In August, an Algerian man sued his bride for damages after he saw her without makeup, a day after their wedding. According to the man, the woman had masked her flaws so much with makeup that he considered it fraud.
Her photos and those of several other women who have perfected 'makeup fraud' have been making rounds on social media, with every man exclaiming at the before and after pictures. These women who have perfected the art are not my topic of discussion. Who I really want to address is the Kenyan woman who just doesn't get it right when doing her makeup.
With so many beauty products available in the market, and them being easily accessible to anyone willing to spend money on them, mistakes are bound to be made. It could be that a beauty consultant carelessly recommended a bad product to a woman, in a bid to make a sale. Whatever the reason, there are several mistakes that Kenyan women make that will leave you cringing.
I consulted top beauty expert and makeup artist Dee Kamau of the brand Beauty by Dee and several male friends who feel they need to address these issues and their insights were very interesting. Here are the top makeup mistakes Kenyan women make.
1. Overplucked eyebrows and drawing a crazy shape back
How many times have you stopped short of asking a stranger what really happened to her eyebrows? I have never understood the logic behind a woman shaving her eyebrows entirely, then drawing an unnatural brow shape back with the wrong eyeliner.
Jeff, a marketing executive says: “Women need to stop shaving their eyebrows and just learn how to perfectly trim and shape them.”
He adds these women constantly have the same shocked facial expression. And because your face is the first part of your body a person looks at, you really cannot afford to draw all the attention there.
2. Wrong foundation
The wrong choice of foundation is a common occurrence among many Kenyan women. They use a shade that's lighter than their skin tone allows and end up looking ghostly.
Dee Kamau says: “Sometimes women are misguided by the attendants in beauty shops because they are just there to make a quick buck and not really to give sound advice to customers.”
According to her, if it is your first time trying out foundation, you should apply it on your jawline and check it against natural lighting because that is the only way to know if it really suits you. If you are not too sure whether the foundation is right for, you do not have to buy it there and then. Consult with a friend or beauty expert.
3. Cakey foundation
Yes, you bought the right foundation for your skin, but do you have to pile it on and on like you want to use the whole bottle at a go? If you ever get the feeling that you need to peel off a layer of makeup off a woman, then she probably caked it on too much.
Dee suggests this happens with many Kenyan women because they do not use brushes. Women should stop using their hands or sponges to apply foundation and instead invest in a brush. Sponges tend to soak up a lot of your product while brushes are very easy to use and navigate across your face giving you even coverage.
4. Go easy on the gloss
Do women need a class or two for something as basic as lip gloss? Some women will pass up using lip gloss only to grossly overdo the gloss. She almost looks like she had chicken grease for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is never that serious, less is more.