Your biggest beauty regret?

[ellienellie]

Something you did years ago and regret.
Something that affects you, physically or emotionally.

For me it was sunbeds, years ago. I was very naive and spent too much time on them.
I now have pigmentation marks on my face

And when I was VERY young, I messed about with my brows....
and have been left with half brows (they never grew back...)*
*BTW - what's with that!!? how come you get hair where you don't want it, pluck it, and it KEEPS growing, and yet once, I overplucked my brows and - nada, nowt, nothing...
Go figure?

Anyway, re: the brows, Ive just had specialist make-up and am ever so pleased with them!!

The pigmentation, maybe I should see my GP?

So what about you gals, any beauty blunders you wish you'd never done?

[aziajs]

Moisturization. I rarely put on lotion so my skin is REALLY dry. Unfortunately, my weight has always fluctuated a lot and as a result I have a ton of stretch marks. I think that if I moisturized more my skin would have had more elasticity and I wouldn't have as many stretch marks.

[florabundance]

this isnt MU related but when i was maybe 10 or 11, i noticed that the other girls in my PE class had no hair on their legs, but that i did so what i did, without telling anyone, was got a razor and tried to do it in the bath. i used no shaving gel, nothing and i must have pressed pretty hard cos i bled like there was no tomorrow. My mum started me on waxing a little bit after that lol

[glam8babe]

probably covering my skin in cheap horrible oily foundations when i was younger (maybelline everfresh was disgusting!)

ummm.. overpluckin my brows when i was about 13-14, i thought it looked good at the time but now that i look back i cringe! haha

[M.A.C. head.]

I'd have to say cutting my hair.

I had sort of a Britney Spears moment, and I shaved my hair off. It was cool at first, very refreshing, something different. But I hate that I did it now.

My hair has grown back quite a bit but it's still too short of my liking. It's in the so called "awkward stage" now that it's getting longer.

[Lissa]

I regret using sunbeds too, and also have pigmentation. I have a patch near my eye that I'm sure must have been caused by that I always wear sunscreen now no matter what.

I am always regretting not drinking enough water. I'm sure I would look better if I did but I just never do

[ellienellie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by florabundance

this isnt MU related but when i was maybe 10 or 11, i noticed that the other girls in my PE class had no hair on their legs, but that i did so what i did, without telling anyone, was got a razor and tried to do it in the bath. i used no shaving gel, nothing and i must have pressed pretty hard cos i bled like there was no tomorrow. My mum started me on waxing a little bit after that lol

OUCH!

[ellienellie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissa

I regret using sunbeds too, and also have pigmentation. I have a patch near my eye that I'm sure must have been caused by that I always wear sunscreen now no matter what.

I am always regretting not drinking enough water. I'm sure I would look better if I did but I just never do

Wow, same here, under my eye areas (just at the sides, above cheeks, under eyes, and on upper lip area).
I wished I had more info on tanning before

[arielle123]

Not being 100% vigilant to apply sunscreen all the time when I was younger, especially since I'm so fair-skinned. I'm correcting that now and never spent a lot of time in the sun but I still should've always worn it.

[Lissa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ellienellie

Wow, same here, under my eye areas (just at the sides, above cheeks, under eyes, and on upper lip area).
I wished I had more info on tanning before

Same as me, only one side though kind of right on the top of my cheekbone at the side of my eye. I've tried a few fading creams and masks but never expected it to fully go. It drives me mad. I think it only appeared years later so I probably thought I was OK at the time....

[Shaquille]

I was too lazy to clean my face now I got lots of black spots
I was very naughty now I've got lots of scars
I didn't care about myself for awhile that I gained weight

[JULIA]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaquille

I was very naughty now I've got lots of scars
I didn't care about myself for awhile that I gained weight

Story of my life.

[SuomeaSorceress]

Without a doubt it's the fact that I NEVER wore sunscreen when I was younger, esp. in my teen years when I lived in New Zealand. I was SO obsessed with being tanned, and I didn't care when I got burnt. Now I have horrible sun spots and stuff on my face.

