beauty blooper

I thought that gray and yellow were supposed to be the new fab colors for Spring, not the colors of my hair! I turned prematurely gray at the age of 20, so I've been dying my hair ever since. A few years back, I couldn't afford the maintenance, so I bought a bottle of brown hair dye and colored it myself. Overall it looked great ... until I noticed that I missed a few spots of gray right in the front.

Instead of simply adding more brown, what did I do? I took a blond highlighting kit that I've had for years and blended the blond with the gray. What was I thinking? I ended up creating ridiculous white stripes in my hair.

I completely panicked and ran over to a salon. I walked in crying, and when I found out what the cost would be to fix it, I cried even harder. The hairdresser felt bad for me, so she promised to come to my house later and fix my hair with more drugstore products for a lower fee. Accepting her offer was mistake number two. To find out why, read more

A reader shared this beauty blooper with me, and I just had to pass it along. So in case you're thinking of getting eyelash extensions, read this first!

My now-husband and I decided to elope. I still wanted to get all gussied up for the event, so I decided to treat myself to eyelash extensions. I was excited about them because I thought they would look really natural and fabulous in all of our wedding and honeymoon photographs. I took my time and did extensive research on spas and salons, and decided on a new salon in my area that offered the treatment.

What happened was a complete disaster! I ended up with lashes that were all the same length. I call them doll lashes since they happened to also be ridiculously long. In a feeble attempt to improve the look of my lashes, I cut them with manicure scissors. It helped a little bit (or so I thought), but when I took an objective look at them in the mirror the next day, I realized they were still too long, and now they were also uneven.

I did the unthinkable and began to pry them off with tweezers. When that didn't work, I tried using an oil to remove the glue, but the salon had used so much adhesive that I wound up pulling out many of my own lashes as well. The burning and the pain was intense but once I started I couldn't dare stop! For the next two months, I had to live with sparse eyelashes until they began to regrow. Why did I allow this to happen right before my wedding?

Lesson learned: Ask to see photos of a salon or spa's work before you have a semi-permanent treatment done. If it doesn't go well, have your eyelash extensions removed by a professional. Furthermore, if you are ever feeling pain from a beauty treatment, please seek out immediate care from a physician or an expert.

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I can't believe what happened to me last week when I was innocently getting all gussied up for a big night out on the town. As a finishing touch to my fabulous mod makeup look, I decided to make my first attempt at applying false eyelashes. I read the instructions that came with my cute mini falsies kit, applied the glue and then began to attach the fake lashes with the help of a tweezer.

I was prepared to fumble my first time around, but boy, I completely dropped the ball. I put on way too much glue and the lashes wouldn't stick. As I was trying to press one end to my lid, the other end fell right into my eye. Not only did glue get inside, but the falsies were prickly and my eye began to water. I was blinking profusely yet still trying to keep my makeup intact, but when I looked up, my perfect black liner was badly smudged. So much for mod—I'd gone goth.

My eyes eventually stopped stinging and I did my best to re-apply the lashes, but I wish someone had told me to try them on a bare face first! I'll never make that mistake again. Do you have any beauty bloopers of your own to share with me? If so, become a TeamSugar member by registering here and then send me a private message.

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Usually, Beauty Bloopers involve anonymous tales from readers. This one, though, is all Bella. This weekend, I had a hot date with Mr. Bella, or at least a lukewarm one. (How scorching can Scrabble be, you know?) So I took a shower, dried off, and thought, "Oh, I have an hour left before we meet up. I think I will use this new Astara mask!"

So I put on the mask (a full review will follow, of course) and felt it stinging a little bit. No pain, no gain, I figured. Plus, some of the best masks are gonna do that... they'll eat away the dead skin. After 10 minutes, I washed off the mask. As I was rinsing, I could feel how smooth and soft my skin was. Hooray! I patted my skin dry, looked into the mirror, and shrieked.

Have you seen any horror films lately? I haven't, but after looking in the mirror, I won't need to for a few years. My face was as red as a tomato. Or a lobster. You get the idea. It was not exactly the luminous, foxy-lady look I was going for. Can you work "red-faced" into Scrabble?

Lesson learned: Use a facial mask when you're relaxing, not before an event. And if you're trying a product for the first time, go with a patch test first.

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Welcome back to another Beauty Blooper. My hope is that by sharing our mishaps, we'll see that nobody's perfect—and we can learn a few lessons along the way, too. Here's this week's anonymous tale:

"Hey Bella, I wanted to share my beauty blooper with you so that other readers don't make the same mistake I have. Since red nails are this season's hottest trend, I went out and bought a bottle of that gorgeous Saratoga color from the Nars Holiday 2007 Siren Song Collection. I figured that I could afford to splurge on a designer polish, since I was going to get at least ten at-home manicures out of the bottle.

"I could barely wait to get from the mall to my house to get to work, so at each stop light I'd paint another digit. As you can imagine, this wasn't the brightest idea. By the end of the ride I'd managed to paint all but three nails. I didn't use a base coat, I didn't treat my cuticles and the messy red polish wound up all over my fingers.

