This Online Group Is Dedicated To Collecting Makeup Fails, And Here Are 40 Of The Worst Ones
There's a subreddit called Bad MakeUp Artists, and the photos people post in there have an "Instagram vs. Reality" vibe to them. In the sense that it's hard to imagine a person applying that much foundation or eye shadow, thinking 'Yeah, this is going to look great!' and another one glancing at the mirror and saying 'I can't wait to go out like this.' Maybe if it was for some kind of skit but that's about it. However, here they are, attending weddings and filming YouTube videos with enough layers on their face to withstand even Siberian winters. I really hope some of these looks were meant as jokes. Or at least that they were cleaned off right away.
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Oh Girl, No
Pinsandpearls, one of the moderators of Bad MakeUp Artists, said 'bad makeup' probably means different things to different people, which is why the subreddit has such a wide variety of posts. "Typically, we're looking at makeup that isn't applied skillfully — lack of blending where appropriate, terrible foundation color match, messy lines," Pinsandpearls explained to Bored Panda. "I don't think it includes things that are maybe 'different' than you would normally see, as long as the actual application is good (editorial makeup, for example). We still allow some of those posts because it usually has a good discussion and taste is subjective, but I think there's a difference between 'different' and 'bad.' Bad is pretty obvious when you see it."
She’s Like A Full 8 Shades Darker Than Her Arm
This Deserves Some Kind Of Medal
"Another thing I mentioned was the color choice. If you take a look, you can probably see a lot of makeup artists and normal people are mismatching their foundations to their skin's undertone," badMUAscout highlighted. "If you're slightly off, it's probably ok. Our skin isn't one flat color and it can vary in shades throughout the day. It doesn't help that foundations oxidize and can go from perfect to pumpkin shades. While sometimes it isn't an issue, when you are paying a trained artist hundreds of pounds or dollars to do makeup, you shouldn't end up with a different undertone or a shade five times darker than your skin."
Contouring is another poor color choice often featured on the subreddit. "Contour is meant to mimic the 'shadows' you naturally have but very very slightly enhanced. We consider it to be bad when it looks like a dark stripe down the side of the face which doesn't match the natural shadows," badMUAscout explained.
A Lot To Unpack Here
I cannot upvote this enough!!!! My obsession is watching Five Minute Craft videos and posting a reply to the video with what is wrong with it (DIY) why it won’t work (Food related) or why it’s downright dangerous (Anything health related). I still cannot believe they encourage people to put Q-Tips in their EYES!!!!
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here we have an example of very angry and aggressive eyelashes, these ones have pushed the eybrows out of their natural territory
Make me look like that girl-creature from the movie Splice please splice-sex...b6613e.jpg 
This may or may not be the case but she looks like she has Waardenburg syndrome. And those eyebrows are giving me the fear.
I honestly can't tell where the eye shadow begins and the eyelashes end.
How many parents would buy a doll that looked like this, for your child? It's horrifying. Please let this be part of an Anime costume for ComiCon
Three thing wrong with this the middle of her face is 8 shades lighter her eyebrows are crying for help and those lashes...
WTF??? What is this nightmare? Is it photoshop or makeup? In fact it doesn't even matter, the result is, anyway, grotesque.
This would be a great drag show look (been to a few, they'd love it!).
Yuck! I thought it was a Halloween mask from one of those campy horror films at first.
Do these people actually think we would accept these pictures as natural replicas of themselves?
the worst thing is that these stupid (to be nice) people, think to be cool, not monsters !!!
I've had hypnagogic hallucinations that were less frightening than this.
This is what the Lightbulb Cartel does to you when you make your bulb last 1500 hours instead of 1000 hours.
This is great makeup for a drag queen... and I'm guessing this person isn't a drag queen.
Oh come on, Drag Queens are Fab at make-up, this is...is...god I have no clue what this is.
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This is great makeup for a drag queen... but I'm guessing this person isn't a drag queen.
Were you forced to come here against your will?
