Beauty Hacks Aggie Robertson

Living / 11 July, 2025 / Ellie Thompson

Whether you are an out-and-out beauty expert or someone who just wants to look great on the go without breaking the bank, Aggie Robertson’s new book is full of tips and tricks for life’s beauty dilemmas. With this selection of hacks, you’ll be able to carry on strutting your stuff in true style while saving time, money and effort.

Beauty Hacks: Make-Up Cheats, Skincare Tricks and Styling Tips by Aggie Robertson

Heated Curlers

First beauty hack: Just like the hair on your head, your eyelashes set quicker and more effectively with the help of heat. Take your lash curlers and heat them with a hairdryer for no more than 10 seconds. Wait a few seconds for them to cool slightly, then check with your finger that they are warm but not hot. Then place them over your eyelashes and curl like you normally would. Finally, apply mascara for long, beautiful lashes – no false ones needed!

A Little Trick of the Eye

Here’s a beauty hack that will make your lashes look volumised. Wash an old mascara brush and roll it through loose setting powder (talc-free baby powder will work too). When the brush is coated, wave the wand through your eyelashes and coat them in powder, making sure that there are no clumps. Then apply your mascara as you usually would for a thick, impressive set of lashes.

Loyalty Card Liner

For perfect liquid eyeliner every time, use a spare plastic credit or loyalty card as a foolproof guide for the elusive perfect “flick”. Hold the card edge lengthways at an angle, touching your lower eyelid. If you are using eyeshadow too, apply the powder along the card line first and then apply the eyeliner. Starting with the flick, draw along the card. Slowly take it across to the rest of your eye. Was that too easy?

Enhance Your Eye Colour

Mix it up a little bit by applying one coat of bright blue mascara to your lashes first. Then brush on a black layer over the top, but leave about a quarter of the blue showing at the lash line. This bright blue ring around the eye will draw the focus to your newly intensified eye colour.

Revive Old Mascara

Not ready to say goodbye just yet? Here is a tip that will keep your mascara hanging on just that little bit longer. Put a few drops of saline solution – the kind you use for contact lenses – into the mascara bottle, and swirl it around to give your slightly gunky mascara a new lease of life. Be sure not to use any expired make-up.

#SmokyEyes

Smoky eyes are certainly impressive but achieving them usually takes time and a bit of artistry; two things that are not always on hand! Here is a technique that is infallible and will have you looking like the expert in half the time. Apply a nude or silvery eyeshadow over your lid and then draw a diagonal hashtag in the outer corner with a dark eye pencil or your choice of dark eyeshadow, and blend using your fingertip. The hashtag design creates the perfect shape for a smoky eye – and you can layer up the hashtags one at a time for more intense looks too.

Light-Up Eyeshadow

Sometimes the colour in the palette doesn’t look as effective when we actually get around to wearing it. So next time you decide to rock the sparkly green eyeshadow look, make sure the colours really stand out by covering your lids in bright white eye pencil first. Apply the shadow over the top for a show-stopping look.

Fuller Lips

If you want to spend less time on your face and more time out enjoying life, while looking great, of course, then try this beauty hack out. Use peppermint essential oil to plump up your lips. Put a drop of the oil on your fingertip, dab it onto your lips and leave it to absorb for 2–3 minutes. Apply your lippy for an all-day-long plumper pout.

3D Lips

For even plumper lips, here’s a little beauty tip to really bring out their fullness. Apply your lip colour and then reach for your eyeshadow palette. Choose a metallic light shade – pink, silver or nude – and use your fingertip to stamp the colour onto the fullest part of your lower lip (the middle). Finish with just a touch in the middle of your upper lip and voilà: voluptuous lips.

Fridge Essentials

Put your essential beauty products in the fridge. Storing your lipstick, nail polish and perfume in the fridge makes them last longer! When your products are exposed to humidity or heat they look and act differently from when you first bought them. Your nail polish can go gloopy, your lipstick sticky and fragrances can even go off. Stash these items in the fridge – yes, next to the vegetables – and you will enjoy them for longer.

Article by Aggie Robertson, author of Beauty Hacks: Make-Up Cheats, Skincare Tricks and Styling Tips (Summerdale, £10.99).

Blog