We’ve written a lot of beauty content this year. Hundreds of articles to be exact. In them, were loads of tips and tricks we’d gleaned from the experts. But how on earth are we meant to remember them all?
To make your life (and ours) easier, we’ve gone through and rounded up the best of the best beauty hacks we discovered this year. So save it, send it to a friend or print it out and stick it to your fridge/mirror. You’re welcome.
1. It’s okay to use your fingers (sometimes).
“The key is to really work the foundation into the skin with the warmth of your fingers,” celebrity makeup artist Max Made told Mamamia about the look he created with Avon for the Michael Lo Sordo show at Mercedez Benz Fashion Week Australia earlier this year.
“This will give it a far more natural finish than using a brush.”
2. The trick to an intense highlight.
“If you want the extra intense highlight, spray makeup fixer on the brush then apply your highlighter,” Marketing Manager and INGLOT professional makeup artist Courtney Sinclair told us of the look she created for the Mariam Seddiq show at MBFWA.
3. To bring back organic products.
Organic products are great but they do tend to dry out faster.
Endota Spa Ambassador and Makeup Artist Teneille Sorgiovanni told us the great and simple tip of spraying face mist directly onto them (particularly if they’re cream products) to instantly bring them back to life.
Listen: Zoe Foster Blake shares her best beauty advice for busy women. (Post continues after audio…)
4. Use a flannel in your skincare regimen.
According to Kate Middleton‘s makeup artist Arabella Preston, there’s just one item needed to wash and cleanse your face properly – and it will only cost you a few dollars at most.
“It’s all about the flannel and it’s quite necessary,” Preston recently told The Cut beauty editor Kathleen Hou.
According to Preston, the humble British towelling tool allows you to properly wipe all the makeup and dirt from your skin as well as gently exfoliating it – and it’s way more gentle than any battery-operated cleansing brushes.
5. To fake awake.
“Create a wide-awake eye look by adding a touch of shimmer to the inner corners of the eyes,” makeup artist and official makeup partner of MBFWA Napoleon Perdis said of the look he created for the MBFWA Swim Show.
“Whether you’re rocking a smokey eye, or just a simple coat of mascara, a little pop of shimmer instantly brightens up any look.”
6. To achieve the perfect bold lip.
"We use the cushion foundation to just pat over the lip to give it a base and then we go over it with a lip brush and make it round," MBFWA Makeup Director Nigel Stanislaus said of the look for the Zhivago show created with Maybelline.
While it allows you to get the truest colour, it also sticks better, meaning it will last longer.
7. How to find the ideal colour for your brows.
"I look at a few things including hair colour, brow colour and skin tone," Benefit Australia's national brow artist Hannah Terrett told us.
"It's always a good guide to go a a shade or two deeper than what you are naturally. It frames your face and gives shape which is why your hair colour isn't always the most flattering colour for your brows.
"Two shades deeper is ideal."
8. To get a pout without fillers.
The trick to creating a fuller pout? Using two different coloured lipsticks to fake depth.
"We used two two lipsticks, one a deeper nude and then a lighter nude in the centre to give that beautiful pout," Lancome National Makeup Artist Lara Srokowski said of the look created for the MBFWA Sass and Bide show.
9. How to tightline without blinding yourself.
"Best thing to do is to raise your chin and look down into the mirror. It allows you to give a lift on the eyes themselves," said Jane Richardson, Global Artistry Director for NARS.
"Don't place your hand and pull up on the skin here - you need to put your finger on your eyelid and pull up. It releases the lashes and the lash line away from the eye ball so it allows you to go right in.
"Imagine that you're thickening up the lash line at the bottom. This allows you to have beautiful contrast against your eye and makes lashes look thicker and then the colour of your eyes has that black/white contrast against it so it looks brighter."
10. To get clean, crisp lipstick...
"I love lining the lips afterwards. I don't think a lip liner makes lipstick last longer (controversial I know!). Primer makes your lip products last longer," Senior MAC makeup artist Nicole Thompson told us before the MBFWA Bec and Bridge show.
"I feel like I've got more control with a liner pencil than with a brush. Sometimes the lipstick can get a little crazy so I like to apply the lipstick, not worry about the edge, then fix it with the liner."
11. The trick to perfect eyeliner.
Gigi Hadid shared her trick to perfectly flawless eyeliner every time with Glamour starting with lining her entire upper lashline with black eyeliner, before flicking out the wing.
Then she goes over the pencil with liquid eyeliner and then uses a cotton bud soaked in makeup remover underneath to get a very precise, crisp line.
12. The secret to making your tan last longer.
According to Johnson's Baby ambassador Phoebe Burgess, the secret to a good tan is one of her daughter Poppy's bath products.
"Because I have relatively sensitive skin I use Johnson's Sensitive body touch to keep my tan up. I also use their oils, and the moisturiser to keep my tan alive," she says.