The last thing we want to be is judgmental, especially when it comes to other women and their looks. And yet, it’s almost impossible to ignore a seriously unfortunate makeup job. And even worse, what if the person with the bad makeup is you? Sheesh. Time for an intervention. The fact is, if you’re suffering from makeup mistakes, then it’s time to learn to how to fix them.
Makeup is hard, and since not everyone will tell you the truth, you may be the last to know there’s anything amiss. Especially if you’ve been doing your face the same way for years. In fact, that may be the problem. You prided yourself on looking sexy with that heavy eyeliner in your 20s but now it’s just aging you. 
Consider the irony. You’re wearing makeup to look your best and it’s sabotaging you. It turns out there’s actually a fine line between a good makeup job and a scary one. Think elegant princess versus 1980’s pop star. Or bringing out our natural beauty versus bordering on clown.
Let’s have a look at the five worst mistakes we women make when putting our faces forward. Are you guilty of these? It’s time to check the mirror because if you are, they just may be making you look dated—and way older. Never a good look.
5 MAKEUP MISTAKES THAT ARE MAKING YOU LOOK OLDER
1. The Dreaded Mask
When applying foundation, you never want to end up even remotely resembling Jim Carey in the movie The Mask. We’ve all seen her. She’s that co-worker or woman on the next treadmill whose face is (uh-oh) a different colour than her neck and chest.
The Problem: Choosing the wrong foundation colour or applying too much foundation are both very common makeup mistakes. There should never be an orange line along your jawline.
The Fix: When shopping for foundation, you should try matching the colour to your cheekbone, just beneath the eye, and your jawline. Apply a small amount and blend into the skin. The right colour will blend into your skin tone and will appear to “disappear” once it’s blended. Also, when applying foundation, blend the foundation down your neck to avoid harsh stop and start lines.
2. Huge Eyebrows 
Thick and natural eyebrows are extremely stylish right now, but “natural” needs to be the keyword in this sentence. They should never stand out. Brows that are too dark, thick or fake-looking—just Google image bad eyebrows for your morning chuckle—can singlehandedly ruin a good makeup look.
The Problem: Making your brows the focal point will ruin your look. We want people talking into our eyes and not staring up over them.
The Fix: While some women can master the perfect brow with a pencil, you’re better of using a matted brow powder. Penciling the eyebrows in can look harsh and fake. The powdered products for eyebrows are much more subtle and natural-looking. For easy symmetry, there are a lot of companies out there who now offer eyebrow kits that come with stencils. All you do is trace the stencil with the powder onto your eyebrows and voila! Perfect brows that don’t eclipse your face.
3. The Clown Look 
While it’s true that there aren’t a zillion set rules when it comes to makeup, like any piece of artwork, you do need a focal point. In other words, the hooker look doesn’t really fly at the office.
The Problem: By creating too much drama—dark lips, bold eyes, dramatic cheeks—you’ll end up looking clown, with all of your features competing with one another.
The Fix: Choose one focal point to draw attention to, such as your eyes or your lips. If you love your eyes, go for a bold eye, but then choose a nude colour lip so that everyone is directly drawn to your eyes. Or if you have thick luscious lips (I’m jealous, if you do), aim for a sexy lip with natural, toned-down eyes. You can still use a lot of makeup. Just not everywhere.
4. Racoon Eyes
We’ve all felt that shock of shame when you take a bathroom break only to discover in the mirror that your eyeliner and mascara have moved down south. Shadowing the area beneath your eyes, your makeup now makes you look like you haven’t slept in a fortnight. Ugh. How could no one have told you?
The Problem: If you don’t find a way to seal your eye makeup, you may end up looking like a raccoon.
The Fix: Some people, depending on their eye shape, experience the raccoon look more than others. Try creating a base on your eyelid with concealer and powder to help set your eyeliner better. Curling your lashes will help keep mascara off your face. You can also try a water-resistant eyeliner and mascara to keep your eye makeup in place.
5. Lipliner SOS
Think back to lips in the 80s and you’ll definitely remember the lined lip trend, where women lined their lips with brown liner then coloured them in with a much lighter, pearl lipstick. (We know. You’re mother may still do this.) Even if you leave the house with your lipstick matching your liner, when you sip coffee, there goes the top layer, and, well, Hello, Lined Lips! It’s so not nice to see you!
The Problem: Lining your lips in a dark shade is taking a risk that your lipstick or gloss with smudge off, leaving you with a weirdly pencilled mouth.
The Fix: When choosing lipsticks and lip liners, do not match the liner to the lipstick shade. In my professional makeup kit, I own one lip liner, and it’s nude. Whether I apply a light gloss, or a dark red lipstick to a client, I always use my nude liner. Keep this in mind: The purpose of lip liner is to prevent your lipstick from bleeding outside of your natural lip line. When you choose a nude liner, it won’t be noticeable when inevitably your lipstick wears off.
