It's easy to assume that celebrities wake up in the morning with perfect skin, hair, nails — you name it. But the reality is, nearly every aspect of their looks has been carefully developed over the course of years, if not decades. Especially makeup.
Believe it or not, J.Lo's glow took quite a bit of practice to get just right. And KStew's smoldering gaze? Let's just say it required some reigning in. Ahead, we've rounded up 15 celebs who were once victims of the same makeup mistakes as the masses — unflattering shades, too much blush, visible contour — and then juxtaposed their "befores" with recent moments when they truly soared.
Don't get us wrong: All the ladies on this list are beautiful, both before and after a makeup artist gets his or her talented hands on them. Still, it's nice to remember that everyone's in need of a little makeup help sometimes. Now, prepare to pick up your jaw off the floor — because these transformations are good.
Before:
Jennifer Lopez has always been partial to steely, grey shadow and brown lipstick, like she wore to the 1998 Academy Awards toward the beginning of her career.
Photo: SGranitz/WireImage/ Getty Images.
After:
But it wasn't until years later that she perfected the tone and depth needed to make the colour combo ultra-flattering — like she did here in 2015. The trick? Her soft shadow is a more earthy shade and slightly smoked out, while her lip colour is the perfect creamy beige for her skin tone.
Photo: Gregg DeGuire/WireImage/ Getty Images.
Before:
In 2009, years before you had "Hello" on repeat, Adele knew exactly which look she wanted the world to remember: full, '60s-inspired lashes.
Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images.
After:
By the time the singer started raking in the Grammys in 2012, she'd also perfected that signature look, ditching the grey shadow and defining her brows to create the perfect frame for her cat-eye lashes.
Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images.
Before:
Gold eyes! Gold lips! Gold cheeks! Gold hair! The Midas touch was strong with Beyoncé in 2001.
Photo: Jim Spellman/WireImage/ Getty Images.
After:
Years later, in 2013, she toned down the gold, keeping it to just the inner corners of her eyes and cheekbones. And somehow, she looks even more radiant.
Photo: Johnny Nunez/WireImage/ Getty Images.
Before:
Since breaking onto the scene in 2005, Blake Lively has looked every bit the quintessential California girl, preferring shimmery shadows and rosy colours over smoky eyes and red lips.
Photo: SGranitz/WireImage/ Getty Images.
After:
By the time Gossip Girl(RIP!) reached its 100th-episode party in 2011, Lively had made her beachy look red carpet-appropriate, thanks to coordinated peach-toned lips and cheeks, accented with subtle highlighter and heavy lashes.
Photo: Gary Gershoff/WireImage/ Getty Images.
Before:
Everyone's favourite funny girl Mindy Kaling isn't afraid to take a beauty risk, and she often shares her love for the products she discovers along the way. Of course, she'll be the first to admit it's a journey to figure out exactly what works — and it started here, in 2009.
Photo: Michael Buckner/WireImage/ Getty Images.
After:
It took some time, but Kaling officially mastered the art of the strong-eye-and-bold-lip combo, a look she wears regularly on the red carpet. We particularly love this 2013 version: a deep-wine stain paired with inky liner and dramatic lashes.
Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty Images.
Before:
Scarlett Johansson has tried every beauty look under the sun: a smoky eye, red glossy lips, ruddy cheeks, matte skin...and sometimes all at once, like she did here in 2001.
Photo: SGranitz/WireImage/ Getty Images.
After:
After some finessing, it's safe to say that by 2012, Johansson had mastered the perfect iteration of her earlier look. The secret: Less is more.
Photo: Mike Marsland/WireImage/Getty Images.
Before:
Although Kerry Washington seemed to have her beauty game pretty much figured out in 2009, there was a little something (or two somethings) missing...
Photo: Theo Wargo/WireImage/ Getty Images.
After:
In 2015, the Scandal actress proves that finding your beauty look can be as simple as paying your brows some extra attention. (Let us not forget that there was a time when it was popular to over-pluck them...)
Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images.
Before:
Behold the beauty of teenage experimentation! Kirsten Dunst was just an adolescent when she attended the Kids' Choice Awards in 1996 wearing frosty-blue eyeshadow. (Cue the "awww.")
Photo: Jim Smeal/WireImage/ Getty Images.
After:
Years later, she learned the powers of a reigned-in makeup look. Still holding onto her love of experimentation, she smoulders in smudgy liner and big lashes.
Photo: JB Lacroix/WireImage/ Getty Images.
Before:
Even in 2006, Kim Kardashian had an affection for a full face of makeup.
Photo: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage/ Getty Images.
After:
But even she's learned, thanks to a team of talented makeup artists, that sometimes one must take a step back. Now, in 2015, she has hordes of fans following her specifically for her beauty advice.
Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images.
Before:
Taylor Swift's look was on the juvenile side back when she was still singing country music in 2008. Cute? Definitely. Suited for one of the biggest pop stars of today? Maybe not.
Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/ Getty Images.
After:
Swift has graduated to a series of tried-and-true looks she rotates: matte red lips, colourful eyeshadow, and full lashes. They all have something in common — they're wonderfully understated. (We especially love this one from 2014.)
Photo: Eamonn McCormack/WireImage/ Getty Images.
Before:
Katy Perry has beautiful, vibrant green eyes, but she was still figuring out how to show them off back in her early days in 2004.
Photo: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage/ Getty Images.
After:
Boom: lashes! Perry mastered the art of the false lash by 2014, and has never looked back.
Photo: Lester Cohen/Getty Images.
Before:
Kristen Stewart loves an edgy red carpet look, as seen here in 2009, when she smudged grey shadow all around her lashline. But she would soon learn she could take it a step further...
Photo: Steve Granitz/WireImage/ Getty Images.
After:
Sometimes less is more, but for Stewart more is more. After some trial and error, she proved that she could rock a serious smoky eye in a variety of colours, like this navy rendition in 2015. And just like that, a signature look is born.
Photo: John Shearer/WireImage/ Getty Images.
Before:
Lauren Conrad has built a multifaceted brand, and along the way she turned her Orange County vibe (seen here in 2008) into something much more refined.
Photo: Todd Williamson/WireImage/ Getty Images.
After:
Of course, we're talking about the subtle cat-eye that girls will forever copy — and for good reason. It's universally flattering and works for any occasion. What would Pinterest have done if she and her team hadn't cracked the code on this one?
Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images.
Before:
When was the last time you saw Rihanna with a smoky eye? Probably back in 2007, before she realised how dynamite she looked when keeping it simple and playing up a different feature.
Photo: Jun Sato/WireImage/ Getty Images.
After:
We're talking about her lips. Red, pink, purple — even green — the singer kills a bold lip, so it was only natural that it became her go-to look (seen here in 2015). Thank you makeup artists, for the constant lip-spiration.
Photo: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images.
Before:
Jennifer Lawrence knew early on, in 2008, that she had an affinity for black liner and peachy colours...
Photo: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage/ Getty Images.
After:
...But it wasn't until she found her glam squad that she got all the tricks to really make her look pop. In 2015, that means: white liner on her waterline, a softer shade of black eye makeup, and peachy lipstick that's just bright enough.
Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/WireImage/ Getty Images.Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
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