Don’t cake on the foundation like the Beauty Gurus of YouTube show you how to do in their makeup tutorials! All that special lighting they use makes their skin and pores look flawless, but that illusion unravels as soon as they walk out the door and out into the real world.

To keep your makeup looking natural, use a light touch and apply it to the areas that you’re most concerned about, such as under your eyes, nose, and cheeks. Blending, not caking, is the key to a flawless face!

Although black eyeliner looks great on darker complexions, a thick and heavy cat-eye look is not for everyone. If you’re pale as a ghost, it’ll just make you look like you’re wearing theatrical makeup!

Here are some helpful eyeliner tips:

• Lighter complexions should stick with brown liner.
• Pick a lighter, more subtle shade if you line underneath your eyes.
• Use a nude liner on your waterline – black will just make your eyes look smaller.
• For a more natural look, line 3/4 of the upper lid and skip the inner corners.
• Use pencil or kohl liners – they look more natural and you can blend them, unlike liquid liners. Or better yet, just use eyeshadow to line your lids!

If you want eyelashes that look longer, fuller, and downright flirty, then don’t apply more than two coats. Otherwise, you’ll end up with that clumpy, spider lash look.

Shimmery and glittery eyeshadows may look glamorous on Instagram, but in real life it can emphasize wrinkles and crepey eyelids, making you look older than you want to.

You can still add a little bit of glam, just reserve the shiny stuff for the inner corner of your eye and use matte shades on the rest of your lids.

Remember when pencil-thin eyebrows were all the rage? Now it seems like everyone is penciling in heavy, perfectly shaped caterpillars on their foreheads!

If you want your brows to look fuller, use an angled brush dipped in powder to fill in what you’re lacking – with a light touch, of course!

If you’re lost and clueless as to what your brows are supposed to look like, visit a professional to get the perfect shape that flatters you. And remember, “natural” never goes out of style.

Are you supposed to apply your concealer before your foundation, or the other way around? All the beauty advice out there can be so confusing, but it all boils down to which type of foundation you’re using.

If you’re using a powder foundation, apply the concealer first. If you apply it after the fact, the concealer will look mottled and clumpy.

Here’s another concealer tips to live by:

Don’t slather it directly onto onto your dark circles – it’ll just make you look older! Instead, put a few drops on top of your cheekbone (just beneath the undereye area) and gently blend upwards.

Blending can make the difference between a beautiful makeup job and one that looks like it was done while you were half-asleep and applying it in the dark.

Special brushes and egg-shaped sponges are popular choices for blending away the harsh lines on your face. And don’t forget that you can also use your fingers as a blending tool – just make they’re clean to prevent blemishes.

There are a ton of tutorials out there that can show you how to blend makeup the right way. Watch and learn, ladies!

When it comes to looking gorgeous, lighting can have just as much of an affect on your looks as the makeup itself. For example, have you ever noticed how terrible you look under the “cool” fluorescent lights of a public restroom?

Applying your makeup next to a window with natural light is best, but when it’s cloudy outside, a “warm” white light from an LED source is a good substitute. It can mimic the color spectrum of natural sunlight and evenly distribute the “rays” across your entire face.

Smooth, moisturized skin is critical to making sure that your makeup looks like a masterpiece every single time! Remember, your face is a canvas, and you don’t want to “paint” over something that’s dull, cracked, and tired looking.

Most people have a twice-daily face washing routine, but what you remove all the dirt and makeup with is just as important as how many times a day you wash your face.

Harsh cleansers, soaps, and scrubs that strip away the beneficial oils your skin naturally produce can leave it looking dry and flaky. If you want naturally glowing skin, then treat your face like a baby’s bottom and only use products with gentle ingredients!

It happens to all of us. After staying out late to party or go on a date, we come home so tired that the only thing we care about is jumping right into bed and nodding off to sleep.

It’s okay to do this on rare occasions, but there’s no excuse for regularly going to bed with a full face of makeup when the bathroom sink is right there! If you don’t want to wake up to an unsightly blemish in the morning, remove all traces of makeup before you hit the hay.