I'm now extra, extra careful, I ALWAYS wear sunscreen (yep, even in winter ), and I'm getting my daughter into the habit of putting it on too. (Actually, I want to teach her all the things my Mother never taught me (my Mother isn't into skin care and make-up), like moisturising everyday...things like that.)

[GreekChick]

When I was a teenager, I used to swipe my face with alcohol to as to dry out my pimples. Bad bad move....

[Shaquille]

I was on drugs (medicine, lol) for so long.. medicine.. for half of my life..
and that practically stopped and restrained my growth.
I'm only 5'2" now

[lexiesupagirl]

i overplucked my eyebrows when i was 13. thank god, they grew back.

[NatalieMT]

So this maybe doesn't count but I'll go ahead with telling you all anyway!

My biggest regret was not asking my doctor for a referral to a dermatologist sooner. I was on antibiotics (Erythromycin/Tetracycline/Trimethoprim) for 3 years for my acne (was about to go on roaccutane but didn't want to side effects) and it just didn't do anything for me, apart from make me more and more depressed over it.

Eventually when I did get a referral, I went private and saw a derm. within a week. He suggested I try something called NLite laser and had a clinic for me. I called the clinic the next day and within a month I'd had a consultation and my first appointment. I personally don't find the laser painful, apparently I'm in the minority, to me it just feels like a warm pulse even on a high setting. It's now been 3 months and I've had a total of 3 sessions. It's been expensive (£150 a session, plus £20 for microdermabrasion to improve skin surface) and was a last resort but SO worth it. They took some before and after photos and just WOW. I'm so amazed, I don't even remember how bad my skin was in the first picture and now there is such a massive difference. Maybe I'll try and get a copy of the photos to post.

I'm just annoyed at myself really that I didn't know about the laser sooner. Because it's really worked for me and hopefully in a couple more sessions I'll be spot free. It's already significantly decreased the number of spots I'm getting and their healing time aswell as faded (if not totally removed) scars from previous breakouts.

It's not for people who get the occasional spot but I really recommend it for people who've struggled with acne for years and don't know what to try next. Because it's not invasive and risk free.

[Hilly]

Picking pimples! I still do it and now have an ugly scab on my face lol

[Ithica]

Bah... overplucking my brows BIG TIME. It was so damn hard to get it to grow back properly doesn't help that im impatient.

I used to just stick tcp/savlon and other acholoy things to try and get rid of my spots without really sortting out the right face wash

[nelyanaphonexia]

omg. I'm only in my 20s and I have so many already. I lived on the beach as a child and my parents let me go out without sunscreen and now I have horrible lines on my forehead.

Biting my nails as a kid. Now my nails are thin, fragile and don't grow very long and if they do, they start to peel. It's sad and even with supplements they still look gross.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaquille

I was on drugs (medicine, lol) for so long.. medicine.. for half of my life..
and that practically stopped and restrained my growth.
I'm only 5'2" now

I can understand this completely. I was a premie baby (2.5 months early!!) and therefore very very small when I was born and therefore lots of meds and other things to keep me alive. On top of always looking like I suffered from malnutrition, I started a heavy workout routine at 12. I joined hardcore sports teams (dance (mostly ballet), cheerleading, gymnastics, track, basketball, volleyball, swimming and tennis) that had me lifting weights like I was a fully grown adult and now I'm FIVE inches smaller than everyone in my family. My mom is 5'8" my dad is 6'3" and my brother is almost 6' and he is only 18 and I'm barely 5"3.

Also, another regret dealing with all those sports are all the sports injuries I have accumulated. I have two bad knees (only one requires surgery to fix the deteriorating cartilage) one bad ankle, both my wrists are messed up from gymnastics, dance and breaking them over and over, four fingers that had been dislocated and broken and are therefore permanently crooked, broke my nose four times and it's bent out of shape, three herniated discs in my back and I have dancers feet, meaning all of my toes have been broken at some point and all my little toes curl under my foot and I have spurs and calluses all over the place not to even mention how all of my toe nails are deformed looking..... Basically my feet are NASTY and deformed looking from dance and gymnastics along with being on a drill team where the coach made us wear shoes that were too small to look more uniform. yeah...my body is falling apart from years and years of too many sports that pushed my young body beyond it's limits.

