Many people around the world, especially women, have been victims to being “influenced.” They see a product review online that ends up working nicely on someone. However, when they buy the same product themselves, it doesn’t work as well.

Remember the times when you scrolled through your TikTok for you page, and a random beauty influencer popped up, trying to sell you a product or influence you on a beauty technique? It ends up looking and working tremendously on them. So you think to yourself that you should give it a try. I mean, it seems to work amazing on them, right?

Without doing any research, you foolishly believe this technique or product will work for you. As a result of your lack of knowledge, you end up looking like a CLOWN. No one dares to look at you and that horrendous new look. All because of one problem, you were blindly influenced.

Where did it all go wrong? You were influenced by someone who doesn’t resemble you. Not the face shape, skin texture, facial features—nothing. You didn’t look at the ingredients or how the product truly works either.

Not only that, but the influencer could have been paid. Sponsored influencers can be biased towards the product (for example, MascaraGate). If you think influencers care about you, a stranger, more than money, you’re wrong. Many wouldn’t mind lying for extra cash.

You aren’t magically going to become Mikayla Nogueira when you buy Loreal Telescopic, and you aren’t going to become James Charles if you buy his Morphe palette. You have to think about your face and your skin.

For example, face shapes. Everyone has a different face shape. The general categories are oval, circle, diamond, square, triangle, inverted triangle, heart, or rectangle. This will influence your ENTIRE makeup routine. Contour, blush, concealer placement, highlighter, and bronzer placement all depend on this.

Then, there’s skin types. Everyone has a different skin type. Those general categories are dry, oily, combination, “normal” (even though they’re all normal), and acne-prone. If you have acne-prone skin, you’re going to want to use non-comedogenic (pore-clogging) products, along with acne-fighting products like salicylic acid. If you have dryer skin, you’re going to want to use hydrating products, like hyaluronic acid. People with oily skin will want to use hydrating products too, because excess oil-production can be caused by lack of moisture of the skin. You can also have a damaged skin barrier. You would want to use simple, barrier-boosting products, such as those that include ceramides. You should not use harsh, stripping products like AHAs, BHAs, or chemical and physical exfoliators.

Skin tones vary too. Just because someone said the essence concealer is good doesn’t mean that they have your shade in the shade range. Also, undertones exist. You and your friend can both be super pale, yet one of you has an olive undertone while the other has a cool one. Undertones may not seem like a huge deal or may not be that noticeable, however it does influence most of your beauty decisions.

For example, if you end up using your friend’s or family’s concealer, it may not be your shade. You might end up looking like a Simpson, because your friend might be warm-toned and you, yourself might be cool-toned. It is important to get a proper shade match.

Skin tone also helps decide hair color. If you want to dye your hair (who doesn’t?), you should use your skin tone to influence that. If you are pale and have cool tones, you want to stay away from almost white strawberry blonde color, because it blends in with your skin too much. There isn’t enough contrast. You also want to stay away from TOO contrasting colors, such as dark green on skin with a pink tinge. Something that can help you decide is the color wheel.

This is true with products too. Just because that Makeup by Mario palette looked great on him doesn’t mean it will be great on you. Undertones and skin tones matter with this just as much. On a friend, the same color that looks like a nude on you could look bright orange on them. Or, a lipstick could be your perfect shade, and look like concealer lips on your friend.

You aren’t going to get the lashes that Mikayla Nogueira has wearing the Telescopic mascara without the Ardell wispies. That’s just how it works. You have a different face. A palette or a blush or even a contour technique won’t change your face.

Influencers don’t have your face and you don’t have theirs.