The rules for applying makeup have changed for me as I’ve gotten older. When you’re young, you can use just about anything on your face and you’re going to look good.
As you age, makeup can actually make you look older, so it’s time to get selective about what you’re using and how you’re using it.
LIPS
If you have wrinkles around your lips and your lipstick bleeds into them, try adding a little mattifying powder over the lipstick, or around the lip line. This will help keep the lipstick in place. There are more tips in this quick video…
And here are some of the best lipsticks with staying power and NOT traveling into lip lines.
FOUNDATION
I will only use foundation on the parts of my face below my cheekbones, maybe a little on my forehead.. Above my cheekbones is where I have the most wrinkles and I don’t want foundation gathering in those wrinkles every time I squint or smile. Because sooner or later, that’s where all the makeup will gather, making wrinkles look worse.
If you’d like more detailed tips on foundation over 40, check out some of my other posts…
Read MORE tips…
Foundation Tips & Tricks
HIGHLIGHTER
Be cautious with glitter, or anything sparkly or shimmery. It can very easily highlights wrinkles. Too much and all you’re doing is highlighting the grooves in your face. There are some sparkly products I will wear because sparkle is just too much fun to give up, but I have to be selective with my product choices.
Here are a few sparkly products I like, that wear beautifully on over-40 skin.
Ideas for sparkle!
Powder is not always flattering to older skin. Not pressed powder, loose powder, mineral powder or powder blush. It’s drying to skin that is already losing moisture and oils. It settles into lines and accentuates them. However, certain parts of my face still behave as though I’m going through puberty, such as my shiny T-zone. On these parts of my face I will use powder, but only a little. It cosmetics Bye Bye Pores loose powder is the best for my T-Zone.
If I need to reapply powder to this area during the day, I use blotting papers first. Blotting papers are wonderful, cheap little papers that soak up tons of oil. Putting powder over oily skin just makes an oily powder paste. And who wants that on their face? It looks cakey and settles into lines. And it’s gross.
BROWS
Leave your eyebrows the pluck alone. Ok, they do need some maintenance. But try to leave them fairly full. You never see young people walking around with those over-plucked and insanely arched brows. If you do see a young person with that going on, they look older. It frustrates me when I see this. Young people sabotaging their own youthful looks with thin,over-plucked eyebrows. Pet peeve of mine.
EYES
I will only use clear mascara on my bottom lashes. When I use a color, it darkens my under-eye area, which definitely does not need to be any darker. It creates shadows there that I just don’t need. And somehow, it always ends up coming off and giving me raccoon eyes. Also, it drags the eye downward, and I want as much lifted up as I can. My favorite is from Covergirl, and it’s available on Amazon.
You can’t cover wrinkles with makeup, so less really is more after 40. Don’t let your own makeup age you UP!
