A pretty and flourishing beauty dresser certainly looks like a picture from your Pinterest mood board—a goal for every beauty enthusiast to build. However, if you’ve been on a journey to put together a beauty vanity that ticks off all your skincare, hair care and makeup needs, you recognise the fact that this can be a boujee (read: expensive) affair.
Having said that, we live in the era of beauty hacks, which means you can give a few not-so-essential beauty products a miss by DIY-ing your way to creating your versions of them. For instance, a video demonstrating how to create a tinted lip gloss by mixing clear gloss or petroleum jelly with a vibrant lipstick has been circulating on social media. Ahead, we throw the spotlight on some of the best and easy makeup hacks that we learned from the online school of beauty, and you should know too.
1. Eyeshadow + Micellar water = Eyeliner
In the case of eyeliners, how many (colours) are too many? However, shopping for eyeliners of every colour on the spectrum may not be the most feasible choice. Instead, shopping for one colourful eyeshadow palette like the Xx Revolution Eye Shadow Palette - Xxccentric from Makeup Revolution or the MARS Eyes Can Kill Eyeshadow Palette can help you convert a wide array of colours into corresponding eyeliners. How? By creating a liquid liner using eyeshadow and micellar water. All you need for this eyeliner hack are an eyeshadow palette, micellar water, and a fine, precise eyeliner brush.
2. Underpainting
While #underpainting features over 1,81,000 posts on Instagram, the hashtag boasts over 183 million views on TikTok. Clearly, this viral hack holds some merit. Underpainting refers to the technique of generously wearing face makeup products such as blush, contour, and of course, colour corrector (if you use it) on bare skin before you apply your foundation. Next, you apply a desired layer of foundation on top to cheat your way to skin that looks flushed, snatched and perfected from within. How does underpainting let you save some bucks, you ask? By eliminating the need to layer cream and powder makeup products. While there are no hard-and-fast rules in the case of makeup, to retain the natural look, you can skip layering a powder-based blush and contour by opting for underpainting.
3. Customise your foundation
Think about this: you love a cult-favourite foundation such as the Maybelline New York Fit Me Matte + Poreless Liquid Foundation but have dry skin or invested in the Clinique Even Better Glow Liquid Foundation but have oily skin; how, in that case, do you make a foundation, not created for your skin type, work for your skin? The answer is customisation. To make any foundation work for your skin, all you might need to do is infuse some skincare or makeup product from your makeup kit into the foundation. For instance, to make a matte foundation creamier and more luminous, add a facial oil or glow-boosting serum to it and then apply it to your face. On the other hand, to augment the mattifying effect of a foundation, mix it with some loose powder like the Estee Lauder Double Wear Sheer Flattery Loose Powder and a few spritzes of fixing spray before swiping it on the skin.
4. The no-falsies false lash look
Have you ended up compiling a tray full of mascara products in the quest for thick, fluttery lashes that can be noticed from a mile away? We feel you. However, you don’t need a lot of products to achieve the perfect lash look—the technique also counts. As demonstrated in this video, begin by curling your lashes and applying copious coats of mascara, preferably one that lengthens and volumizes. Next, use the body of your makeup brush to lift the lashes from the roots and hold them for a few seconds. Go one step further by using your finger to lift and curl lashes. Finally, go in with mascara one last time for lashes that can put falsies to shame.
5. Any pencil can be any liner
Using an ashy brown eyebrow pencil as a lip liner sounds like a weird makeup hack, but it does the job. Similarly, a brown lip liner can also double up as an eyeliner or vice-versa. An eyebrow pencil can also be used to create faux freckles or a smudged and diffused winged eyeliner. In summary, you can use most of your makeup pencils (for eyes, lips, or brows) in more ways than you might think, potentially saving you from purchasing additional makeup products. Trust us, it’s one of the best makeup hacks ever.
6. Multipurpose products, FTW
A lip and cheek tint, brow and lash mascara, eye pencils and liquid illuminators are some of the common multi-use makeup products that are investment worthy. No makeup hack here, just a budget-friendly tip.
