Worst Makeup Trends I’m Done With: Highlighter on the Nose

image: Andrew Kimber

 

 

I’ve spent 25 years in makeup, working with pros at Chanel and L’Oreal, and five years out hasn’t dulled my disdain for stupid trends. TikTok and Instagram girls, what’s with the highlighter on the nose tip? This nonsense should’ve died years ago, but it’s still here, and it looks bloody awful. Let me break it down.

 

Contour and highlight aren’t random. Contour is an implied shadow—matte, cool-toned, greyish-brown, not bronzer. Stand by a window, check your mirror: that’s the shadow we recreate. It pulls back areas—cheekbones, chin, forehead, nose. I’ve faked a six-pack for shoots, but that’s another story. 

 

Cheek contour doesn’t stop mid-cheek—that’s blush territory, don’t mess it up. Done right, it slims and defines. I’d use something pro-grade like Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Stick Foundation matte, blends like a dream.

 

Highlight brings things forward. Top of cheekbones, bridge of the nose—just the bony bit, not the ball—cupid’s bow, brow bone. That’s it. Noses are already forward; they don’t need more attention. Slapping highlighter on the tip doesn’t look cute—it looks like you’ve been sweating buckets. I worked with professional models; they’d never pull this crap. Backstage, we kept glow subtle, enhancing features, not turning them into a disco ball. A pro pick like Dior Forever Couture Luminizer Intense Highlighting Powder give a soft radiance, not a greasy shine.

This trend needs to die, never to be seen again. Makeup should enhance, not make you look ridiculous.

 

 

What’s the worst makeup look you’ve tried—drop it in the comments.

Eyebrow Looks I’ve Outlasted: From Thin to Bushy and Back

 

Georgina at Hermes backstage, makeup and photo by me

 

 

 

 

Seeing that I have walked away from my makeup career almost five years ago, I can now reflect on some trends over the twenty-five years in the industry.

 

Eyebrows “frame the face” and set the tone of the whole look. Coming from the overplucked 90s eyebrows that instantly aged every wearer – to crazy caterpillar type of brows of the late 2010s and squared off tattooed brows, you can say I’ve seen and dealt with all of the types.

What all of these trends had in common were that none of them were natural and “timeless”.

 

I’ll start with overplucked eyebrows. I’ve heard many stories that they never grow back after too much plucking – I call bullshit. If you overpluck them for 20 years then yes, you may have weakened the hair follicle root, but seeing how much money we spend on waxing and epilation, the stuff grows. From places you thought no hair should grow. Your natural eyebrow shape might not have been the best, but there are tricks to deal with those, I’ll get to some products suggestions later. But I do find that people get “stuck” on the shape they think it works best and they’re unwilling to budge.

 

Fat eyebrows – you know the look. Cara Delavigne kind of started the trend and eventually it got out of control. I definitely prefer more natural eyebrows, but they should be still groomed. But never pluck them from the top, the eyebrows should be shaped so they lift your eye – eyebrows can do that, you don’t have to do the “eyebrow lift” so you look like everyone on Instagram.

 

Tattooed eyebrows –I almost considered this at one point, I am so glad I never did them.

Now I’ll tell you why I don’t recommend them.

Tattooed eyebrows are considered semi-permanent makeup with results highly dependent on the skill of the artist and the ability of the said artist to correctly mix the right pigments for your skin tone and give you the shape that suits your face. As the pigment deposits are not as deep as the traditional tattoo, such pigment will fade and would need topping up. And when those pigments fade, they eyebrows will be reddish or greenish (I have seen plenty on clients).

Another point is the shape – literally nobody has a squared off natural eyebrow – that shape is achieved when you pluck the monobrow and fill it in with makeup it then looks squared off, but I repeat, nobody has natural eyebrows like that so I am unsure why the trend for tattoos for that shape.

Most of the time it’s too dark, makes women too severe looking, especially once you hit 40s.

 

What I do recommend is grooming eyebrows into the right shape. For that I like a toothbrush type eyebrow brush – Bamboo toothbrush with boar bristles  is the type I like to use. You brush the eyebrows upwards at the eyebrow bone – it lifts the eye corners and then you fill in the bits and bobs and form the shape.

I love Kevyn Aucoin eyebrow pencils – they’re bit on the pricy side but the colours are the best and they’re great at filing in the gaps in natural eyebrows. For more budget options Maybelline Express Brow Ultra Slim Defining Natural Fuller Looking Brows Eyebrow Pencil is decent. Eyebrow pencils are mix of wax and pigments, so mass market brands generally use less expensive and more limited pigment selections, so bear that in mind.

If you need to visually “fatten” the eyebrows, then using a highly pigmented eyeshadow with a smaller boar brush would be your best option. Revolution does a decent eyeshadow palette with colours that can be used for eyebrows.

 

To deposit colour on eyebrows use a natural boar hair angled brush such as Bobbi Brown 

 

I dislike synthetic brushes for eyebrows, the bristle must be firm enough in order to pick up more pigment and synthetics just don’t behave the same.

 

And as a last thing, you can set the eyebrows in shape if you spray some L’Oreal Elnett on the boar brush and brush the eyebrows into shape. Elnett doesn’t flake and has a firm hold so your eyebrows will be fixed until you wash your face.

 

What’s the worst eyebrow look you’ve tried? 

 

 

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