Load More Replies...Another moderator who helps run Bad MakeUp Artists, RedHeadedSnatch, believes that some people do submit photos to the subreddit as a joke or because they might not really like a particular celebrity or look. However, RedHeadedSnatch reminded that makeup is subjective, and there is no formula that determines whether or not an application is bad. "The only problem I have is when individuals who promote themselves as professionals but do not understand color theory, face shapes, eye shape, or use proper sanitation," RedHeadedSnatch said. "Sanitation is a huge issue because it can lead to acne, eye infections like pink eye, staph infections, and in some cases, actual bugs living in brushes. On a less severe note, it can also make the application of makeup look cakey, distort the foundation's color, concealer, and eye shadow, and cause damage to brushes."
The Difference In Skin Tone
RedHeadedSnatch looks at the submitted photos from a professional makeup artist's point of view. They have their makeup license from the state of Florida and have had over 100 hours of theory and hands-on training, with written and practical application tests, so they know what they're talking about. And that is a big positive that comes from Bad MakeUp Artists. Sure, we can all laugh at the photos, but if you browse through the comments, you can find valuable information even within the jokes.
Also, the subreddit forces the industry to be more transparent. "I feel as though the market is oversaturated with people claiming the MUA status without having proper training, and that causes people to lose faith in the makeup artist industry as a whole," RedHeadedSnatch said. Let's hope Bad MakeUp Artists makes them accountable. At least a a little bit.
As A Mum Id Be Raging Trying To Remove The Foundation From Her School Shirt!
Felt Like You’d All Appreciate A Little Satire
Buzzfeed's Geisha Makeup vs. Actual Geisha Makeup
James, You Can’t Be Serious With That Foundation Colour?
Yikes. You Would Think Muas For Their Show Would Do Better
Mexican Politician
She Went To The Worst Reviewed Mua In Her City
Spotted On Svu This Morning, This Poor Woman's Color Match Is Especially Heinous
If You All Thought The Last One Was Bad Have A Look At This One
I Genuinely Think This Is The Worst Thing I’ve Seen On My Explore Page
I’m A Dude And Don’t Know Anything About Makeup But I’m Assuming Your Face Isn’t Meant To Look Like You Have A Goggle’s Tan
Foundation Match Isn’t Even Close, So Muddy Too
Foundation? There's enough to lay bricks with. I'm sure she's beautiful without it but it looks like she put her stuff on with a trowel.
She Did Her So Dirty ...
Beef That Been Left Out For Too Long Lips
It Gets Worse The More You Look At It
Just No!!!
Who are they hiring to do their makeup? Are they going to a mortuary to get it done? Only dead people get makeup like this and even they look natural.
Horrific Colour Match
Such Distinct Lines Around The Eyes. Shouldn't There Be Some Blending, Or Something?
I’ll be so, so, so happy when I’ll no longer have to shield my eyes from that ghastly/creepy a**s on the 🍊🍄💩’s face
I Feel Violated. Posted In One Of Makeup Groups
I Smell Like Beef
This Look Is Giving Me Anxiety
Remember: Even Celebs Ain't Save From Bad Muas
I Found These Gems Randomly On Ig, And You Guessed It, They’re British. Shade Difference, The Brows, I Could Go On
The one on the left looks like someone you'd want to talk to. The one on the right, run a mile from. Shallow, aren't I?
Wedding Glam Apparently
Found This Today And.. I’ve Never Seen A Foundation Match This Bad
Found On Instagram - Blushed To The Gods
Oh my god the wonky lipstick might just kill me! SOMEBODY FIX HER RIGHT PEAK NOW
Keep In Mind He Was On A Show For Makeup Artists
A Very Heavy Makeup Look
It's Actually Just Me... The Goal Was A Purple/Yellow Look. I Tried A Disney Villain And I'm Just Ashamed
The Brows And The Shade Of The Foundation Is Awful And It Looks Like A Mess. She Looks Like She Was Slapped With Mud And Her Makeup Was Done By Krusty The Clown
...yikes
The Foundation Match... Look At Her Hair Line!!!! The Brows Are Literal Caterpillars!
