3. Using a Warm-Toned Eyebrow Pencil

If your hair is ginger or auburn, skip over this one—you’re fine. But if your hair isn’t intensely warm-toned (read: redheads) then you’re probably using an eyebrow pencil that doesn’t match your hair colour, and people can tell.

Err on the side of grey or ashy-toned eyebrow pencils, even if you think they look too dull when you swatch them. If you look closely at most people’s eyebrows, they are quite cool in tone, so when you block them in with colour, you don’t want to cause a jarring contrast. A subtle cool-toned blonde or ash brown pencil will define your brows without drawing attention to them.

4. Black Eyeliner on the Waterline

I was a firm believer in this makeup mistake as a teenager, but thankfully I’ve since seen the light. Many women wear black eyeliner all along their bottom lash-line, and it’s a harsh look.

There are two solutions to this mistake. First of all, try lining only the outer half or even just the outer third of your eye on the bottom, and blend the line into a taper where it ends. This defines the eye without looking stark. The second thing you can try is picking a brown or grey eyeliner pencil, rather than a solid black. It’s more subtle, without giving up on eyeliner entirely.

5. Putting Powder All Over Your Face

Putting powder all over your face will certainly stop it from looking shiny, but the reality is that most women don’t produce oil evenly all over their face. If you powder every last centimetre of your skin, you run the risk of looking matte and heavy.

The solution? Only powder where you know you’ll get oily. This is through the centre of the face, on the nose and forehead for most people. Another spot to dust with powder is on either side of your nose, just above your smile lines. You’ll look balanced, but not flat.