Every beauty junkie knows that recreating a gorgeous makeup look that you’ve stumbled across on Pinterest or Instagram doesn’t always go to plan, and sometimes – just sometimes – you end up looking like a toddler who had just experimented with some Disney-themed eyeshadow palettes.
As frustrating as these situations can be, they always provide us with a good laugh afterwards. So, if you’re having a bad day, here are some beauty-related expectation versus reality photos that you may resonate with, and are guaranteed to lift your spirits.
1. Winged eyeliner
Getting the perfect wing is the realest struggle of all time. The worst part? You have to make sure the wings on both eyes match.
2. DIY acrylic nails
Giving yourself a normal manicure is hard enough, but we all have those days when we feel braver than usual and decide to try out something new. It (sadly) doesn’t always end up well.
3. Contour
That Kim K contour is all the rage right now. Unfortunately, the quest for a perfectly chiseled and bronzed face doesn’t always work out.
4. French braids
Braiding your own hair is an art form. No exaggeration here. Not only does it take a whole lot of patience, it makes your arm muscles hurt after a while. Want to train your biceps? How about braiding your own hair?
5. Overlined lips
Everyone wants to have fuller, plumper lips. The solution? Overline your lips. Only if you do it well, though.
6. DIY Ombre hair
If only achieving beautiful ombre hair was as easy as creating gradient backgrounds on Powerpoint slides… sigh.
7. Soft, straight brows
Remember that time you tried to recreate that soft Korean brow look and didn’t exactly succeed? Don’t worry – we’ve all been there.
8. Highlighting your face
We can all agree that highlighting your face can either give you a healthy, lit-from-within kind of look, or make it seem like you’ve just poured a whole pot of glitter on your face.
9. Messy bun
The girls we see on Instagram who somehow manage to look put together even with an effortless, messy bun on top of their heads. It doesn’t exactly work out the same way for some of us though.
10. Smokey eye looks
It’s not uncommon for celebrities to strut the red carpet rocking flawless smokey eye makeup looks, and sometimes they inspires us to try those looks out on ourselves. More often than not, however, we end up looking like we haven’t slept in a week.
11. Fake lashes
Everyone wants long, wispy eyelashes. However, not all of us have the time (or money) to constantly get eyelash extensions. False lashes are our best friend for the full glam look… if we manage to apply them correctly, that is.
12. DIY manicures
Ever tried out a seemingly easy nail look only to realise that it isn’t as simple as you thought it would be? It’s okay – if we were all brilliant at doing manicures, nail salons would run out of business. Let’s console ourselves by remembering that we’re technically helping the economy when we suck at doing our own nails.
