions of grandeur and thought I could get all fancy on my eyelids," says senior editor Sarah. "I had a different shade of liner on my top and bottom lash lines, a brow highlighting shade, crease shade and at least two shades on my lids. Had this been done by an actual makeup artist I'm sure it could have been quite beautiful -- but since I'm so not one -- it looked like a hot mess. The only saving grace: I had enough time before going out to wash it off and start over."

Mistake No. 7: Trying to "sculpt" your face

Yes, we would all love chiseled cheekbones and a dainty, ski-slope nose, but if nature didn't deliver, makeup isn't going to help. Patel says contouring is best left to professionals, and only for photography or film. "No matter how skilled you are with the makeup brush, it's nearly impossible to use dark colors that aren't glaringly obvious when viewed in person, especially in broad daylight," Patel says. "Focus instead on pretty, soft makeup that plays up your best features."

We confess: "OK, so I have a round face and therefore use whatever means necessary, i.e. makeup, to help slim it," says associate editor Anna. "It's safe to say I have gotten a little heavy-handed with the bronzer under my cheekbones on more than one occasion."

Publications: Febstore

Makeup tips

Models often have a team of people working on them - specialists for makeup and hair, plus a stylist for their clothes. They quickly learn the make-up tips that suit them best. This becomes very useful on smaller modeling or promotional jobs, where often the model needs to do her makeup.

Listed below are some of the tips that my model friends and I have learned over the years. No one is perfect, and we all have facial characteristics that sometimes need to be hidden or enhanced. The proper use of make-up can bring out your best features while minimizing the ones you're not so proud of!

Using Foundation to Contour Your Features

By using a darker foundation (maybe 2-3 shades darker than your complexion), you can create shadows on your face to hide or enhance your natural features. These tips can be used in conjunction with the tips on blush, below.

This contouring works best at narrowing features that you think are too wide. To make your whole face appear leaner and narrower, apply the darker shade of foundation around your hairline and under your cheeks.

To narrow down a wide nose, apply your usual foundation on the center of your nose, then run the darker foundation down the sides to enhance the shadowing.

Using Blush to Sculpt Your Face

Blush can really give your face that healthy look, but models know that it can also be used to reduce or enhance your facial features. The judicious use of blush can create contours where there are none, or soften angular features, taking an average face and making it more beautiful.

Lets start with the nose. If yours is too long and narrow, try applying a little blush down the center of your nose. Conversely, if it’s too wide, try lining it down each side.

It works the same for your face. If you have a wide forehead and small chin, try blending your blush down from your ear to your chin. If your forehead is smaller and your chin larger, blend it up around your eye and across your forehead.

Using Eye Shadow and Liner on Your Eyes

Your eyes are your most expressive feature, and the most important to get right. Here are some simple tips that models use to make the most of what they have.

To make your eyes look bigger and younger, use a white eye pencil to apply a thin white line to the inner rims of your lashes. This line is very hard for anyone to spot and makes your eyes appear much larger. A small amount of silver eye shadow in the corner of your eyes will open them up and give them a pop.

You can use shadow and eye pencil to correct wide- or narrow-set eyes. For wide-set eyes, use a darker shadow around the inner corners and a lighter shadow at the outer corners. Then use a dark pencil to line just the inner half of your lashes. For narrow-set eyes, just do the opposite!

Tips For Your Lips.

By using lipstick and lip gloss, you can get the lips you've always wanted without resorting to plastic surgery!

To get fuller lips, use a pencil to outline your upper lip in the same shade as your lips. Then apply your lip color as usual, for an added effect use lip gloss, but only on the inner part of your lips.

If you're lucky enough to have full lips but want to make them appear smaller, make sure not to use lip gloss as this will tend to enhance them. By using deep, matte colors you can reduce their impact and allow people to focus on the rest of your face.