"To tidy things up, I took out my wooden stick tool, wrapped it in cotton and dunked it in nail polish remover. When that didn't work at removing the pink stains, I went to town with my cuticle cutter.

"You should see the sad condition of my fingertips now. They're puffy, red, sore, dehydrated from the polish remover and I no longer have any cuticles left. My blood-red manicure is a bloody mess!"

Lesson Learned Patience is a virtue, especially when it comes to beauty. If you aren't going to take the time to give yourself a proper manicure, let a professional do your dirty work.

To submit a beauty blooper of your own, simply become a TeamSugar member, register here and then send me a private message!

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Ever get a pimple — the really, really big kind that hurt? You know better than to poke or probe it, but it's too hard to sit there and do nothing. This happened to a friend of mine the other day and instead of leaving well enough alone, she squeezed and squeezed it. Since nothing came out to relieve her of the pain and pressure, she decided to sterilize a needle and puncture it at the root.

However, what came out wasn't sebum, it was blood. What was once a manageable red bump was now a bleeding puffy and bright red mess. She knew that an infection was bound to occur, so she ran over to the dermatologist for a cortisone injection to manage the swelling and kill off the bacteria. Two days later it scabbed and thankfully a week later it's almost 100% healed.

Lesson Learned C'mon gals—You know better than to mess with cystic blemishes. Next time, soak the heck out of it and then apply a mask overnight to dry it up and bring it to a head. Wash your face, apply a spot treatment and then cover it up with some makeup. Leave the needles to the M.D.'s please!

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Since I have green eyes, I've always been told that purple shades of eye shadow would be a great way to make my eyes pop. So a couple of days ago I went to the drugstore and bought a creamy purple shadow and a deep purple eyeliner. As I was doing my makeup for a night out with my girlfriends, I wasn't completely sold on my new look, but I thought I'd get my friends' opinion before tossing my brand new goods.

All night long my friends kept asking me if I was okay. After the third interrogation, I got a little bit annoyed and I headed for the ladies' room to take a load off. I figured I could count to ten and then come out all smiles — after all, nothing was wrong! At least I thought nothing was wrong until I looked in the mirror and noticed something dreadful.

My eyes looked completely bloodshot and red. The new purple makeup I bought was having some kind of counter-effect on me! I vowed to throw it away once I got home and to finally go and get a professional makeover. Has this ever happened to anybody else?

One morning before work I decided to cut my own bangs. I thought that a harmless little trim (that would save me a $125 salon visit) intended to get the wisps out of my eyes would be no big deal. Instead, it turned into a big ol' mess.

As I was trying to create perfect symmetry, I found myself continuing to cut a piece here and a piece there and before I knew it, my bangs now originated in the middle of the crown of my head. What had I done — my flirty wisps had turned into chunky bangs!

There's a reason why hair dressers tell you to never cut your own hair. I had uneven and ridiculously thick bangs that were going to take eons to grow out. Not only did I wind up having to buck up the $125 for a professional visit, but I had to endure a full day at work with my mistake —that's the last time I'll ever get scissor happy!

Please share more of your beauty bloopers with me. Submitting your stories is a cinch. If you aren't already a TeamSugar member, all you have to do is join here and send me a private message. I look forward to hearing from you!

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Another Thursday, another Beauty Blooper! This one comes from an anonymous reader who was brave enough to share her story:

"Help me, BellaSugar! I went to the drugstore and purchased an over-the-counter chemical peel that left my face burning. My skin was very red and blotchy. The best analogy I can think of is that I resembled Samantha from the Sex and the City episode, "Plus One is The Loneliest Number." It's the one where she decides to get a chemical peel before Carrie's book launch.

"After three days, it started to heal but it was still very sensitive, and I wouldn't dream of going outside in the sun. I found that cold compresses and the gel from a natural aloe plant were very soothing, but nothing else seemed to help. One thing's for sure: I'm not getting a chemical peel again anytime soon, unless it's done by a professional."

Solution: If you haven't tried a strong treatment before, do a small patch test to see how your skin will react. If your face is burning, you can also try an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory cream such as Topricin (or really any anti-redness cream) since they contain calming agents. Also, if you'd like to cover up the blotchiness, use mineral makeup since it's natural and it won't clog your pores. To read about more unfortunate beauty bloopers, click here.

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In June, I bought a new bronzer and some other really fun, brightly colored makeup. It was the beginning of summer, so I had a little bit of a base tan, and all season, I've gotten tons of compliments on my fresh-faced, glowy look! However, I've been working indoors a lot the past month and my tan has now substantially faded.

Last night I went to dinner with a bunch of gal pals and proceeded to meet a group of young, single men. Everything was going well until one of the cuties told me that I had some dirt on my jawline. As I feverishly wiped it away with my white cocktail napkin, we both looked down to find a smattering of way too-dark foundation. It was really humiliating, and now I feel like I've wasted so much money on makeup that doesn't even flatter my fair fall skin.

Simple Solution: Mix in a little bit of pale foundation to the bottle to lighten the color. And as far as powders and color choices go, blend the powder using a big fluffy brush or sponge and use the colors with a gentle touch and you should be fine. Don't worry, it's not a total waste!

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