Beauty Q&A: Mascara Dots, Cheap Makeup, and Chapped Lips

I have a hair-dyeing dilemma. I have been dyeing my dark brown hair blonde at home for four years, using the kinds of dyes from pro beauty supply stores. Until recently, I’ve always loved my hair, and people even think it’s natural sometimes (OK, sure). But very recently, the color is all wrong. Not so wrong that I need to be stuffing my hair in a hat or chopping it all off, etc., but it just doesn’t look right.

The ends have become platinum blonde, the middle fades to the color I’m usually going for (a medium/golden blonde), closer to the roots is light brown, and there are sections throughout that are lighter than other parts, some parts of the roots are blonder than others, it’s a big mess. Do you have any advice for how I could fix this at home? I just don’t have the budget to go to a salon, it’s not an option for me. Ideally, I’d like to stay blonde, but how can I get uniform color again, or close, without trashing my hair? I’m very much not averse to any DIY solution, buying and mixing up concoctions, and work/time involved.

The second I finished reading your question I thought, “Oh no! She’s pulling the color through her ends every time! I must stop her!” And then I emailed you back and you said that’s what you were doing and I stopped you. Remember that time? Since you’re going so much lighter than your natural color, the majority of what your hair dye is doing is bleaching — and that causes tons of damage. Not pulling the dye through every time (it’s OK to pull through for the last few minutes every third coloring, let’s say) and placing the color very carefully will be the keys to getting the even look you want.

First though, a little about at-home color: It’s kinda shitty. Take this from someone who kept a pixie cut for about 15 years just so I could fry my hair a different color every two weeks. I feel you and I love DIY hair color, but the stuff in a box — heck, even the “professional” kind you get at a beauty supply store — can be deadly in untrained hands. So, if you can afford it, go to a salon. If you can’t, it’s not inappropriate to ask the person who cuts your hair (or their hair-dye expert coworker) what mix they’d recommend from the beauty supply store for you to DIY.

As for boxed colors, my personal faves are Natural Instincts for semi-permanent and Frederic Fekkai for permanent. If you’re used to getting a semi-permanent from the salon, don’t be surprised if the boxed stuff lasts way longer or gives more dramatic/damaging results. It’s just not the same.

OK, so on to your specific issue: Stop pulling the color all the way through your hair every time! After you’ve had the über-blonde ends trimmed off, the next time you touch up your roots, put the color in a bowl and apply it with a brush like this one. Part your hair in the middle, and, taking skinny sections of hair, maybe a centimeter in width, brush the new color only on your new growth on both sides of the section. Repeat all over your head. Get someone to help you with the back. Overlapping with areas you’ve dyed before is gonna give you uneven color and a lot of damage, so that’s what you have to avoid from now on — as much as possible, anyway. If you don’t know your exact processing time for roots alone, choose a small hidden section to test on. You can wipe the color off with a damp towel to check the color, and if you’re not matching yet, reapply and keep timing ’til it matches. I know this sounds like a pain in the ass and a waste of time, but in the long run it will save you so much trouble.

In the end, if you feel like your newly dyed roots are shinier and prettier than your old growth that you’ve already dyed, try a gloss like L’Oreal’s Colorist Secrets on the length of your hair.

I have seriously dry, flaky lips all year round. I’ve gotten myself into this habit of biting my lips in a “thoughtful” I-am-completely-not-covertly-gnawing-my-flaked-lip-skin-off type of way. Ugh, that sounds gross. Sorry. Anyway, as this probably only creates a vicious cycle of newly-exposed skin turning tough, could you recommend any products for me? Or procedures? A guy I dated said kissing me was like kissing papyrus, and I hate to admit it, but douchebag may have a point.

That dude sounds awesome. Papyrus? Really? Is he from ancient Egypt? Anyway, as someone who’s prone to biting her own lips, I’ll tell you what works best for me. Warning: This is an every-day routine! If you do not strictly follow it, you will almost immediately revert back to your current lip situation. (Liptuation?) Trust me.

