Have you ever bought a product that seemed SO right, only to get home and be underwhelmed by its performance? That happened to me with all the following products. The good news is my faith in them was restored when I figured out these misunderstood products weren’t to blame. I was using them ALL WRONG!
First up is MAC’s Fix +
People RAVE about this stuff and I was thrilled to give it a try. l bought it to set my makeup, and immediately hated it because I felt like it wasn’t keeping everything in place. Such a letdown!
After reading up and doing more research I learned that I misunderstood this product. Fix + is actually meant to take away the “powdery” look of powder products. Once I figured that out l was in LOVE!! You can cake up on as much powder as you want, spray this stuff on, and like magic…it looks like your skin. Now I’m addicted!
Next up is Banana Powder by Ben Nye.
This is another cult favorite that left me less than impressed when I first gave it a whirl. If you’ve ever watched a YouTube tutorial (who hasn’t??) you’ve probably seen girls coat their faces with this stuff, let it “bake,” and wipe away the excess.
l tried that, and I got a splotchy look. Then I tried using a buffing brush, but that seemed to remove some of my concealer, which I worked so hard to get just right.
Finally, I picked up a Real Techniques setting brush, and that did the trick! The powder now effectively sets my concealer and gives me a beautiful glow. MAGIC.IN. A. BOTTLE.
Speaking of Real Techniques, their concealer brush rounds out this post about products that turn magical when you unlock their true powers!
l started using this brush by applying my NARS creamy concealer with the product wand and then using the brush to spread it around. It worked OK, but not great.
Then, I discovered this video.
Once I started dipping the brush in the concealer and sweeping it on my face I knew this was a holy grail tool. It applies concealer effortlessly, and can even be used for contouring! A true win-win!
I’m obviously not a make-up artist, so a lot of my knowledge comes from trial and error (and error, and error… and error lol). Are there any misunderstood products you fell in love with after figuring out you were using them the wrong way? I’d love to hear your stories!