There's A Lot To Unpack Here
Why This Though
Whoever Did Her Makeup For The Show Should Be Sued
Note: this post originally had 117 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
Listen, ladies, gentleman, non-binaries, we are all beautiful. No need to do this to yourself. no need to fake freckles or have flawless skin
@Si yeh they probably are...open your eyes and look at these girls/women! They are changing their whole look because of social media etc... they are naturally pretty!! So yeh they do look like generic mannequins with that crap in their face but without they look stunning!!! Dont be pedantic u know exactly what I'm on about!
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It's a pity that so many people choose to look like fools when they can look pretty.
Foundation match is absolutely the most difficult thing about makeup. Foundation by its very nature is opaque and unchangeing in different lights, whereas skin has subtlety, various degrees of transparency that causes different colors in different lights. Skin simply has qualities that are unmatched by available foundations, so you must keep lighting in mind when in front of cameras or on tv etc. I am about as pale as a person can be. Foundation is a struggle I lost.
Ditto. I just said, forget it, and I dust on anti-shiny-nose powder, a dab of mascara and lip gloss, and to heck with it.
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As ridiculous as most of these people look, they aren't hurting anyone, so...Who really cares?
Just to be clear, I don't have a problem with using makeup. My issue is with the trend, where it's okay to reject your own features and plaster on a new face using a bucket of products/editing. Body Dysmorphia comes to mind. The fact that this time they're botched too just makes it more sad. Couple of these are about/because of colorism, which is an even more serious issue in itself.
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To me it seems like a lot of these people are just delusional, and it might not entirely be their fault, but they're practically wearing face paint with how much makeup they have, and its a completely different shade than their actual skin tone. But what amazes me most is how they don't see this. just how do you not see that in the mirror, and how does nobody else tell you?
These remind me so much of 1970's, 1980's stage makeup that was so over the top and so glamorous in the drag shows and Vegas revues. Of course, that was for the stage and executed much more professionally than these travesties. Divine must be spinning in her grave over these atrocities!
@Si yeh they probably are...open your eyes and look at these girls/women! They are changing their whole look because of social media etc... they are naturally pretty!! So yeh they do look like generic mannequins with that crap in their face but without they look stunning!!! Dont be pedantic u know exactly what I'm on about!
Seeing how hard it is to match foundation makes me happy I stopped wearing it
I always thought the whole point of wearing makeup is not to make the makeup look obvious or you look like a clown, but to make you look like you don’t need to wear makeup in the first place. To cover what you don’t like and enhance what you do. To apply it artfully enough to look like your skin is perfect and you’re not wearing any makeup. Aside from the few who were obviously applying stage makeup (maybe doing practice runs for new looks), the rest look like as much like caricatures and cartoons as clowns. And none of it in a good way. (Don’t even get me started on plastic surgery!)
To me, they look like drag queens...those looks might look good on magazines with a good photographer, but irl, those are shocking.
Girl, any drag queen with any pride would be ashamed to be seen with this crap makeup.
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I'm having a problem with the judging attitude here. Do I like all of these looks? Heck, no, most do look (a little) OTT. But many of them also show skill at something these people enjoy doing. It's a hobby (and some are lucky to make money off it), why don't we let them enjoy it? If someone shows a frankly crappy craft online, everyone is at least supportive of the effort and hopes they'll improve. But do the craft project on your face, and people get all upset over it.
The exaggerated nature of the "beauty standard" is upsetting *me*.
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I think a lot of people here need to look at their self-esteem. Why do they feel they need this covering? People don't need to look alike to look beautiful.
Why do companies make foundation that is so yellow in the first place? Call me a skeptic but I don’t believe in lemon people
Former roommate and coworker, nearly 70 at the time, would apply her makeup under very yellow lights---just the way the lighting in our apartment was, nothing we could do about it---and she always used a pumpkin orange whatever goes on the face (I don't wear makeup, so am not familiar with it), and bright red or purple lipstick. She dyed her hair impossible shades of red, completing the look of an old worn out clown. She would clip tiny sparkly butterflies all over her hair, which was very long, would wear little girl-type socks with ruffles and tiny bells around the ankles, and would skip...SKIP...all around the unit (ICU in a major hospital) singing (hideous, shrieky voice) some song about being a "tiny fairy." She was straight as straight can be, couldn't sing at all, was deeply into astrology (to the point of being called up on the carpet for it by our managers), and tried her best to look and act as if she was 12. Nobody at the age of 70 can look like they're 12!
