Aging brings new wrinkles and spots to hide but it also changes the skin and the way it reacts to the products you’ve used all your life. These makeup tips for older women target precisely these changes that may leave some feeling confused on why your perfect makeup skills are no longer producing the results they once did.
10 makeup tips for older women
All makeup tips for older women share the same basic premises. The first is that less is more sometimes. That doesn’t mean less makeup necessarily, but rather fewer quantities and a more skillful placement.
The second one is a big smile, because even the dullest skin brightens up when you carry yourself with a positive attitude.
Moisturize with acid hyaluronic
Nourishing and moisturizing the skin prior to applying the makeup is an essential step for everyone, regardless of age.
However, if you’re already sporting some wrinkles doing it with a cream containing acid hyaluronic can make a big difference. This acid pulls hydration to the cells, giving the skin a plumper appearance that will make creases less noticeable.
Sunscreen is a must
As far as makeup tips for older women go, applying sunscreen may look displaced but it’s a fundamental anti-aging tip. It will help prevent and delaying wrinkles and, most importantly, liver spots that could then show up through the makeup and give the face a dull appearance.
You can either turn this into a step in your beauty routine or skip it and choose a foundation with high SPF instead.
Prefer lightweight foundations
It might sound counterintuitive, but if you want to disguise your wrinkles you should go for lightweight formulations.
Thicker foundations provide for better coverage of liver spots and discolorations but they also give a cakey feeling to the face and put wrinkles in evidence. Lightweight formulations, on the other hand, will provide for a softer, more natural and flattering result while still disguising any imperfections.
Plump your lips with glossy lipsticks
Lips tend to become thinner as you age. To give them a nice and plump look, glossy and shiny lipsticks are the best option since the way they reflect light makes the lips look fuller.
Before applying them, though, line your lips to define them. Use a color only one or two shades darker maximum than the lipstick so the colors blend well and the result becomes more natural.
Change the way you apply the concealer
First, you should only apply the concealer after the foundation so you can have a better sense of where you need to use it. But one of the most overlooked makeup tips for older women is where and how you apply it after you begin having wrinkles around your eyes.
Covering your dark circles directly should no longer be an option because, as the product is absorbed by the skin, it will put any wrinkles or fine lines in evidence.
If possible, skip the concealer altogether. If not, look straight at the mirror and then tip your chin a bit down to make the dark circles stand out. Now you should apply the concealer on top of your cheeks, in the line that goes along the dark circles.
This way the light reflection will help disguise them without having to apply the product directly over that area.
Change your eyeliner
As the skin begins sagging, the eyes begin looking smaller and drawing a line around it will accentuate this effect.
Instead, apply it only on the top eyelid, starting at 3/4 towards the outer corner to enlarge the eyes. To reinforce this effect you can apply a lighter shade to the inner corners.
Also, ditch the liquid eyeliners in favor of the pencil type. These are softer and disguise the loose skin instead of blending into it. Smudging it a bit also helps to create a more smoky and softer look.
Ditch the eyeliner on the bottom lashes
Eyeliner on the bottom lashes will make your eyes look droopy. To give them some shape you can instead use a lighter eyeliner and apply it gently with a brush along the lash roots.
Get a hold on your blush
The skin tends to become paler as you age, and you might find yourself reaching for your blush as a life-saving trick to recover the healthy coloring you always had.
Although blush is definitely a must-have when it comes to makeup tips for older women, you need to learn to control it. A pop of color will brighten your face, too much will age you.
The trick is to apply just a little bit high on the apples of your cheeks and blend it very well. This will give you the healthy look of a brisk walk in a cold morning. Don’t let the color drop down on your cheeks to the loosen areas or instead of making your features pop it will increase the sagging effect.
Fill, don’t draw, your eyebrows
Drawing the eyebrows with a pencil-thin line will look fake and age your look. Instead, fill in your natural eyebrows using a gentle pencil or a brush dipped in a powder in the same color or a shade lighter than your hairs.
Brushing your eyebrows with a clean brush with a dash of hairspray will also help keep the hairs under control and make the eyebrow more defined.
Blend, blend, blend
Blending is fundamental to achieve a perfect makeup and as you age be prepared to spend more time doing it. The loss of firmness and the wrinkles will make it harder to blend all the products flawlessly but it will be time well spent.
For instance, you want your blush to give you a healthy glow not to look like a cartoon makeup.
Every time you apply a product, do it using small amounts and blend along the way. This will also give you a better perception of how much you need and prevent the cakey effect.
See these makeup tips for older women in action
In the video below you can see Dominique Sachse, Houston’s KPRC Channel 2 anchor, showing how she does her daily makeup and explaining why she follows the previous tips and why they work.
She also makes a distinction of different products and colors that might work differently depending on the facial features and skin types.
If you’re interested or want to check the products used in this tutorial, check the list below.
- Garnier SkinActive BB Cream Face Moisturizer Anti-Aging, Medium/Deep
- It cosmetics cc color correcting full coverage cream in medium
- Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer illuminating
- Smashbox photo finish lid primer in light
- Anastasia Beverly Hills brow powder duo
- Japonesque eyeshadow palette
- Kajal Vasanti waterline eyeliner in black
- Thrive Causemetics liquid lash extensions mascara in black
- Laura Mercier loose setting powder in translucent
- Jentry Kelley golden Contour chiseled cheek bronzer
- benefit Watt’s Up! Highlighter
- Ulta velvet blush in Princess
- NYX retractable lip liner in Nude
- Marc Jacobs lipstick “In The Mood”
- Lipstick Queen’s Nude Metal lipstick
