Beauty Pet Peeves and How To Avoid Them!

The Only Way Is Essex... Everyone loves the entertainment it brings and I love it as much as the next person, but boy are there a lot of beauty sins going on.


Now call this a disclaimer if you will, but I really don't consider myself an expert in any way, shape or form this is just a silly tongue in cheek lowdown of my biggest beauty pet peeves. Who knows, my list of pet peeves might be the next persons beauty aspirations but like I say, all good fun! So here are my biggest beauty pet peeves :


- Wonky false eyelashes

Lydia from TOWIE, in fact most of the female cast of TOWIE are repeat offenders. There is no need for this to be happening. 

Tip: Everyone has different sized eyes, yet false lashes come in one size only. Make sure you measure your strip lashes against your eyes and trim to fit. Another reason this can happen, is if you don't bend your strip lashes enough to make them a little more flexible. A good way to do this is to wrap your strip lashes around a make up brush (before putting the glue on of course). This will help when you try to bend them to the natural curve of your eye instead of them going across in a straight line.

- Cake face, and whilst we're on the subject, tide lines.

More isn't always more. Too many layers of badly blended product can result in the dreaded 'Cake Face'. Alternatively as pictured even few layers of badly blended product can produce equally terrifying results.

Tip: Whenever possible apply make up in natural light. This is how the world will mainly be seeing you for the day so it kind of makes sense. Make sure to take some product down onto the neck and if you're going a shade darker, don't forget your ears. Blend, blend, blend... Nothing more needs to be added to this other than BLEND!

- Chipped nail polish

I'm such a nail perfectionist I can't even look at this picture! Nothing makes me smile more than a beautifully manicured nail and it takes 2 seconds to take chipped polish off so there are no excuses. Naked nails look far better than chipped nails.

Tip: If you're prone to chipped nail polish, just take a packet of on the go nail polish remover pads in your bag. Easy peasy...

- Tadpole eyebrows

So wrong... Apologies to anyone actually born with this shape brow (is that even possible?) but there really is no need. Eyebrows frame your face... Do you really want two tadpoles framing your face? I'm guessing the answer to this question is no.

Tip: This one might take some work but my best advice is to book yourself in for an HD Brows consultation. They can work miracles. It may require some growing out but in the meantime Benefit's Brow-Zing is your friend.

- Unblended contouring

The thing with make up is it's supposed to enhance what you already have in a subtle way. If done badly, contouring can look like you are out on a dodgy 'Army' themed Hen-Do with camouflage war paint drawn on.

Tip: As mentioned above with foundation, less is more. It's better to build up from a barely there look, than to put way to much on to begin with and struggle to blend it out. You will just look like you need a good wash!

So that's my round up of beauty pet peeves and I hope you enjoyed. As I said before I am not claiming to be the oracle of beauty, just thought it would be a bit of fun to brighten everyone's Thursday morning.

Raising an eyebrow...

...Or lowering them since according to my HD Brow technician, my eyebrows are too high!

Yes I tried HD Brows which I'd been toying with the idea of for some time. It wasn't until, one morning going about my daily mass deletion of Groupon emails, I saw an offer for the procedure for £15. I couldn't resist and snapped it up, then started to panic about letting my brows grow wild and free.

I'm a bit of a perfectionist with my eyebrows and would be completely lost without Benefit's Brow-Zing, but it doesn't have quite the same effect when you're starting to resemble Wolverine. I went to my appointment on Tuesday after having a patch test done on Saturday (apparently the tint is different to standard tint and manages to dye even the fine downey hairs...).
I have to say I wasn't too impressed to be left waiting for half an hour listening to a beautician talk about topping up her electrcity meter. Anyway that aside the lady who did my brows called me in and seemed really nice. She asked what the 'problem' was with my brows which threw me a little. I wasn't aware this treatment was only for people with problem brows? So I quickly thought on the spot and offered that maybe they were a little high. I certainly didn't expect her to respond with, 'Absolutely they are WAY too high, who on earth shaped them for you?' Umm that would be me aged 13!

She then took a ruler and eyebrow pencil to my face and made loads of measurements and drew all over my face. She handed me the mirror to show me just how 'messed up' my eyebrows really were! Well ok I will admit, it was a little shocking. My left eyebrow is a centimetre higher than my right, but I stand by my point that I wouldn't walk around with measurements all over my face so who would ever know? And anyway maybe I like it that way? It's a cheeky raised eyebrow look... just permenantly!

So after she shamed my poor little brows she took to them with the tint, waxing, plucking, threading and finally pencilled them in.
Now, maybe I'm just used to having anorexic brows but I was definitely not prepared for the chubsters she'd drawn on me. She went through where she'd pencilled in and how that was where I needed to grow my brows out, and to avoid plucking there, but I was in shock!

I rushed home (and after taking a comedy photo for my sister) scrubbed off all the pencil and did them just how I like it. I would definitely say though, my brows looked a million times better and the tint did seem to stand out a lot more than standard tint. I have to admit, I'm not sure this was much more than a good shape and tint. Maybe it's because as she said I, 'don't have much to work with' and maybe this is something for someone with no shape to their brows, or quite thick brows?

That aside I do have before and after pics to share and even one of her comedy pencilling (2mm below my brows and in a different shade!)

Before (With Brow-Zing)



Before (Without Brow-Zing)



After, with her crazy pencilling



After, without anything



And finally...
After treatment, with Brow-Zing, just how I like them! :)