It’s simple, really. First, try to stop biting your lips! Good job. Now, every morning after you brush your teeth, you’re going to brush your lips with your toothbrush and just a little bit of water for about 30 seconds. Just keep your lips loosely closed and kinda swirl around with the brush; no need to really wrench on ’em, but try to get a good tingly feeling going on. Dry and apply a thin layer of plain lip balm — I like Vaseline Lip Therapy — before you do your makeup. Carry it with you and use it throughout the day whenever you have the urge to bite. At night, just before bed, apply a satisfying amount of Weleda Everon and dream about making out with sweet boys from the modern era with soft lips. In a week you’ll be one of them! Only not a boy, probably.

I’m a humanities grad student, and I have truly zero dollars to spend on looking beautiful. I guess this question is actually three: What essentials should I get first? What cheap makeups would you recommend? And what makeups can I absolutely, absolutely not get on the cheap? Thanks!

Hairpinners, let’s give it up for our humanities grad student sisters killing it in the higher education game. Wow, you are really going iiin! Do not worry. There are plenty of budget makeup options to keep you looking like an undergrad (in the right ways) such as come over to my house and we’ll go get Stila compacts for $5 at Lot Less up the block! No? OK. That’s OK. You can get just about anything on the cheap at your drugstore except foundation. Do not even try it. How could you? It’s all shrink wrapped in plastic. And besides, most of it sucks. Babysit for someone overnight if you have to; you’re going to need Sephora or a department store to help you with this key element. (Makeup Forever, forever.) And don’t forget SALE items at Sephora.com. These items are not usually on sale in-store, just online, so check that section for some amazing deals and remember to choose your free samples at check out.

Foundation and lucking out online aside, here’s a little list of my favorite discount essentials you can get on pretty much any college campus:

– Either the OG amazing drugstore mascara, Maybelline Great Lash, or, for more volume and two extra dollars, my personal fave, Maybelline Full N’ Soft.

– You’re not gonna get INSANE colors with these, but Revlon 12 Hour Eyeshadow compacts come in some really great color combos and are pretty cheap and the compact doesn’t break too easily. (Trust me, I’ve tried so hard.)

– This might sound like hippie/crazy or whatever, but seriously, Burt’s Bees tinted lip balms in the darker colors are so hot, especially for a drugstore purchase. Plus they’re two must-have products in one, so you’re saving even more dough.

– Rimmel makes pretty and pretty cheap blushes that actually show up on your face. Check out my fave, Pink Sorbet, or there’s a few 3-in-1 compacts like Autumn Catwalk.

– Another combo product, this Maybelline Brow & Eye liner pencil used to be my go-to brow product until Anastasia came along and started taking all my money. I never really used it as an eyeliner, but if you’re on a budget it’s worth a shot.

– Lastly, for tools like brushes and whatnot, I like Revlon best if I’m buying from the drugstore. However, like with foundation, think of brushes as investment pieces, and if you can afford a little more, head over to M.A.C. for your brush essentials. They’ll last you for years.

Those annoying little bits of mascara that end up just below the brow bone when applying. Is there a way to avoid them? A mascara that’s less prone to causing them? I put mascara on last in my eye makeup routine so that it doesn’t get covered in shadow, but then I end up having to go back anyway and retouch on account of the black mascara dots.

I’m going to guess you’ve got one of two problems, and neither has to do with the type or brand of mascara you’re using: Either you’re getting it on your lid during application, in which case I have a trick for you, OR your eyelashes are SO LONG that after you apply, you open your eyes and your lashes touch your lid up under your brow in which case you are a beautiful princess jerk. JK! I can help there too.

The reason we tip our heads back and look out the bottom of our eyes when we apply mascara is to keep our wet eyelashes away from our lids and brows.

If you can’t quite master this sacred pose and end up touching your lids with either the brush or your lashes during application, you can try this trick:

If your “problem” is that your eyelashes are like Daddy Long Legs’ legs, only they’re all perfectly curled in the same direction, keep them shut until they dry. That’s it! Don’t move along to your bottom lashes right away or you’ll touch your top lashes to your lid as you tilt your head down and open your eyes wider. Just spend that minute it takes for them to dry PRAISING A LORD for your special blessings.

Previously: Summer Skin, Summer Feet, Summer Face.

Jane Feltes produces the radio program “This American Life,” and no one pays her to say any of this. Do you have a question for Jane?