The Ultimate Makeup Guide for Women Over 50

Makeup is a great tool to express our creativity and boost our confidence. And even though there is no right or wrong way to apply makeup – it’s all about how it makes you feel – there are tricks you can do to emphasize or deemphasize certain characteristics and features. Here is your ultimate guide to makeup if you are a woman over 50.

P.S. Women under 50 can benefit too!

Start with a good skincare routine

Good skin creates a good base for makeup. As we age, our skin requires more attention to stay healthy. A few things you should include in your skincare routine are:

• Retinoids
• Hyaluronic acid
• Peptides

Pay attention to the brows

Our eyebrows frame our face, and the right eyebrow shape can give a more youthful appearance,

When you’re filling in your eyebrows, pay attention to color. If you have dark hair, you will want to use a shade or two lighter. On the other hand, if you have lighter hair, you will want to use a shade or two darker.

When you are filling in your brows, remember the start of your brow should be at the bridge of your nose and the end of your brow should end a few millimeters past the end of your eye.

Be mindful of fine lines when applying makeup

When applying makeup, don’t reach for a full-coverage foundation thinking that will hide all your fine lines and wrinkles. A full-coverage foundation will accentuate fine lines even more. Focus on moisturizing the skin before applying a light to medium coverage foundation.

If you are looking for something that is hydrating and easy to build, try using a BB cream. BB creams are a foundation and moisturizer in one, and sometimes offers SPF as well. A BB cream has a very light and hydrating consistency, making it easy to build without caking on the skin.

Covering rosacea

Rosacea causes natural blushing to the face. There are a few reasons for rosacea, like an overactive immune system, heredity, or environmental factors; and women over 30 are more susceptible to developing rosacea. 

There is no cure for rosacea, but there are color-correcting products to help reduce the redness. Color correcting uses color theory and is a technique to help neutralize certain tones. So, when you want to neutralize redness caused by rosacea, you will use a primer before your foundation that’s green. Green helps to cancel out red tones because it is directly opposite from red on the color wheel. 

And don’t worry – you won’t look like the Wicked Witch of the West. Green concealers are designed to be sheer so they won’t be visible under makeup.

Focus on the eyes

The skin on and around our eyes is thinner and more delicate than the skin elsewhere on our face. And as we age, our eyelashes can thin from decreasing levels of estrogen. This means we must be mindful of the products we are using and how we are using them when applying makeup.

To start, apply an eye primer. Eye primers help create a healthy base for any shadows to adhere to and aid in reducing visible signs of aging. For a more youthful appearance to the eyes, choose lighter colors and stay away from a lot of black when you do a smoky eye or lining the eyes. Instead, choose different shades of brown. This will create a softer look. To help brighten up the eyes, use a highlighter in the inner corner and a white eyeliner to line the bottom lash line. And don’t forget to apply highlighter on your brow bone or a light cream-colored shadow for a lifted appearance.

As mentioned, as we get older, our eyelashes become more delicate, and some mascaras can damage our eyelashes. Look for a nourishing mascara. Nourishing mascaras are less harsh and thick on the eyelashes and are formulated with beneficial ingredients like vitamin E oil.

Blush and highlight

Blush is great for adding color, but when used strategically with highlighter it can also create dimension to help sculpt and lift the face.

How to apply blush for a round face

When applying blush to a round face, you’ll want to aim high. Start a little higher than the apple of your cheeks and brush upwards and outwards, aiming for the top of your ear. This will help create a more sculpted face.

How to apply blush for a square face

For a square face, the goal is to soften the face. When applying blush to a square face, concentrate on the apples of the cheeks. If you’re struggling to locate the apples of the cheeks, look at yourself in the mirror and smile. The apples of the cheeks become visible when you do this. Apply most of the blush on the apples of your cheeks and diffuse it by lightly blending outwards. This technique will help bring balance to the face.

How to apply blush for an oval face

When applying blush for an oval face, you’ll want to locate your cheekbones and apply blush a little higher starting at the center and blending outwards towards the top of your ear.

How to apply blush for a heart-shaped face

Heart-shaped faces tend to be very angular. To soften the face, concentrate the color on the apples of your cheeks and blend to the tail of your eyebrow in a ‘C’ pattern.

Now, that you have applied blush, adding highlighter will brighten the face even more. Highlighter should only be added to the high points of your face. Highlighter can be added to the tops of your cheekbones, the brow bone, the center of your forehead, and the tip of your nose.

Pay extra attention when applying lipstick

As we age, our lips gradually appear less plump and less defined, making lip products easily bleeding into your skin around the lips. Luckily, there are some quick fixes!

1.  Hydrate your lips and then gently take your foundation brush and go over your lips. This helps to create a good base for your lipstick.
2. Apply a lip liner and overline your lips. You don’t want to skip this step because a lip liner allows your lipstick to last longer and prevents your lipstick from feathering and bleeding into your skin.
3. After applying lipstick, take a small concealer brush to sharpen and clean up the edges. This acts as a second line of defense against lipstick feathering.  

Makeup is about expressing ourselves. There really is no right or wrong way to apply makeup. Do what makes you feel good!

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