We asked Bustle’s Must Follow influencers to share the one beauty trick they’ve learned that sounds weird, but actually works.

Add Artificial Sweetener To Hair Bleach

My best friend, Kelly Wood (IG: @kellywxxd), told me that, when bleaching your hair, you should add artificial sweetener to the bleach before applying it to your hair in order to reduce the “burn” sensation you get from bleaching.

- Lolo, aka @itslololove

Remove The Stoppers From Products

My best friend told me there was a stopper in liquid products like concealer, lip gloss, liquid lipsticks, etc., that prevents you from getting too much product on your applicator. It also ends up causing you to waste a lot of product. If you feel like you're coming to the end of the bottle, you can just pry off the stopper with a pair of tweezers and you'll be surprised as to how much product is actually left over to use.

- Hemali Mistry, aka @ready.to.glow

Prep Skin With Sparkling Water

Last summer, I was a bridesmaid for my cousin’s wedding, and she gave me the honorable task of doing her makeup. On the actual day, my aunt handed me a bottle of sparkling water and told me to prep the bride’s skin with it. I was extremely confused but did it anyway. Lo and behold, it worked like magic and her makeup stayed on all night. Turns out sparkling water really helps to balance oils and promote circulation, resulting in perfect makeup-ready, glowy skin!

- María Isabel Gomez, aka @bigapplebeauty