1. Take trendy tips with a grain of salt
These trendy, often kooky tips are certainly not one-size-fits-all and in the end, you’ll likely waste product in trying to achieve the results. Let’s not be putting red lipstick on under eye circles unless your circles are truly green and you have a deep skin tone. Clown contouring? Unnecessary. Only put product where you need it, unless you really enjoy coloring! Sometimes, I think it's best to just get back to the basics.
More: 9 Tricks to make your hair look clean when it's not
2. Graduate from makeup wipes to a proper skin care routine
Girl, I know makeup wipes are easy. The last thing we want to do before bed is wash our face and moisturize. However, consider that you don’t rinse after using makeup wipes. They inevitably leave a residue on your skin, hence your skin is not truly clean. It takes extra time but I assure you, a few extra steps in your skin care routine is worth it. You can keep it simple by just using an all over cleanser, approved for eye use too, and following up with a moisturizer.
3. Stop shying away from bright lip colors
It makes me sad when someone says “I can’t” wear that color or “I could never pull that off.” Says who? Only you! Your attitude is what determines whether or not you’re pulling off a bold lip. It feels loud the first few times but I guarantee that you’ll get compliments, thus prompting you to wear the look more often. Plus, this is going to be the year of the bold lip and you can take it a little easier on the eyes.
More: The secret behind why your lip balm makes dry lips worse
4. Finally nail down the right foundation shade
With all of the tools that we have available to us, there’s little reason not to be wearing the right foundation color. When in Sephora, ask them to use their Color IQ reader. This is a free service that takes a picture of your skin and reveals an array of in-store matches that are surprisingly accurate and provide for a great starting point! When matching on your own, swipe three possible shades along your jaw line and choose the one that looks the least detectable.
5. Stop setting liquid foundation with powder foundation
If you’re using a liquid foundation with adequate coverage, there is no need to double up on coverage by setting with a powder foundation. Additionally, if you nail your foundation's color match, setting with a different colored powder will create a new, strange shadow that doesn’t match perfectly. A translucent powder will set and mattify without adding another layer of coverage.
6. Start curling your eyelashes
Once you do this prior to applying mascara, you’ll never skip it again. By flipping your lashes upwards, you’ll gain length without a speck of makeup. This video shows you how to curl your lashes and the dramatic difference it makes.
More: How to make your eyelash curler work 10 times better (VIDEO)
7. Darker skin tones — don’t give up
If a makeup artist, store or counter tells you that they don’t have “your” shade or that they can’t match you, keep looking. Don’t give up. There are some wonderful lines that are expanding their shades ranges all the time. For foundation, NARS, Bobbi Brown and Make Up For Ever all do this beautifully. Want to see popular makeup swatches on someone with a similar skin tone as yours? The Instagram account @cocoaswatches and website, Cocoa Swatches, has been a very welcome addition.
Now go on and make 2016 the year that people keep asking, "Have you lost weight? Did you get work done?"