9 Weirdly Brilliant Makeup Tricks I Learned from Lurking on Reddit

Like, seriously, truly surprising.

On any given day, I spend a good hour or so trolling the beauty-obsessed communities of Reddit, looking for makeup inspiration, under-the-radar beauty products, and validation that my life's priorities are in order. You know—the usual.

Most of the time, the "mind-blowing" tricks and tips I read are somewhat old news to me, the same stuff we've all heard a billion times before (yeah, I get it: Heating up your eyeliner makes a darker line. Woo).

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But recently, I've stumbled across a trove of legitimately fascinating tips that I actually haven't heard before. And even more surprisingly, they all work when tested out in real life.

So to get you all on my level of excitement, I plucked the very best internet- (and Chloe-) approved beauty tricks from Reddit that may or may not blow your mind. Or, at the very least, will make you go, "Well, I'll be!" Because this is 1925 rural America.

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"I'm a fair-haired redhead, but by no means am I the palest person I know. When I run out of concealer and am tight on money, I use NYX Milk or any other white eyeliner as an under-foundation concealer. It photographs well and looks natural." —@asattub

"I didn't realize how much of a difference doing multiple light layers of base makeup would make. I always saw people just do one heavy-coverage layer, but it always ended up looking cakey on me. Instead, if I started with a tiny bit and build up a few layers, it looks a lot more natural and dewy. I use less concealer when I do this, too." —@c-xfc

"I use alcohol-free rose toner (the one from Thayer's) to wet my brushes before I apply my liquid foundation and concealer. It helps my foundation and concealer apply smoother." —@MilkyMittens

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"As a ginger, I use liquid copper eyeliner on my eyebrows. I paint it on from the tail, getting lighter as I go. Then I brush it thoroughly into a natural but groomed look. Best, easiest thing I've happened upon for my brows." —@Kitteh_Puppeh

"[Beauty vlogger] PONY Makeup on YouTube not only taps her eyeshadow brush to remove excess, but sort of rolls them on her hand, too, to prevent a really heavy, unblendable deposit of product on the eyes. I tried it out and it makes building up your eyeshadow looks so much better." —@c-xfc

"I always add a touch of my (matte) bronzer into the crease on all my eyeshadow looks—it ever so slightly warms it up and somehow pulls it all together real nicely." —@OnlyTryingToDrownHer

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"I use Nivea Men's Sensitive Post Shave Balm as a primer. It's like, $8. Huge game-changer; my face has never lasted so long." —@washypaige

"I use liquid liner to coat my lower lashes instead of mascara. My bottom lashes are super long, but also sparse, so when I put mascara on them, they end up looking like crazy spider legs. With liquid liner, I still get definition without it looking over board." —@deleted

"Setting spray is a quick and easy step, and since I've discovered it, I have used it every single day. The fact that it makes my makeup last longer is a bonus, but the REAL reason I use it is because it works magic for just melding all my makeup together, taking down any powdery-ness and making my skin look like SKIN again!" —@pumpsandpearls

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Chloe Metzger
Beauty Editor

Chloe Metzger is the deputy beauty director at Cosmopolitan, overseeing the editorial content and growth strategy of the hair, makeup, and skin space on digital, while also obsessively writing about the best hair products for every hair type (curly girl here; whattup), and the skincare routines that really, truly work (follow her on Instagram to see behind-the-scenes pics of that magazine life). She brings nearly a decade of writing and editing expertise, and her work has appeared in AllureHealthFitnessMarie ClaireStyleCaster, and Parents. She also has an unhealthy adoration for Tom Hanks and would like to please meet him one day, if you could arrange that. Thanks.