What is the worst makeup advice you have ever received/heard of?

Makeuptalk.com forums

Help Support Makeuptalk.com forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
May 18, 2007
Messages
470
Reaction score
19
For me, "If you are inbetween foundation shades, always go for the darker one". (in the intent that being tanner is always better, which I'm not opposed to, but not mismatching your face color)

EEK.  EEK.  Kandee Johnson truly.  Kandee Johnson and I share some things in common (pigmentation wise, we have naturally light skin, dark dark hair and brown eyes).  Even if we wish we were tanner, if your face is darker than your neck, it ages you, makes your face stand out less, is just all around bad.  I wore my foundation darker for a few years and never realized what it does when you switch to a foundation that's slightly lighter than your neck to brighten up your entire face!

Never again.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I got some really awful "tips" on evening up my brows. Um, my face isn't exactly symmetrical--no one's is!--so why do my brows need to be exactly the same? IMO, better to have them look natural & *slightly* uneven (we're not talking Quasimodo here, the differences are minimal) rather than precise but weird. Plus, the way she presented it was so insulting....I was there for an eyebrow wax and asked her just to do in between my brows and the strays. She was all, "They're so uneven! Don't you want me to fix them?!" When I said I preferred to tweeze for shaping, she started pointing out all the spots I needed to fix. Whatevs.

 
This doesn't apply to everyone, but - "match your foundation to your neck/chest so that everything looks even". Uhhhh, no, thanks. I have hyperhidrosis so I match my foundation to my face. Otherwise when I sweat it off, it looks terrible and blotchy. (And I will sweat it off. I'm simply past the point of caring about the longevity of my foundation. :p /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />)

So yes, my chest is several shades darker than my face, but I'm fine with that. Quit trying to put me in darker foundation!

 
I don't have a lot, but I remember this one tip from the mid 90's about packing on loose powder under the eye area to catch any falling eye shadow and then sweeping said powder away with a large dome or medium fan brush.

The problem with this method is that packing all that powder under the eye area will accentuate any fine lines and make it look dry or crepe looking after you apply concealer and powder. In other words... It will age you!

 
I don't have a lot, but I remember this one tip from the mid 90's about packing on loose powder under the eye area to catch any falling eye shadow and then sweeping said powder away with a large dome or medium fan brush.

The problem with this method is that packing all that powder under the eye area will accentuate any fine lines and make it look dry or crepe looking after you apply concealer and powder. In other words... It will age you!
Ah! I remember reading that tip in a magazine! I never tried it, because I am waaay to lazy to apply extra product then remove it. :lol: And now I never will, thank you!

 
Some of the worst, all from Dept, store counter reps from EL, Clinique etc. :

1. You should try turquoise shadow to enhance your blue eyes ( I actually laughed before I could stop myself)

2. Liven up your face with blush. (I have rosecea, blush isn't touching my face)

3. Line your lips with a darker liner than your lipstick , uhhhh no thank you

4. You should try a brown lipstick (back in the 90s) Against my NC15 skin it would look like I ate a turd, again no thanks.

5. The same one @@vogueboy mentioned Hello wrinkles!

 
I've been reading these, and it's crazy to hear what some people think we should be doing.  As for myself, luckily I haven't had too much advice that I'd consider bad, but I find that certain people really go after anything to do with my complexion.  Though my skin is generally fair/very pale and my hair is red/brown, it also varies (for example, my eyebrows are naturally blonde).  I've had people tell me to stop bleaching them (which I've never done), and to switch to a darker foundation for my skin.  I even had one person tell me to stop the 'fake porcelain doll look' (whatever that means). 

In addition to being quite pale, I'm extremely sensitive to the sun, so I generally cover up or apply a lot of sunscreen, especially after the time I ended up in the hospital being badly burned after one hour out on a Hawaiian beach.  It seems though that some really want to push the tanned look, even if it's not natural or what fits.  I gave up on tanning many years ago lol

The other thing I find is eyebrows.  I'll admit mine could use some work, but I've encountered a few that totally want to overhaul them to their standards; I'm a little nervous with how natural they'll look after.

 
On the topic of pale skin, a lady one time at Macys insisted I use bleaching cream for my freckles.

I mean, this was when I was....17?

Do people actually still use bleaching cream?  My skin isn't damaged, these are genetics in the works =\  Self acceptance.  Something I'm generally coming to terms with.

 
Gah! The majority of women working at Clinique counters! I've avoided makeup counters for the most part but the things I see them wearing on their faces. I can't imagine what they're telling others to wear. One woman had this blotchy, orange foundation. Every time she spoke, all I heard was her unwise shade choice. If it had been even I don't think it would have been as bad but it was so blotchy, with pale spots showing through. Don't even get me started on the things I read in magazines! (Warm tones do not actually contour you just get orange stripes!)

As far as actual advice I've gotten I haven't gotten a ton. I was told to do eyeliner before shadow, but that's about it. I've probably been told more but I suppose if I don't agree I just forget about it.

