There are many common beauty mistakes that can make someone end up on the beauty-busted list at the back of a magazine. Makeup fads can be really fun, but the definition of a fad is that its lifespan is very short-term and it should end when the fad is over, no matter how much it is loved. 

We all know someone who is still rocking a fad that was popular over 10 years ago – be it barrel-curled bangs or a dark lip liner with a light frosted lip. Since social media can make beauty fads spread quickly, make sure it is really a trend and not a mistake that was caught on by amateurs and spread to the point that it became popular. I am referring to the current Instagram fads like spidery, clumped, fiber eyelashes, and heavily drawn-on eyebrows with a fade. These are all perfect examples of being beauty busted. If you come across a client who is beauty busted, do not worry! Here are a few common mistakes to look for, so you can help clients stay off the list.

EYEBROWS

We might as well start with the infamous Instagram eyebrows. Everyone loves a "selfie" and many girls like to think of themselves as professional or accomplished makeup artist because they enjoy putting makeup on themselves and looking cuter than most of their friends. There is a huge difference between being a professional makeup artist and a selfie-queen doing makeup mostly on yourself. Many non-professional makeup artists on Instagram draw on their eyebrows heavily, highlight under the eyebrow from beginning to end with a white pencil, then fade or lightly color in the beginning of the brow. This only looks pretty, normal, or good on a transgender and ironically this is how the look started – with men trying to make themselves look like women. Women already look like a woman, so when they do this look, they tend to look like a man trying to look like a woman! Exhausted yet? If you look closely at fashion magazines, awards shows, and any non-reality celebrities on television, it can be seen that none of them have an eyebrow with a fade.

Shape
A client's eyebrows should never look drawn on and fake. Up close, the perfectly drawn-on eyebrow might look pretty, but when you put that eyebrow on a face and look at the whole picture, it looks heavy and awkward. Even celebrity makeup artist Wayne Goss recently made a video titled, "Instagram Eyebrows Should Be Illegal." The video is an honest look at the mistake-turned fad.

Color
Eyebrow color is just as important as shape. The biggest mistake in eyebrow color tends to happen with blonde and redhead clients. If a client dyes their hair blonde, their eyebrows need to be dyed to match their darkest blonde highlight. If they are fully platinum blonde, their eyebrows should be a light/dark blonde depending on their skin tone. Having medium to dark brown eyebrows with blonde hair looks very hard and ages a person. If a client dyes their hair red, their eyebrows should have a reddish-brown tint. I usually do not recommend dying eyebrows red because even natural redheads have light brown in their eyebrows. A tinted eyebrow gel is a great way to lighten or alter eyebrow color in-between dying the brows, in addition to or in lieu of dying.

HIGHLIGHT AND CONTOUR

The second most popular beauty fad is highlighting and contouring. This is another technique transgenders use to look feminine. The light and dark colors create dimension and depth in the face where it was once more flat and masculine. Again, if a person is already a woman, this technique should be used with a very light touch. Contour should never really be seen as much as it should be implied and very well blended on the face – just enough to create light and shadow. Contour is placed differently on every face, depending on what the client is trying to minimize and accentuate. Never, ever should there be visible white circles around the eyes or stripes down the sides of their nose or cheeks. The key to contouring is blending and making sure a bronzer is not used for contouring due to the orange shimmer in bronzers.

EYELASHES

Since the beginning of time, women have found ways to make their eyelashes longer, thicker, and darker. If you see pictures of someone with and then without mascara and/or eyelashes, it is quite evident that eyelashes make a difference. Eyelashes look best when they are full, thick, long, dark, and curled. At the same time, they should always look clean, separated, and smooth. Mascara, eyelash extensions, and fake eyelashes are a great way to achieve this look, as long as they look natural with no clumping or clusters of eyelashes glued together. The new trend of fiber mascara tends to not look natural, smooth, or pretty. Only a very skilled person can apply the fiber
mascara without it looking clumpy, spidery, and very fake to the point of distraction. It should not be attempted unless application is stopped before the mascara begins to clump.