A quick spritz of perfume on your pulse points, which are behind your ears and on your wrists, is all you really need to smell fresh and pretty. But, don’t go overboard or you may give yourself and everyone else around you a headache with the cloying, overpowering scent.

Dry shampoo is a godsend for those lazy days when you don’t feel like jumping in the shower and washing your hair. But, there’s a right and a wrong way to use it.

Dry shampoo absorbs the oil in your hair so it doesn’t look so greasy. But, if you use a can of spray shampoo, give it time to do its job and let it dry completely before styling.

Don’t spray it too close to your scalp or hair or you’ll have a wet, over-saturated mess. Keep the nozzle about six inches away from your head to make sure all the dry shampoo particles are evenly distributed on your strands.

Don’t use it indefinitely! Dry shampoo should be used like a bandaid and not an everyday beauty routine. You still need to wash your hair with real shampoo one or two days after you apply it. Otherwise your hair will build up with chemicals and start to feel and look pretty gross.

Flashy fingernails with gems, glitter, and fancy designs are great for special occasions. But maintaining a subdued, simple manicure is best for making sure that your nails stay healthy.

Every great eye look starts with eyeshadow on the lids, but don’t stop the magic right there! A single color on the lid is pretty boring, but if you add a golden or silvery highlight on your brow bone, it can make your eyes really pop!

Don’t make the mistake of applying blush directly to your cheeks Tap the excess powder off the brush first, or you may end up looking like Ronald McDonald.

Also, don’t apply blush to bare naked skin. Without the smooth canvas that foundation or primer provides, the color may end up looking dry and patchy.

Face powder is great for giving your makeup a polished look and for blotting excess oil from your nose. But, as you age, powder can settle into fine lines and emphasize all the things you’re trying to hide. Just use it on your T-zone or use a very light touch with each passing birthday.

Young people can get away with wearing dark lipstick shades, but it’s only because they’re young and we tend to forgive them when they sport tacky blue, purple, and black hues on their lips. If you want to enhance your beauty and not scare all the little kids in the neighborhood away, avoid dark lipstick trends like the plague.

If you don’t want your lips to look like an unfinished page in a coloring book, don’t make the mistake of lining them in a shade that doesn’t match your lipstick.

Lip liner is meant to give definition to the shape of your lips, and when properly applied no one is supposed to even know it’s there.

If you’re chasing after a beachy sunkissed tan look, don’t make the mistake of brushing bronzer all over your face. Limit its application to places where the sun naturally gives you a glow, like your cheekbone, top of your forehead, and jawline. Anywhere else, and you’ll just end up looking like an Oompa Loompa from Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.

Don’t let your friend do your makeup for any important occasion, like your wedding or a blind date. No matter how “good” they are at doing their own makeup, it’s a whole different story when they’re applying it from an entirely different angle.

Sure, your eyes may look fantastic right after you apply shadow, but with each passing hour your carefully applied lids will start to slide off or fade away. That’s why everyone needs a good primer for their lids! It can stop shadow from settling into the eyelid crease and basically make the color last into the wee hours of the night.

If you want your makeup to stay in place all day without fading, smearing, or drowning in an oil spill, then you need to set your face with a good primer before you even think of touching foundation or concealer! Primers fill in pores and smooth out fine lines, which makes it easier for your skin to look flawless.

Don’t smear your lips with a fresh layer of lipstick every time you go to the bathroom. It’ll just end up looking cakey and messy. Unless you’ve just eaten a greasy burger, a light dab on your lips should be enough for a quick touch up.

You have to choose one or the other! If you try to make both your eyes and your lips the center of attention, your face will just end up looking like a corny circus act. Pick one feature that you want to go bold with, and use subdued hues everywhere else.

Glitter is not makeup! Sure, it’s fun to sprinkle yourself with a bit of glitter for a summer music festival, but that’s where it should stop. Glitter doesn’t do anything to enhance your looks, and in the worst case scenario it can actually scratch your cornea and make you go blind!

