Older women may have a harder time finding makeups tricks to look good. After all, what does that 20-something influence on Instagram know about hiding wrinkles? Instead of going to self-proclaimed makeup gurus, you should ask what the professional artists are doing to help their older clients put on the perfect face. By following these simple makeup tricks, you’ll look and feel younger in no time.
1. Add Liner to Lips
As we grow older, lines around our mouth and lips become more prominent. This means that lipstick will settle in crevices where it shouldn’t. The simplest solution is to use a lip liner to define where your upper and lower lip skin end. With age, lips and facial skin blend together, so defining a “barrier” between the two can help give you fuller-looking lips.
2. Keep Eyeshadow Light
Even though a cat-like look can make your eyes pop, a less-is-more approach is more age-appropriate in older women. As we mature, a lighter application of eyeshadow can go a long way. Avoid using loud colors light blue, green, or pink, and instead, opt for a hue that complements your natural skin tone.
3. Stop Using Matte Looks
Many older women are guilty of overloading their facial skin with shiny makeup, but going to the extreme in the opposite direction—a dull, matted texture—isn’t the solution. Don’t aim for shimmer; go for sheen. Try and produce a natural glow for your facial skin, not a light-reflective look. As a side note, glitter is not your friend!
4. Shimmer Does Not Complement Textured Skin
Even though shimmer can add a hint of youthfulness to your look, if you have textured skin caused by acne or wrinkles, then shimmer will make you look older than you actually are. A shimmery makeup will accentuate wrinkles and age lines instead of blending them in. Skip the shimmer and use a neutral color that will help brighten wrinkles.
5. Avoid Face Powders
Powders draw out moisture from your skin, leaving an unappealing dryness that’s hard to cover. Instead of using face powders, the better option for women over 50 is to use nothing at all. You can still dab on a bit of powder to help your eye concealer set and to remove excess moisture, but other than this, skip face powders completely.
6. Start with your Eyes
It’s pretty easy to go overboard when you start with a foundation, so instead, begin your makeup routine from your eyes. While adding eye shadow, any dust that falls from your lids onto your cheeks (called fallout) can help cover dark under-eye circles. Your facial makeup can help cover these parts, but if the fallout occurs after applying your foundation, then you might need to start from the beginning.
7. Brush Outward from the Center
Most self-proclaimed makeup gurus will tell you to apply a full-coverage of makeup, but you might actually end up missing certain spots around your cheeks and neck. Instead, starting with a creamy foundation, start at the center of your face (this requires the most attention since it draws the most attention) and brush outward toward the check, ears, neck, and hairline. A flat, fluffy brush cover a wider area more evenly.
8. Prime your Eyelids
Regardless of whether your eyelids are oily or not, a primer on your upper eyelids will help hide some of the signs of age and allow your makeup to stick for longer. Our eyelids become thinner and transparent with age, which results in uneven colors around the eye. Dab a thin layer of primer to even your natural skin tone.
9. Then Prime Your Face
Larger pores, thinning skin, and wrinkles will all bombard your facial skin as you mature. To fight back, add a thin layer of primer on your face to even out the texture and color by becoming the perfect palette for foundation. It’s an easy yet effective trick to reduce signs of age.
10. Darken Your Eyebrows
It’s no secret that our eyebrows will begin to thin out the older we get. All of that waxing and tweezing you did might also end up causing gray hairs to sprout along your eyebrows. To bring thinning brows back to life, use a brow gel and apply it in an outward motion to darken your brows and fill any gaps.
11. Dot and Sponge Your Eye Liner
In your 20s, lining your eyes meant dragging a pencil across your eyelid from end to end. When we reach a certain age, doing this isn’t as easy since wrinkles and lines can hamper the smooth, continuous stroke. Instead, use the pencil and add dots from end to end of your eyelid, then smudge the line with a sponge.
12. Use a Cream Blush
A cream blush will help set a more even tone across your facial skin than powder. Use a color that compliments your natural skin tone instead of using a loud color that can end up drawing attention. A bit of shimmer to the brush it fine and will highlight your cheekbones, but try and focus on a dewier appearance.
13. Use Natural Shades
An overly colorful face with pink, blue, purple, and green splattered everywhere will not do you any good. Sure, you’ll be the center of attention but for all the wrong reasons. Instead, use natural shades and shadows will work better at hiding wrinkles and blemishes. Keep your makeup tones as neutral as possible.
14. Avoid Purple Hues
A purple tone might have made you look deep and mysterious when you were younger, but the same tone in women over 50 will enhance dark circles under the eyes and age spots. Instead, you should opt for a color that matches your natural skin color; this will help dampen discoloration around the eyes and neck and remove years from your overall look.
15. Don’t Highlight Your Cheeks
Highlighting cheekbones was a good idea back in the day, but for women over 50 years old, highlighter will attract unwanted attention to spots that we’d prefer hiding. A shimmery highlighter is the worst since it can make your cheekbones pop out farther than they do, producing a skeletal look instead of fuller cheeks.
16. Apply Lip Balm
Lip balm adds moisture and body to your lips, two things that may have been lost in time. You can do this regularly as the night progresses, but be mindful of how lip balm affects your penciled-in lip liner. Revert back to your middle-school days and take a jar of lip balm wherever you go.
17. Use Facial Oil for a Dewy Look
A bit of oil can help produce a dewy look that can remove years of age marks from your skin. Moisture is your skin’s best friend, regardless of age, and dabbing a bit of oil onto your cheeks helps keep them nice and tight. Don’t go overboard since facial oil can wash away makeup.
18. Line Your Bottom Eyelid
If you want your eyes to pop without going overboard, lining the bottom lid with eyeliner is a simple way to do so. A nude shadow can make your eyes look bigger, brighter, and full of life. Draw the line right before your bottom lid’s lashes and add a dab to the inner corners.
19. Use a Setting Spray
As we mature, the makeup we worked too hard to put on will fade a lot faster. This may be because aged skin is trying to leech moisture from the cosmetics, and what ends up happening is that the makeup becomes dried and cracked. What you should do is lock your look in with a moisturizing setting spray. This helps moisturize skin while also keeping oil off of your face.
20. Focus Heavily on Skincare
No matter much effort you put into your age-masking routine, it’ll all be for naught if you don’t have the skin texture to back it up. Instead of focusing heavily on masking wrinkles, upgrade your skincare ritual by using higher-quality moisturizers, creams, and sunscreen. Also—we can’t stress this enough—make sure you’re drinking enough water!