The Easiest Way To Fix A Botched Makeup Job

Olive Oil Virgin Swabs, DHC, $8 for 50 swabs

How annoying applying makeup is! One minute, it’s a smokey eye, one misstep later, there’s black shadow smeared across your face and nothing to do but to start over. That’s what’s so amazing about these Olive Oil Virgin Swabs from DHC: they fix mistakes and do the detail work when it comes to cosmetic fixes, especially around the eyes. Mascara smudges? A few swipes of this magic q-tip and your mistake is gone. These olive oil-coated, individually wrapped swabs are for the Type-A, hyper-detailed amongst you (a web search for this product comes up with “Karina’s Secret Weapon for Getting a Perfect Cat’s Eye.”)

Of course, it’s not just for perfectionists. It’s also gentle enough for babies’ skin. As for beauty, the possibilities are endless. Use them to moisturize your cuticle pre-manicure. And while you’re at it, use the olive oil-soaked swabs to clean your most delicate areas that also tend to be dry: under your eyes, around your nose, and in and behind your ears. Some use them to remove eye makeup at the end of the day. The most you use them, the most uses you’ll find for them. 

I recently used them to remove hair-tinting spray I applied to cover premature greys before a Zoom interview. Of course, I overdid it, and the brunette tint ended up visible along my hairline. Four or five frantic applications of the swabs later, I was so grateful someone had gifted these to me; the oil in the swabs had vanquished the dye, and after wiping it off easily, I was interview-ready.