Sounds like she had fun! I wish i could be that free!
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Most of the bad tv foundation is just the color changing from the stage lights
God made us beautiful & handsome persons, WHY they need to change what god has created?!!! Maybe they listen to the devil too much, or maybe they lost their self-confidence!!! 😢😢
I one saw a quote that said "I don't wear makeup because i'd rather people be surprised when i put it on then when i take it off."
Why did they want to be so orange?? Trying to look like Trump?? 🍊🍊🍊🍊
I don't like makeup. It's unnatural, and everyone is beautiful anyways. Hearts and souls matter, not looks.
What I don’t get is the dark lipliner and pale matte lips. How can anyone think that looks good? I always called it ‘bl*w-j*b lips. Looks like she’s going to “audition” for a porn movie.
I don't understand how people can look at themselves made up like this & think it looks nice.
i feel so bad for these girls/women who think they need all this crap to be beautiful. every single one of them is prettier and more interesting without makeup. i don't wear makeup at all, unless i'm feeling ambitious and put a bit of eyeliner on; i have acne, reverse raccoon eyes, and you know what? i don't care. people looking at me don't care, probably, and if they do, what are they going to do, tell me about it? who cares? all these people covering up their natural skintone and their freckles and the things that make them unique just make me sad.
Some of these are pretty bad. However, i myself just took a pic of my hand over my face with zero makeup on and my face is not the same shade as my hand at all.
A friend of mine once took a girl he met at a bar home. He woke up early the next morning to discover that she'd scarpered and had left carnage behind. The crisp white pillowcase she'd been sleeping on had a near perfect make up imprint of her entire face on it, complete with fake eyelashes stuck to it and his crisp white bed sheets were ruined with fake tan. It looked like Clayface from Batman had shat himself. It wouldn't come out so he had to throw the whole lot away. It was hilarious.
Why would anyone want to be seen with these disasters? Is the Human Look pasśè?
What I'm wondering is why do these people apply their makeup so thickly. You'd think they were trying to hide something.
Just ridiculous. Have they really looked in the mirror or are they just delusional?
The self-loathing that many of these pictures show is just depressing.
This whole thread is almost exclusivity about foundation matches that probably look fine in person. If your TV or monitor colors are set wrong, this is what you're gonna see.
In all these pics....no one looks happy...shocked, depressed, stung out...but not happy
I can't understand why women are doing this. Puffy lips, painted eyebrows, extravagant eyes. It's certainly not to attract men.
I guess my confusion lies in the fact they look in the mirror and think "I look good". No honey, you look cheap and ridiculous. So many of these ladies are perfectly lovely to begin with. This is what social media has turned them into. The constant bombardment of being told you're not good enough. Take someone with poor self esteem to begin with and you've got a train wreck on your hands (or face, as the case may be).
I don't like this post - very mean spirited. Do i agree that a lot of this makeup doesn't look particularly good? Yes. But i also know it isn't hurting anyone else if they wish to wear their makeup this way (with exception to the cultural appropriation of skin tones) Let people dress and wear their makeup how they want. It's about how it makes the one wearing it feels, not us.
This post proved one thing. We Must Ban Bronzers, Tanners, Golders, Silver-ers, and general "Bright Glowy stuff"... I've seen these make-up jobs in real life and you seriously can't *not* flinch. (shudder*
NOOOOOOO WITHOUT BRONZER I WILL BE A PIECE OF FLESH COLORED PAPER
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Aye cause they look like bampots! And I'm a woman saying it!!! Yes there is more to women than this but naw they do it for Male attention so dont bloody kid on they are not going for the porn star look! Give them the respect that they are not that stupid that they dont know what they doing!
