5 BEAUTY MISTAKES THAT YOU MUST AVOID
I do believe that you must fall before you learn, but it is also important to learn a lesson from others and not repeat their mistakes. So here are my learnings, and some beliefs, which I hope will help you.
#LessonNo.1: Don’t colour your hair when in a hurry. Please always remember that hair colour – whether you are opting for a global colour, highlighting or simply a touch up – it will take at least an hour. If you push, your stylist may say yes but trust me it has a high percentage of getting botched up. Also do avoid a dramatic hair colour makeover just a day or two before a major event or some travel. Being adventurous and impatient I once checked in for highlighting my hair (in emerald green – how fancy it sounds) just the day before I was to travel for a beauty conference. Result: I returned home with my hair looking like moss had grown on my head. I had to immediately get a DIY colour pack and colour my hair back to a safe chocolate brown. The hair looked like hair but the quality of my tresses took a beating.
#LessonNo.2: You don’t have to try every skincare product you come across. As a beauty journalist, I have been spoilt for choice when it comes to beauty products. Therefore, I would flit from one product to another, trying to put each one to test. Result, after sometime my skin lashed out in the form of an angry and painful breakout. It took me months to soothe and cajole my skin back to its happy health. Since then I have slowed myself down. If I have to test something I give that product a month at least. I don’t switch from one cream to another in two days. This gives me the real scope to truly understand the product and also gives my skin the time to ease into a new environment.
#LessonNo3: Never, ever be seen with chipped nail paint. No, there is no anecdote with it. I am putting it down as a lesson simply because I hate the unsightly, sight of chipped nail paints. I think it shows that you just don’t care for yourself. I know, I know I am sounding dramatic and it perhaps isn’t such a big deal but nevertheless. If you believe in my philosophy of beauty, just do me this favour – don’t let me see your pretty hands with half eaten polishes. Please keep a pack of nail paint wipes always near at hand. I have one each in my handbags, dressing table, office and car.
#LessonNo.4: Don’t wear an eyeliner when in a hurry. Need to finish your makeup in two minutes? Please, please avoid drawing out the cat eyes. In your hurry and anxiety your hand will not be steady (unless you are a professional makeup artist) and you will end up with two different shapes. If you are in a rush, just wear a red lipstick. It is an instant update. And if by chance you have messed up your eye makeup, simply take dark brown or black eye shadow and with a Q-Tip blend in the shadows to create the smokey eye effect.
#LessonNo.5: Don’t step out of the house without sunscreen. We don’t realise the effect of sunscreen because it essentially doesn’t make your skin better. However, if you have been using it for a while and then you stop you will see how rapidly your skin deteriorates. That quick degeneration shows how far the sunscreen protects your skin and just how important it is. Last year, when freckles suddenly became a rage, I threw all caution to winds and stopped using sunscreen for three weeks. Result: My skin looked, lifeless and botchy. It’s at this same time that I watched this video and immediately made amends. Those three weeks of neglect cost my skin dearly. I am still nursing my skin with spot correctors and treating it to nourishing drops of vitamin E oil.
