Beauty Blunders & Easy Solutions From A DIY Failure
Monique | Friday, July 20, 2012 at 1:25AM This post is sponsored by Dove® ClearTone™ Deodorant - designed to visibly reduce underarm dark marks and even skin tone.
From the time I actually started caring about how I looked when I walked out my door {sadly {?} late, late into my teens} my beauty regiment has never consisted of anything more than some black eyeliner, hastily applied in the car, and some lipgloss.
And to be completely truthful, 99.9% of the time, I don't even wash it off before bed. I am a walking, talking, terribly notorious beauty faux pas.
What many people don't know is that I am a HUGE experimenter at home, despite my seemingly obvious lack of beauty care, I do love to try anything different on a boring day and have come up with some tricks I keep well hidden.
DIY sugar scrubs, teeth whitening pastes, at home hair color - yeah, I've been there, done all of that.
It doesn't always turn out successful either, so I am always looking for an easy fix to the damage I've done to myself.
Some proof for you?
I used an at home bleaching kit before dyeing my hair turquoise, and this was the result. I took this photo as a joke, to send to Christian at work and, I loooooathe it.
I kid you not, my mother has it hanging on her kitchen wall.
Anyway, I'm going to share a few of the tips, and simple solutions to common beauty boo boos, some I've even held in my arsenal since I was 17.
I hope you still trust me after that picture.
- Ever pop your hair in a ponytail and you discover those irritating hair bumps? Next time, lean forward and brush your hair upside down. It looks hilarious, as my children will note, but it works!
- On the odd chance that I apply mascara, it's usually been sitting in a drawer somewhere for a few weeks {I never keep mascara longer than three months! I'm always worried about germs near my eyeballs}, and has clumped up. Now, a few times I didn't notice and that made for a not so hot look outside, but when I do catch them, I put a couple of drops of water in, shake it up, clumps are gone.
- I am prone to oily skin, and anything I do that works up a sweat makes me radiate in all the wrong ways. Even if I'm just taking a walk with Christian on a date night, I'll duck into a trustworthy public restroom and blot my face with a toilet seat cover.
Not one of THEIRS {I carry my own, seriously, germs, terrified of them}, of course! I carry small squares cut out of covers I've purchased on my own, in my Hello Kitty wallet. For me, they work much better than the oil absorbing sheets I used to use. - For immediate removal of blackheads, I cut a lemon in half and put a few drops of honey onto it and then rub the lemon and honey right onto my face. I'll leave the mixture on for a minute, two if I have to chase a child, and then rinse it off - I instantaneously see a difference. A tip though! Be smart; remove any seeds close to the surface, I have scratched my face with a few. Yes, I'm serious.
- One of the things I usually forget in my nail art escapades is to protect the skin around my nails from nail polish slips, which is extremely simple: Rub a little petroleum jelly, or dab some lotion around your nails before you paint.
Then, if one of the children bumps into your hand because you couldn't wait until they fell asleep to try out that new neon lacquer - you can just use the bigger end of an orange stick, or other handy utensil, to easily swipe the mess away. I need to be better about this, because I am always posting pictures of my nails before I clean them up. And I really should be more careful because of my Dermatillomania. Nail polish in a wound is not pleasant, nor is having to clean up those areas with nail polish remover. Ouch.
Oh, another random tip I've picked up, panty liners work a lot better than cotton balls at removing nail polish. - When applying perfume, don't rub your wrists together! It totally changes the scent. Christian taught me that. See? He's good for something.
While I have experimented for years and found more failures than successes, I've created a pretty great regiment for flawless, radiant skin, which is perfect in the summer! I'll share that with you in my next installment tomorrow. You don't want to miss it, because I'll be wearing a dress.
I hope some of these are new to you, please don't burn your face off, because I have very vivid memories of almost doing just that.
And finally, as for the hair bomb in the picture - I've found a truly simple way to fix that too: a trained professional. *sigh*
I was compensated for this post by the Clever Girls Collective. All the opinions expressed here are my own.
Beauty Blunders & Easy Solutions From a DIY Failure - razingmayhem.com/home/2012/7/20… #DoveBeauty #spon
— Monique (@MayhemMatriarch) July 20, 2012
Reader Comments (12)
Wow, I had a similar hair mishap. I let my husband give me highlights one time. First and last time a dye of any kind has touched my locks! I looked like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup model! That was years ago, and I'm almost embarrassed to admit I'm *this* close to letting a friend do the same damn thing... she claims experience though so... maybe.
Is it overly vain that as a man and a stay-at-home dad I like hair products? In my opinion heck NO! As my granny used to tell me, "If you got it, show it off, and sometimes it takes a lot of work to show off what you got!"
:)
Aaron
I love that Christian taught you a beauty tip! These are great. :)
This post had me laughing out laugh and picturing you chasing a child with your hands splayed out so as not to mess up your nail polish. Uhm....the pantyliner thing? No. Can't wait til tomorrows post!
I so printed this out! I too have oily skin and love the ideas!
My best friend in High school used one of those hair lightening kits and her hair FELL OUT when she had it dyed a few weeks later. FELL. OUT.
I LOVE the lemon & honey trick. I'll be using that one TODAY.
Great tips! I have tweeted and pinned so I can refer back for future use! :)
I'm loving these tips! I do the upside down ponytail thing. I have never heard of the lemon trick & your tips for nails are great! Soo gonna have to try them! Thanks!
So I have really dark hair - and one time I permed it and then dyed it. In like a weeks time span. It was bad. That orange yellow color yours had too. So awful.
I learned my lesson. Also - thanks for the lemon trick!
Oh my goodness, I really truly learned a few new things. I've always wondered about the blackhead/lemon trick. I'm going to have to give that a try! One question though: How did you stumble upon the pantyliner thing? lol Great tips, Monique!
Lemon and honey for blackheads? I never new that and now I am definitely going to give it a try! Great tips!
1. I had that exact hair color thanks to a bad breakup and some questionable decisions around letting my teenage cousin bleach my hair. Never. Again.
2. I had no idea about the toilet seat cover thing, but we used to use coffee filters in college. Someone taught me that one during sorority rush, in summer, in Florida. They worked so much better than those flimsy blotting papers! I will have to try the toilet seat cover thing, thanks!
3. These are awesome and I am cracking up!