MAKEUP RULES: Makeup for the ages

August 14. 2013 1:19AM

I recently ran a pole asking “What is one thing women would like to learn about with their makeup?”, whether it was a step-by-step, how-to, or recent trends. The winner was makeup for aging skin, the over-40 crowd and how to enhance their natural features and give the overall appearance of looking younger.


My first piece of advice would be to stay out of the sun, but that would be a more preventative thing you would do and this article is going to focus more on what your face looks like now and how to make the most of your makeup to perk up and give yourself a plastic surgery-free makeover.


When working with your eyes, if you have a heavier eye lid make sure to keep it simple; less is more when it comes to enhancing the eyes. Use a bright champagne light-catching color all over the lid, from lash line to brow bone. Then take a deeper, more matte color complimentary to your iris color and place that in the outer third of your eye, from the corner of your eye up toward your brow bone and slightly up onto it (in and upward and outward motion). This darker shade on the outer third of your eye will help to sink back that heavier section, giving you a more defined almond shape, which helps open your eye up. If your lid is extra heavy I suggest to even skip eyeliner altogether and just use an extra coat of mascara for additional definition.


For your foundation I would keep it clean and simple with a tintedmoisturizer or a cream foundation, as both will help hydrate and plump fine line and wrinkles while giving you a more natural, diffused skin appearance.


As for cheek color, I absolutely love using a cream blush; not only do they stay all day but they continue to give you that dewy, more alive skin with a pop of radiance.


Lipstick for maturing skin is tough only because not everyone has complete issues with puckering or lines appearing on the lips, but whether or not you have this particular problem I would advise you to start with a lip plumper. The lip plumper will help push out some of the lines in the lip, giving you a fuller smoother lip. Once the lip plumper has served its purpose, take a lipstain and apply it to both top and bottom. A lip stain won’t bleed on you and will also act as a nice base for anything you put on after, creating a brilliant longevity. Keep your lip color similar to your cheek color. If you have a more sallow complexion I suggest going with something a little more vibrant, such as a jewel tone.


To guarantee your makeup stays on all day, finish with a setting spray. I love any of the Urban Decay setting sprays which were created by a brand called Skindinavia (skindinavia.com) who specialize in makeup setting sprays.


Tip: Make sure you define your brows! They give you more character and a more youthful appearance the thicker they are!


Trick: Apply a few small or medium individual lashes to give you a natural shadow on the outer corner of your eye for a simple eye-defining enhancement.