 
Some of the worst, all from Dept, store counter reps from EL, Clinique etc. :

1. You should try turquoise shadow to enhance your blue eyes ( I actually laughed before I could stop myself)

2. Liven up your face with blush. (I have rosecea, blush isn't touching my face)

3. Line your lips with a darker liner than your lipstick , uhhhh no thank you

4. You should try a brown lipstick (back in the 90s) Against my NC15 skin it would look like I ate a turd, again no thanks.

5. The same one @@vogueboy mentioned Hello wrinkles!
I pictured myself laughing right beside you when I read number 1

Ah! I remember reading that tip in a magazine! I never tried it, because I am waaay to lazy to apply extra product then remove it. :lol: And now I never will, thank you!
Oh yeah, that too. Forgot about that. I am not a big fan of that either... 

 
Not an advice, rather a product..

I was very young when I were going to buy my first ever liquid foundation and didn't know anything so I went into a high-end store and told them to match me and select a nice foundation for me.. Well.. Let me tell you. I have dry skin, and the foundation I got flaked so bad on me. I had pale patches showing through.. Just horrible I tell you xD It were a lancome foundation too, so it were so expensive... -.-

 
On the topic of pale skin, a lady one time at Macys insisted I use bleaching cream for my freckles.

I mean, this was when I was....17?

Do people actually still use bleaching cream?  My skin isn't damaged, these are genetics in the works =\  Self acceptance.  Something I'm generally coming to terms with.
I'd have to bathe in it. Screw that. FRECKLE POWER!

I remember a period in college where one of my Gothy friends told me that baby powder made a good finishing powder for your face. Oh yeah, that looked superb.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'd have to bathe in it. Screw that. FRECKLE POWER!

I remember a period in college where one of my Gothy friends told me that baby powder made a good finishing powder for your face. Oh yeah, that looked superb.
LOLOL, that baby powder probably DID work amazing... for the Goth look! I think sometimes people with very specific needs for their own selves try to give advice and it just doesn't translate to someone else with different needs.

I love giving people credit for trying! You never know - some advice might sound insane, but then when you try it, it works miracles~! :lol:

 
I'd have to bathe in it. Screw that. FRECKLE POWER!

I remember a period in college where one of my Gothy friends told me that baby powder made a good finishing powder for your face. Oh yeah, that looked superb.
Hahaha that's hilarious advice !!!

The only thing I can think of is when my peers told me to match my eye shadow with my outfits... Man that took a lot of coordinating and weird eye shadow colors. Ahhh, middle school.

 
I'd have to bathe in it. Screw that. FRECKLE POWER!

I remember a period in college where one of my Gothy friends told me that baby powder made a good finishing powder for your face. Oh yeah, that looked superb.
I agree. Freckles are little kisses from the Sun! I've done some great fashion editorials with models who were booked because of their freckled faces.

Ironically, When I was working on Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, we used tons of baby powder to powder 180-200 vampires' faces and body make-up for 9 days straight. The department had to wear dust masks because It was ridiculously dusty in the room as we had paper coffee cups full of baby powder and dumping it on paper towels on our stations. We used brushes for the face and we used our vinyl-gloved hands to powder their bodies. So your Goth friend was right... But I wouldn't recommend it for the reason you gave... And your lungs will thank you for it.

 
:blabla:this is what ive been told...

but does this count?- "you look fine, just add a bit more of the eyeliner on" it honestly made me look like a racoon. :scared:   <_< :bringiton:

also, "try some pink nail polish on your eyelashes, it really works"  <_< :angry:

 
Not an advice, rather a product..

I was very young when I were going to buy my first ever liquid foundation and didn't know anything so I went into a high-end store and told them to match me and select a nice foundation for me.. Well.. Let me tell you. I have dry skin, and the foundation I got flaked so bad on me. I had pale patches showing through.. Just horrible I tell you xD It were a lancome foundation too, so it were so expensive... -.-
I've totally had that happen too!  When I first got into makeup, I was quite surprised to see how many expensive products ended up like that, or even gave me allergic reactions; very bad experiences! lol  It's been a continuous learning process for me, that's for sure!

 
I got some really awful "tips" on evening up my brows. Um, my face isn't exactly symmetrical--no one's is!--so why do my brows need to be exactly the same? IMO, better to have them look natural & *slightly* uneven (we're not talking Quasimodo here, the differences are minimal) rather than precise but weird. Plus, the way she presented it was so insulting....I was there for an eyebrow wax and asked her just to do in between my brows and the strays. She was all, "They're so uneven! Don't you want me to fix them?!" When I said I preferred to tweeze for shaping, she started pointing out all the spots I needed to fix. Whatevs.
They're cousins not twins! Lol, that's what my teacher taught us in school. She shouldn't have pushed it and just did what you asked!

 
I'm sure I have a bunch of horrible tips I've heard but it's 2:20am and my memory is horrible. One girl in my class told me to contour with white eye shadow. Talk about natural! Off topic, but one day I was working ( I had platinum blonde hair) and this lady walks up to me (doesn't say hi) then says "wow you look really washed out with blonde hair". I just stared at her and said thank you? I had make up on with all the stuff to make me look not dead. Take that lady, you ruined my day! Aweh, ok well I feel better about that now. :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

Latest posts

Back
Top