It’s always a good idea to stay within the same (or complementing opposite) color family when it comes to your makeup and outfits. But, there’s no need to make your entire face and body look like it came from the same monotone paint factory!

You know how sometimes you wake up with pillow marks on your face from sleeping on your side or stomach? Well, if you multiply that by every single night of your life, and you can pretty much predict exactly where your permanent wrinkles are going to be.

It might take some time to get into the habit of sleeping on your back, but your future 60-year-old face will thank you.

One of the most common mistakes that women make is choosing the wrong foundation shade. Your foundation should match your skin tone exactly, which means you shouldn’t choose something that’s too light or too dark, or use a warm peachy color when your undertone is a cool pink hue.

If you’re unsure if your foundation is a match, a beauty adviser and places like Sephora or Ulta can help you choose the correct shade. And remember, if it’s warmth and color that you’re after, that’s where blushes and bronzers come into play.

There’s nothing wrong with packing on the eyeshadow if you’re going after an intense, smokey eye look. Just don’t forget the number one rule of wearing eyeshadow – blend, blend, and then blend some more for good measure! If you apply a lid, contour and highlight It’s important to blur the lines between all the different shades you use on your eyes.

Waterproof mascara sounds great in theory, but it’s really hard to remove. You could actually end up losing some lashes or look like a raccoon when you try to wash it off at the end of the day. Stick with regular mascara, unless you’re going to a funeral or you live in a rainforest.

If you slather on gobs of lip gloss, all that dewy, wet shine will only make it seem as if your lips are melting off your face. Use the wand sparingly – you only need a little bit of shine to give your lips the illusion that it’s fuller than it really is.

Nothing can ruin the look of kissably soft lips than flaky skin that looks like a snake getting ready to shed. Get in the habit of applying lip balm at night to keep your lips moisturized, and if they do become dry and chapped, a gentle sugar scrub can help remove the icky flakes.

Makeup brushes can quickly accumulate things like dirt, bacteria, and dead skin cells. If you don’t clean your makeup brushes regularly, these beauty tools can defeat the purpose of helping to make you look pretty. Be sure to wash dirty brushes once a week so they don’t clog your pores and give you blemishes!

Hold up your wrists to your face and see if you can spot the problem. The color of the skin on your arm is very different from your face! That’s why swatching eyeshadow and foundation on your arm is totally useless when it comes to picking the right shade for your face.

If you really want to know what a color will look like, swatch the testers along your jawline and then use a makeup remover wipe to clean your face.

You know how self-professed makeup gurus like to brush dark contour colors into the hollows of their cheeks, across their forehead, on the outside of their nose, and right along the jawline? Or what about baking concealer all over their face to help brighten it?

While it may look good on camera, in real life contouring like that ends up looking like a streaky mess. All those celebrity photos with contour jobs gone wrong prove that it’s just better to stick with the basics.

If you apply lipstick to bare lips, it won’t have any staying power and will fade away before your lunchtime meal even has a chance to rub it all away. If you want to make your lipstick last, dab some primer onto your lips and keep some in your purse for on-the-go touchups.

We all know that you’re supposed to throw out your mascara every 2-3 months due to bacterial growth. But, don’t toss it out a month after you opened it just because it’s starting to get thick and clumpy. Add a couple of drops of saline solution into the tube to refresh the formula, and it’ll be good as new!

Some products like creams, nail polish, eyeliner, and perfumes contain oils and waxes that don’t fare very well in the fluctuating temperatures and humidity of your bathroom. So, where exactly are you supposed to store it? The fridge, of course! The cooler temps can help prolong their shelf life.

Not only should your makeup change with the seasons, but it should also change with the fashions! We all have our holy grail makeup product that we can’t live without, but we all know what happens when you get stuck in a rut and don’t switch things up. You end up looking like a Throwback Thursday from your high school years!