Surprising Beauty Tools That You Probably Already Have at Your Desk

Have you ever wished for more control and precision when putting on makeup? (Think: shadow fallout smearing your perfect concealer application into a smoky mess.) Thanks to the resourcefulness and ingenuity of makeup artists we work with, we’ve learned a few tricks using everyday office items, some of which you probably already have on hand!

TOOL #1: TAPE

You can use regular scotch tape to draw a super-perfect cat eye. After applying your eye primer (try Too Faced Shadow Insurance), grab a 2-inch strip tape and press it into your hand to make it a little less sticky. Then apply the tape at an angle from your lower eyelid. You can adjust the angle according to how dramatic you want the winged line to be. Using liquid liner (we love Stila’s pen version), draw a line from the inner corner of the lid to the outer corner along the edge of the tape. Peel off the tape and repeat on the other eye. You can also do this with dark shadow for a softer look with a dramatic edge, as we did here.

Masking and scotch tapes are also great for cleaning up fallout from glitter products! We love glitters (like the dramatic silver used here, Marilin Monroe from Lit)—but know the sparkles can sometimes land where you don’t want them to. Here, after applying, we lightly pressed a fresh piece of tape onto the skin to pick up errant flakes without disturbing our undereye concealer.

TOOL #2: BUSINESS CARD

Do you ever get those telltale mascara streaks along your brow bone? It happens if you’ve got super long lashes OR if you blink too hard or look up too quickly before the mascara is dry. Then you’ve gotta go back over it with a Q-tip dipped in eye makeup remover, and risk screwing up your beautiful eyeshadow job. Our tip: skip the remover step, and use a business card for no-smudge perfection.

Before you put on your mascara, hold an business card between your eyelid and your lash root. This creates a barrier so you can get at lashes with your mascara wand to your heart’s content. Keep the card there, and apply as many coats as you like—keep it in place and blink your lashes help them dry.

You can also use the straight edge of the card to catch dark shadow fallout, like we did.

TOOL #3: ENVELOPE

We got this dramatic RuPaul-esque look with the help of an envelope. To try it, hold an envelope just under your cheekbone. Swipe a blush brush into the cheek color of your choice (make sure there’s a lot of pigment on the bristles) and follow the line of the envelope. Concentrate the majority of the hue along the edge where your cheek meets the envelope, and blend upward. (Tip: a cut cheek looks great with a cut crease!)

For a more subtle take, use the above technique for bronzer to contour, and then be sure to blend the harsh edge at the bottom with a sponge to get natural-looking cheekbones to die for!

Who knew our cubicle stockpile was hiding so many beauty tricks? We’re still wondering if there’s a makeup-related way to repurpose staples. Do you have any office-supply tricks up your sleeve? Please share with us in the comments!