[revinn]

Ever taking Tetracyclin for acne. MILD acne, at that, and for taking it without finding out about the risks. When I was 15, it gave me pseudo-tumor cerebri after 2 months of use. An entire month in the hospital, countless tests, misdiagnosis and 3 spinal taps later, I would never take anything like that without researching it first.

[lavish_habits]

Smoking....cause now I look older than my age (25), I saw the beginnings of fine lines at 20-21, way too young, when I was 20, my bf told me I could pass for 30, and yeah, I was p'd at him, but he wasnt trying to offend me, he was just being honest. In addition to slowly killing you, smoking really ages you, if I keep aging at this rate, I may look like the crypt keeper by time I'm 30. Smoking is not only my biggest beauty regret, but my biggest regret in general.

[Shimmer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nelyanaphonexia

omg. I'm only in my 20s and I have so many already. I lived on the beach as a child and my parents let me go out without sunscreen and now I have horrible lines on my forehead.

Biting my nails as a kid. Now my nails are thin, fragile and don't grow very long and if they do, they start to peel. It's sad and even with supplements they still look gross.

I bit mine too. I'm unfortunate enough to have fan shaped nails. Blah.

Quote:

I can understand this completely. I was a premie baby (2.5 months early!!) and therefore very very small when I was born and therefore lots of meds and other things to keep me alive. On top of always looking like I suffered from malnutrition, I started a heavy workout routine at 12. I joined hardcore sports teams (dance (mostly ballet), cheerleading, gymnastics, track, basketball, volleyball, swimming and tennis) that had me lifting weights like I was a fully grown adult and now I'm FIVE inches smaller than everyone in my family. My mom is 5'8" my dad is 6'3" and my brother is almost 6' and he is only 18 and I'm barely 5"3.

I'm a good 9 to 12 inches shorter than my brothers, my 12 year old sister is my size, and yeah. I'm the midget. I know how you feel. :/

Quote:

Also, another regret dealing with all those sports are all the sports injuries I have accumulated. I have two bad knees (only one requires surgery to fix the deteriorating cartilage) one bad ankle, both my wrists are messed up from gymnastics, dance and breaking them over and over, four fingers that had been dislocated and broken and are therefore permanently crooked, broke my nose four times and it's bent out of shape, three herniated discs in my back and I have dancers feet, meaning all of my toes have been broken at some point and all my little toes curl under my foot and I have spurs and calluses all over the place not to even mention how all of my toe nails are deformed looking..... Basically my feet are NASTY and deformed looking from dance and gymnastics along with being on a drill team where the coach made us wear shoes that were too small to look more uniform. yeah...my body is falling apart from years and years of too many sports that pushed my young body beyond it's limits.

I'm pretty involved in sports too, and I fully expect some ouches later in my life. :/

Tanning beds and over plucking are my biggest regrets. =/

[k.a.t]

I never understood the reason why sometimes over-plucked brows don't grow back..makes no sense to me =S

NatalieMT - I've heard about that laser treatment before apparently it gives reeally good results, very expensive though! It's not available for under 18's though although my skin is improving now that i'm using BP

As for me, I haven't really had any beauty regrets except for not starting a proper skin cleansing regime earlier on and not wearing any sunscreen on my face, when i do it's the kind you use on your body lool Oh and not moisturising everyday I'm so lazy..

[NatalieMT]

Yes very very good results (apparently it's only a small percentage of people it doesn't work on), but the change in your skin is so gradual that on a day to day basis you don't realise anything has happened. But when you see the photos before and after then it hits you what a big improvement has been made. For me it was certainly worth the money, especially after giving up hope of ever finding a solution.

I've not heard of it being unavailable to those under 18, I'm under 18 (although not for long) and no one ever mentioned my age being an issue at any point. They were more than happy to treat me and I've seen countless people younger than me in the same clinic for the same thing.