EYELINER

Eyeliner is an easy and colorful way to accentuate the color and shape of a client's eyes. Their eye shape and desired look will determine how thick to go and where to apply the eyeliner. Some women want a cat eye and some almond, but no one wants their eyes to look droopy. Putting eyeliner only on the bottom of the eye out of either laziness or lack of time creates a very droopy-looking eye that ages the whole face. If only one line is desired, line the outer, top part of the eye.

LIPS

The current trend for lips is big and juicy! Not duck lips – just natural, full, soft, and moist lips. Dark lip liner with a much lighter color lipstick was popular in the 1980s and some women cannot break the habit. This style only makes the lips appear smaller and if the lipstick is frosted, the lips appear cracked and dry. Again, this trend started in the trasngender community to mimic the full 

lips of a woman. Lip liner should be used to give a client's lips definition while keeping lipstick in place, not to draw on huge lips. The lip liner and lipstick color should not be more than half a shade apart to create the most natural look. Another current trend is pink, chalk-colored lipstick. This trend gives a very fake look, almost like wax lips, which are not very kissable. It also makes the woman look like a toddler in many cases.

SELF-TANNING

Being a Jersey girl, self-tanner has been a big part of my life since the late 1980s. I am all for it and love it. Tan and orange are actually two different colors and unless a client is trying out to be an Oompa Loompa, it is better to be lightly tanned than darkly tanned and appearing orange. There are definitely tricks to applying self-tanner that can make it look natural and give clients a youthful glow. The easiest way to get ultraviolet-free color is with a daily moisturizer that contains a very small amount of self-tanner. Since the tan appears gradually, it is almost impossible to make a mistake. The only downside is that a few applications is needed to get the color the client may prefer. If using a self-tanner cream, make sure to thoroughly exfoliate the client's dead skin cells first, so the end result is not blotchy and it fades more evenly. On drier skin or lined areas like ankles, elbows, and hands, mix the self-tanner cream with moisturizer for an even tan. Less is more over cracked skin.

If a client has a formal event, make sure that they have no tan lines. If they have white stripes contrasting their tan, it looks like they should be at a barbeque, not a formal event. Self-tanner is a great way to minimize the contrast, but since the colors will not match perfectly, a bronzer, concealer, or temporary body color can be used to blend the client's tan lines.

HAIR

Hair has had many trends throughout the years, but evenly-colored, healthy, shiny hair is always in style. Watch out for hair that is tangled, frizzy, and stringy, which tends to happen if hair is over-processed or has not been cut in a while. If a client's hair is unhealthy, it will knot easily and never look smooth.

Hair Extensions
Many women have hair extensions and there are many ways to have them put in to create length and volume. Clip-in hair is the best method if the client can afford it. As the extensions grow out, the attachments become very visible, separate from their own hair, look matted, and are very unhealthy. Plus, the weight of the extensions pull the hair and create even more damage.

Ombre Color
Although ombre is very popular, it is really a busted beauty look. Ombre became popular because so many women could not afford to touch-up their highlights during the start of the last recession. Very few women can rock this look and very few stylists can execute this look. A much more flattering and effective type of long-lasting highlights are peek-a-boo highlights, where the highlights are in the layers under the top layer. This makes the hair look very natural, healthy, and fresh. Plus, it is easy on the wallet!

Lora Condon, The Beauty Buster, is a national award-winning aesthetician and a beauty consumer advocate. InStyle Magazine featured her as the "Best Eyebrow Shaper in New Jersey," and she has been featured on Dr. Oz as a leading beauty insider. Condon excels at helping spas creatively market themselves for immediate results. Her book, "SPA WARS: The Ugly Truth About The Beauty Industry" received rave write-ups in the New York Times, many beauty blogs and trade magazines. www.makeupwithme.com