Makeup is a miraculous tool. Used correctly, it can highlight our best features, camouflage blemishes or areas we don’t like and make us look and feel younger and more beautiful. But used incorrectly, it can have the opposite effect, causing wrinkles and sagging to appear more prominent and making us look tired and old.
One of the biggest mistakes that women make when it comes to making up their face as they get older, is that they continue to use the same products, colors and application techniques that they have been using since they were in their 20s. As your skin changes, the eyeshadows and powders that looked great in your 20s will often age you in your 40s and 50s.
Everyone’s face and skin is unique, but there are certain makeup dos and don’ts that apply to every woman over a certain age. Here are some tips from the world’s foremost makeup artists on how to use your arsenal of tools to look younger and avoid many of the aging traps that women fall into.
Aging Skin – Makeup Dos and Don’ts
Skip the powder.
This is one of the biggest mistakes that older women make. They have always used a finishing powder to blend and finish their foundation, so they continue to do so. The problem is that as most women age, their skin dries out and gets thinner and that powder no longer absorbs into the skin, instead it creates a cakey layer on top of the foundation and makes wrinkles look even more prominent. Stick with a product like bareMinerals Performance Wear Liquid Foundation and blend well with a good foundation brush and if you find your skin becoming oily or shiny, dab with some tissue or blotting paper instead of applying powder.
Give your cheeks a lift with a little shimmer.
For most women, the cheeks begin to lose volume and sag in their 40s. You can give yourself a subtle lift by applying a light, shimmery highlighter on the top part of the cheek to give the appearance of greater fullness.
Skip the under-eye liner.
A great way to open up your eyes is to line the top lid only, smudging it with a soft pencil so that any crepiness is softened. Liner under your eyes will tend to make your lower lids look droopy and bring out dark circles. Finish with a mascara, avoiding harsh black and leaning more towards a soft dark brown.
Avoid dark lip shades.
Our lips get thinner as we age and dark colors tend to make things look even smaller (look at yourself in a mirror in a pair of black pants right after wearing a pair of white pants and you’ll see what we mean). Lighter shades of peach and pink will make your lips appear more full. To add an even more effective illusion of fullness, dap a little bit of shimmering lipstick or gloss in a slightly lighter shade in the center of your lips only. This will make them “pop” and look round and full.
Be sure to check out the full line of makeup products available on our website. We guarantee that all beauty lines offered are 100% authentic, never from a third-party, and are items that our beauty team uses on our own hair and skin. Plus, Pandora Beauty offers some of the best prices available on all your favorite salon-quality products at our online discount beauty supply store.
