10+ Photos That Prove Makeup Is More Powerful Than We Give It Credit For

Being transformed on your big day is truly one of the most special makeup experiences. I love that they didn't shy away from a smokey eye and big lashes!

Now, you definitely don't have to do this — there's nothing wrong with looking your actual age! But if you want to see a big transformation for yourself, something like this would definitely do the trick. WOW.

You cannot talk about the power of makeup without shouting out drag queens for the magic they do with it. Drag queens often completely block out their existing eyebrows to create exaggerated ones. Sorcery.

Adding in more dramatic shadows and brighter highlights, aka contouring, can really bring out features you didn't even know you had. Look at how perfectly defined her lips are!

Seriously, filled in brows and big lashes did most of the work here. The foundation isn't heavy, the contouring isn't dramatic. It was all brows and lashes!

If you have dark under-eyes (I know I do), an orange-tinted corrector can help balance out your skin tone. Correctors are key to evening out your coloring before foundation!

Look how soft her skin looks! Evening out pigmentation is a big foundation perk. It helps to add in a bit of a green corrector if you have a lot of redness. And a red lip is never a bad idea.

I'm a huge fan of this makeup moment. She perfectly matched her foundation to her neck, and then went ahead and did a fun, dramatic eye! Orange is a hard color to pull off, and she did it beautifully.

Ugh, those brows are to die for. I think the true centerpiece here is the lips, let's be real. She perfectly accentuated the definition in her lips with that gorgeous wine color!

And it's gorgeous! Smokey eyes, chiseled cheeks, and bold brows are Instagram classics. It's a totally badass look. I love how big her eyes look, even with those dark colors!

This is such a soft, pretty look. There's definitely a glow to her face, thanks to the careful highlighting and the gradient her eyeshadow has toward her nose!

I love that makeup can bring out those parts of our faces we didn't even know we had. The contouring here totally accents her killer cheekbones! I have to stan.

You know an artist is good when they can do a dramatic look above a mask. The brows were filled in and a nice, subtle eyeshadow was used. I think this one is all in the liner. What do you think?

I love when people take the silliest before photos. By the way, @makeupbybilliepingault has a message for all of us:

"Remember that SO MUCH of what you see is edited. It’s the beautiful parts of [people's] lives, the best out of 100 photos, great lighting or the most flattering filter on stories. Social media is staged reality."

Her brows were perfectly fine before, but it really helps to darken a blonde's brows in order to make the whole face feel framed and natural.

This warm-toned eye look is absolutely stunning. It's so flattering on her, and really helps her eyes pop! Her lips just needed a bit of gloss, because they are clearly already perfect,

I love when makeup artists don't shy away from doing smokey eyes or liner on older women! There's definitely a way to do it that doesn't make them look like raccoons, as this look proves.

Look at how much light she brought to her face! By adding in contour and popping on highlighter, she made her face feel warm, inviting, and super glowy.

This bridal look is dramatic in a very vintage, classic way. The red lip really pops, the brows are perfectly subtle, and the eyeshadow is nice and soft.

It's so dramatic! The eyes have a gorgeous smoke, of course, but I'm a huge fan of the gold highlight under the brow most of all. It's so different!

A lot of looks don't go for that deep, dark lip, which makes this one extra special. The lip is carried perfectly by the lashes, tying the whole thing together.

Honestly, her brows barely needed filling. Their structure was already so good! A smokey eye is the easiest way to do a dramatic transformation. I love that this one made her eyes pop!