Beauty Tips I Wish I'd Known As A Teenager

I'm sure we've all been guilty of our fair share of beauty misdemeanors in the past. Even now I admit I don't always get it right, but it's so cringy to look back at some of the things you used to do as a teenager, and think you looked pretty good doing them! Here are some of the tips I wish I'd followed when I was a teenager, to stop these terrible crimes being comitted!


Test foundation in natural light
Oh dear, the dreaded orange lines on jaw line. Quite often I'd walk out of Boots with a foundation far to dark for my skintone, which I thought was perfect, and I'd end up looking tangoed. I think a big problem for me, and still is, is that a lot of drugstore brands don't do pale enough shades, so I used to just assume that the palest shade they had would be ok for me.

Don't wash your hair every day
Ok, this bad habit was actually one that I carried way into my twenties too. I was obsessive over my hair, thinking it had to be washed every day or it would look terrible. Obviously, eventually that became the case, as I washed it so much that it would become greasy really easily. Eventually I weaned myself off and now only wash my hair three times a week, sometimes less, and it takes much longer for the grease to show.

Fake tan takes time to develop
If I wasn't orange enough from the dodgy foundation, then a little mishap with the fake tan definitely ensured I was. The first time I came to use fake tan, which was in a spray can, I sprayed a thin layer over my face and body, took a look in the mirror and decided I wasn't tanned enough. I sprayed and sprayed until I was happy with the tone of my skin, but which point almost the whole can had gone. Three hours later I looked like I'd spent the last year on a Caribbean island! Lesson learned!

Less is more
In my teens I was really into my super shiny silver eyeshadow and heavy black eyeliner. I don't think I knew what a subtle natural look was. I'm surprised I got away with it, as I wore this makeup to school every day - maybe because I was so shy and sensitive the teachers didn't dare tell me off! Needless to say, once I hit sixth form, I ditched the silver shadow and opted for a nude eye instead.

Thread your eyebrows
It took me a really long time to discover eyebrow threading. I'd occasionally go in with tweezers in an attempt to tidy them up a bit, but it would get too painful and I'd give up halfway through, leaving me with uneven, and still messy looking, brows. I even remember once shaving the hairs above my nose just to get rid of my monobrow - do not try this at home!

What beauty tips do you wish you'd learned as a teen?