Every beauty lover has experienced the terror of discovering, while you’re at work or out on a date, that you’ve applied your makeup wrong or that it has smudged away from where it’s supposed to be. You’re in a place that isn’t home, without your trusty makeup remover wipes and extensive makeup collection for reapplication. What are you to do? Fortunately, there are many ways to deal with makeup mishaps on the go. Read on to discover several quick, travel-friendly fixes for the most common makeup mistakes.
1. Too Much Concealer/Foundation/Powder
This happens to the best of us. You’re so busy trying to cover up your blemishes and skin imperfections with concealer, foundation, and powder that, by the time you mask everything, you’ve created an unattractive cakey complexion. The worst part of this makeup mistake is that you often don’t even realize it’s happened until you’re in the right lighting, which often occurs once it’s too late to fix the problem.
However, there are ways to fix a cakey complexion while on the go. If you’ve applied too much concealer or foundation, focus on the problem spots where the product is exceptionally thick. Use your clean index fingers to gently rub the product outward away from the center of your nose. This can help thin out the concealer and foundation and blend it into your skin to remove the cakey appearance. If the product is too stubborn, spritz some water on your face and try finger blending again.
If you applied excessive powder, simply use a tissue or toilet paper to blot at your face. Don’t rub, just pat. The excess powder should absorb into the paper easily.
2. Oil Build Up
It is natural for oil to build up 0n your face throughout the day, especially in problem zones like your nose, forehead, and cheeks. If you notice that oil has started to accumulate noticeably on top of you makeup, don’t resort to reapplying powder to curb the shine, as this can lead to a chalky and cakey complexion.
Instead, grab a clean toilet seat cover that is supplied in the stalls of almost any public restroom. These seat covers act surprisingly efficiently as emergency blotting paper. Simply tear off a large piece of the thin paper and pat it gently against the areas of your skin where oil has accumulated. The paper will remove the shine without rubbing off your makeup underneath.
3. Unblended Makeup
Sometimes, you don’t realize that you’ve left the house with unblended makeup until it’s too late and you’re already far away from your extensive collection of makeup brushes. The most common unblended makeup mishaps occur with darker skin makeup, such as bronzer, blush, and contour.
When you realize that you didn’t blend your makeup enough, don’t just start rubbing frantically at it. This random rubbing can cause your skin to appear blotchy and move the makeup into the wrong places, leading to a ruddy or dirty look. Instead, use the tips of your fingers to gently blend the makeup in small outward circles into your skin.
It’s also a good idea to carry a travel-sized translucent setting powder in your purse, as well. Applying the powder over your unblended makeup before you use your fingers to rub it in can help it blend more seamlessly into your skin.
4. Smudged Eye Makeup
Mascara and eyeliner naturally smudge, fade, and run throughout the day and, when they do, the black stains they leave down your cheeks are always obvious. If you suddenly find yourself with raccoon eyes in the middle of a work meeting or a dance club, there’s no need to panic. There’s an easy fix for smudged eye makeup that doesn’t involve any makeup remover.
The next time you find yourself with eye makeup running down your cheeks while you’re out and about, apply a few dots of hand lotion to the areas where the makeup has smudged down your face. Be careful not to get the lotion near your eyes. Then, just use a tissue or toilet paper to wipe away the lotion and the excess eye makeup without noticeably smudging your skin makeup underneath.
5. Cracked/Faded Lipstick
Lipstick has a frustrating tendency to not stay where it is supposed to be. Throughout the day, it often fades, cracks, or smears across your lips, leaving parts of your lips bare and flaky.
An easy way to refresh your lipstick if you’ve left it at home is to apply a thin layer of lip balm over your cracked or faded lipstick. Use your finger to blend the balm into your lipstick and then rub your lips together. The lip balm will soften up your lipstick and help it spread evenly across your lips and appear more moisturized for a freshly-applied finish.
Makeup mistakes happen to everyone, but there are many easy ways to deal with makeup mishaps on the go. The next time you find yourself in the midst of one of these common makeup mishaps, simply use the tips in this post to refresh your makeup until it looks good as new.