Load More Replies... Listen, ladies, gentleman, non-binaries, we are all beautiful. No need to do this to yourself. no need to fake freckles or have flawless skin
@Si yeh they probably are...open your eyes and look at these girls/women! They are changing their whole look because of social media etc... they are naturally pretty!! So yeh they do look like generic mannequins with that crap in their face but without they look stunning!!! Dont be pedantic u know exactly what I'm on about!
Load More Replies... It's a pity that so many people choose to look like fools when they can look pretty.
Foundation match is absolutely the most difficult thing about makeup. Foundation by its very nature is opaque and unchangeing in different lights, whereas skin has subtlety, various degrees of transparency that causes different colors in different lights. Skin simply has qualities that are unmatched by available foundations, so you must keep lighting in mind when in front of cameras or on tv etc. I am about as pale as a person can be. Foundation is a struggle I lost.
Ditto. I just said, forget it, and I dust on anti-shiny-nose powder, a dab of mascara and lip gloss, and to heck with it.
Load More Replies... As ridiculous as most of these people look, they aren't hurting anyone, so...Who really cares?
Just to be clear, I don't have a problem with using makeup. My issue is with the trend, where it's okay to reject your own features and plaster on a new face using a bucket of products/editing. Body Dysmorphia comes to mind. The fact that this time they're botched too just makes it more sad. Couple of these are about/because of colorism, which is an even more serious issue in itself.
Load More Replies... To me it seems like a lot of these people are just delusional, and it might not entirely be their fault, but they're practically wearing face paint with how much makeup they have, and its a completely different shade than their actual skin tone. But what amazes me most is how they don't see this. just how do you not see that in the mirror, and how does nobody else tell you?
These remind me so much of 1970's, 1980's stage makeup that was so over the top and so glamorous in the drag shows and Vegas revues. Of course, that was for the stage and executed much more professionally than these travesties. Divine must be spinning in her grave over these atrocities!
@Si yeh they probably are...open your eyes and look at these girls/women! They are changing their whole look because of social media etc... they are naturally pretty!! So yeh they do look like generic mannequins with that crap in their face but without they look stunning!!! Dont be pedantic u know exactly what I'm on about!
Seeing how hard it is to match foundation makes me happy I stopped wearing it
I always thought the whole point of wearing makeup is not to make the makeup look obvious or you look like a clown, but to make you look like you don’t need to wear makeup in the first place. To cover what you don’t like and enhance what you do. To apply it artfully enough to look like your skin is perfect and you’re not wearing any makeup. Aside from the few who were obviously applying stage makeup (maybe doing practice runs for new looks), the rest look like as much like caricatures and cartoons as clowns. And none of it in a good way. (Don’t even get me started on plastic surgery!)
To me, they look like drag queens...those looks might look good on magazines with a good photographer, but irl, those are shocking.
Girl, any drag queen with any pride would be ashamed to be seen with this crap makeup.
Load More Replies... I'm having a problem with the judging attitude here. Do I like all of these looks? Heck, no, most do look (a little) OTT. But many of them also show skill at something these people enjoy doing. It's a hobby (and some are lucky to make money off it), why don't we let them enjoy it? If someone shows a frankly crappy craft online, everyone is at least supportive of the effort and hopes they'll improve. But do the craft project on your face, and people get all upset over it.
The exaggerated nature of the "beauty standard" is upsetting *me*.
Load More Replies... I think a lot of people here need to look at their self-esteem. Why do they feel they need this covering? People don't need to look alike to look beautiful.
Why do companies make foundation that is so yellow in the first place? Call me a skeptic but I don’t believe in lemon people
Former roommate and coworker, nearly 70 at the time, would apply her makeup under very yellow lights---just the way the lighting in our apartment was, nothing we could do about it---and she always used a pumpkin orange whatever goes on the face (I don't wear makeup, so am not familiar with it), and bright red or purple lipstick. She dyed her hair impossible shades of red, completing the look of an old worn out clown. She would clip tiny sparkly butterflies all over her hair, which was very long, would wear little girl-type socks with ruffles and tiny bells around the ankles, and would skip...SKIP...all around the unit (ICU in a major hospital) singing (hideous, shrieky voice) some song about being a "tiny fairy." She was straight as straight can be, couldn't sing at all, was deeply into astrology (to the point of being called up on the carpet for it by our managers), and tried her best to look and act as if she was 12. Nobody at the age of 70 can look like they're 12!
