Beauty Boy: Makeup myths

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: JOSHUA R. WALLER
There are countless myths in the makeup world, thankfully Beauty Boy is here to debunk them and guarantee you have a flawless look.

With the hundreds of beauty bloggers, Instagram makeup artists and YouTube “gurus”, there is a lot of information about makeup that circulates around the Internet. Unfortunately, a lot of this material is incorrect and often leads to false hopes. Here are some of the top makeup and skincare myths that need to be debunked.

Myth: the size of your pores can be decreased.

Fact: the look of your pores can be minimized, but the physical size is impossible to decrease. When you look at any pore primer or serum, read the claims carefully and notice that they all say “the look of pores” or “appears smaller”. While these products make for a beautiful makeup application, the size of your pores will always remain the same.

Myth: people with oily skin can’t use oils on their face.

Fact: while you have to be careful not to use really heavy oils, dry oils are actually excellent for people with oily skin. They help balance the skin out, draw out “bad oils” and help the skin stop over producing sebum. When you use too many harsh, stripping cleansers, the skin will start to overcompensate and produce a lot of excess sebum.

Myth: your concealer should be a shade lighter then your skin tone.

Fact: your concealer should match your skin tone perfectly. If you try and use too light of a concealer, you will actually end up making your dark circles look even worse. Putting too light of a shade onto a shadowed area will give the skin a blue-ish grey tint, which for most people is not ideal.

Myth: if you want to look tanned, put bronzer all over your face.

Fact: if you want to look like an Oompa Loompa, this method is ideal. However, if you want to look like you have a natural tan, you want to apply bronzer on the areas of the face where the sun will naturally hit. The easiest way to do this is by applying it in the shape of a three on both sides of your face; start at the temples, down to the cheekbones and then down to your jaw line.

Myth: mature women can’t wear shimmer on the eyes.

Fact: this is by far my biggest pet peeve in the makeup world. If mature women stick to just matte colours, it ends up looking flat, chalky and lifeless. Adding a bit of shimmer to the eye area will actually brighten up the eyes and give an overall younger appearance.