Many many moons ago, at an office (now a flagship store) approximately 8 speed-walking minutes away from where I currently work, I was an editorial intern at Into The Gloss. It was there, while transcribing a Top Shelf interview in a comically tiny beauty closet, that I became aware of the paradigm-shifting technique of “using lipstick as blush.” It was intuitive and genius (?!), but also indicative of something larger about beauty I hadn’t realized until that point: you can make up your own rules.

Sure, there are plenty of derm-approved guidelines and best practices to heed, but...there are also countless things we all do off-label to make our faces and bodies look softer, glowier, and Zamboni-polished. I’m a huge fan of repurposing a chemical exfoliator that wrought havoc on my face as a body exfoliator. Atlanta screenwriter Stefani Robinson likes to use Supergoop’s sunscreen oil stick as a highlighter on the high points of her cheeks. Mahen Bonetti, film festival director, usually applies red lipstick to her under eyes to color correct them. My roommate prides herself on wearing mineral sunscreen to sleep. (Zinc calms her skin!) They're all valid and smart misuses, and I bet there must be many more to share. So kindly, tell me: Which beauty products do you use wrong on purpose? What’s the right way to do it all wrong?

—Utibe Mbagwu

Photo via ITG