Sounds like she had fun! I wish i could be that free!
Load More Replies... Most of the bad tv foundation is just the color changing from the stage lights
God made us beautiful & handsome persons, WHY they need to change what god has created?!!! Maybe they listen to the devil too much, or maybe they lost their self-confidence!!! 😢😢
I one saw a quote that said "I don't wear makeup because i'd rather people be surprised when i put it on then when i take it off."
Why did they want to be so orange?? Trying to look like Trump?? 🍊🍊🍊🍊
I don't like makeup. It's unnatural, and everyone is beautiful anyways. Hearts and souls matter, not looks.
What I don’t get is the dark lipliner and pale matte lips. How can anyone think that looks good? I always called it ‘bl*w-j*b lips. Looks like she’s going to “audition” for a porn movie.
I don't understand how people can look at themselves made up like this & think it looks nice.
i feel so bad for these girls/women who think they need all this crap to be beautiful. every single one of them is prettier and more interesting without makeup. i don't wear makeup at all, unless i'm feeling ambitious and put a bit of eyeliner on; i have acne, reverse raccoon eyes, and you know what? i don't care. people looking at me don't care, probably, and if they do, what are they going to do, tell me about it? who cares? all these people covering up their natural skintone and their freckles and the things that make them unique just make me sad.
Some of these are pretty bad. However, i myself just took a pic of my hand over my face with zero makeup on and my face is not the same shade as my hand at all.
A friend of mine once took a girl he met at a bar home. He woke up early the next morning to discover that she'd scarpered and had left carnage behind. The crisp white pillowcase she'd been sleeping on had a near perfect make up imprint of her entire face on it, complete with fake eyelashes stuck to it and his crisp white bed sheets were ruined with fake tan. It looked like Clayface from Batman had shat himself. It wouldn't come out so he had to throw the whole lot away. It was hilarious.
Why would anyone want to be seen with these disasters? Is the Human Look pasśè?
What I'm wondering is why do these people apply their makeup so thickly. You'd think they were trying to hide something.
Just ridiculous. Have they really looked in the mirror or are they just delusional?
The self-loathing that many of these pictures show is just depressing.
This whole thread is almost exclusivity about foundation matches that probably look fine in person. If your TV or monitor colors are set wrong, this is what you're gonna see.
In all these pics....no one looks happy...shocked, depressed, stung out...but not happy
I can't understand why women are doing this. Puffy lips, painted eyebrows, extravagant eyes. It's certainly not to attract men.
I guess my confusion lies in the fact they look in the mirror and think "I look good". No honey, you look cheap and ridiculous. So many of these ladies are perfectly lovely to begin with. This is what social media has turned them into. The constant bombardment of being told you're not good enough. Take someone with poor self esteem to begin with and you've got a train wreck on your hands (or face, as the case may be).
I don't like this post - very mean spirited. Do i agree that a lot of this makeup doesn't look particularly good? Yes. But i also know it isn't hurting anyone else if they wish to wear their makeup this way (with exception to the cultural appropriation of skin tones) Let people dress and wear their makeup how they want. It's about how it makes the one wearing it feels, not us.
This post proved one thing. We Must Ban Bronzers, Tanners, Golders, Silver-ers, and general "Bright Glowy stuff"... I've seen these make-up jobs in real life and you seriously can't *not* flinch. (shudder*
NOOOOOOO WITHOUT BRONZER I WILL BE A PIECE OF FLESH COLORED PAPER
Load More Replies... Aye cause they look like bampots! And I'm a woman saying it!!! Yes there is more to women than this but naw they do it for Male attention so dont bloody kid on they are not going for the porn star look! Give them the respect that they are not that stupid that they dont know what they doing!
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