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Makeup trends, such as the Kim Kardashian contour, should be left in 2015. Instead try new trends to help your face look fresh.

Every year beauty bloggers, makeup companies and runway shows produce new and exciting trends. Some are glamorous, some are edgy and some just need to be left behind and forgotten. From bold brows to glitter in unusual places, 2015 was filled with many makeup trends that some of which need not carry on.

Brow focus was a huge trend in 2015 and still continues into the new year, and while bold brows are an excellent way to accentuate and frame your face, overdone and painted on brows are not flattering and stand out in a negative way. Instead of lacquering on a brow gel or applying creamy brow pencils with a heavy hand, lightly feather on brow powder or pencil them in with small strokes, imitating the look of brow hairs. You can still achieve bold, voluptuous brows without them looking like they have been painted on.

Contouring and highlighting have continued to be a prominent trend throughout the years but it’s time to put an end to the Kim K contour. Applying dark cream contours all over to make your face look slimmer may look great on Instagram, but looks heavy and artificial in real life.

While contouring and highlighting is a great way to shape and define your face shape, you don’t need to constantly paint your face to achieve this. Lightly dust contour powder to the hollows of your cheeks and a little bit around your jaw line and you can achieve the same effect. Even the new trend strobing is an excellent, softer way to define your face.

Another trend that is a must-go is the overdrawn lips. Everyone wants bigger and fuller lips, but going to the extreme of using a lip liner to create your own lip line is unnatural and can be spotted from a mile away.

There are many tricks to create fuller looking lips while still looking natural. Use lighter coloured lipsticks, use a slightly darker lip liner along your bottom lip line, add gloss and highlight your cupid’s bow with a concealer.

Lastly, over-the-top lashes need to be left behind in 2015. Voluminous lashes are a definite way to draw attention to your eyes and can make them look bigger, but oversized false lashes are distracting and can look plastic. To get nice and full lashes, apply multiple coats of mascara, use a lash enhancing primer or even apply individuals lashes.

It is always fun to experiment with new and creative makeup trends, but sometimes that’s as far as it needs to go. Leave the over the top, unflattering makeup trends in 2015 and start with a fresh and beautiful face for 2016.