When applying makeup to mature skin, there are certain considerations we need to take into account that may not have been addressed previously.
As we age, our skin changes, and so should our approach to makeup. Our mature skin might not behave the same as it did when we were younger.
Instead of sticking to old techniques that may no longer work, it’s important to adapt and find new methods to achieve the desired results.
These very common makeup mistakes are super easy to rectify, and just by knowing these mistakes and their remedy, you will be able to get your makeup exactly perfect for you every single day.
The Eyes
The perfect place to start is up top, and while this information isn’t directly focused on the eyes, it’s important to note that an eye shadow primer is going to be your best friend for creaseless eyeshadow.
On top of that, a primer will help to brighten up and intensify your eyeshadow. Always use an eyeshadow primer as your base to build out the rest of your eye makeup. The first thing to keep in mind is to not follow our natural eye line when applying eyeliner.
As we age, the skin around our eyes can droop slightly, and while this isn’t completely noticeable without makeup, applying an eyeliner will highlight this to great effect.
Even a painstakingly drawn straight line will, despite our best efforts, follow the drop in our skin, which leads to heavier-looking eyes and a more aged look.
The best way to avoid this is to go up instead of out. When applying eyeliner, follow your natural line until the last lash. Once we get to the last lash, we give it a slight flick-up, as in the example below.
This helps give our eyes an instant lift.
How to apply eye liner
The second mistake we can make with our makeup also has to do with how we apply our eye liner.
Filling in the eye liner all the way to the corner of your eye can lead to some unwanted creasing, especially if the skin on your eyelid is a little less taught than it used to be, like mine is.
While filling in the liner all the way to the corner is a fantastic look, the conditions are perfect on mature skin for your eyeliner to smudge. Not an ideal look. To make sure your liner doesn’t crease, only fill in the liner to just over halfway.
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The Lips
When you’re doing your lips, remember the saying “less is more.” Sometimes we tend to draw our lip liner all the way to the corners of our mouths because that’s what we’ve been told to do.
When I say “overlining,” I don’t mean going over the lips themselves. I mean lining your actual lip line completely.
Now, doing this might make your lips look a bit older, like “old lady mouths.” As the day goes on, the lip liner can start to spread out from the corners of your mouth, especially if your skin is a bit more mature.
But don’t worry! There’s an easy fix for this. Just stop lining your lips right before you reach the corners of your mouth. This way, you can avoid any smudging or bleeding, and your lipstick will stay put all day long. It’s simple but effective!
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Foundation
The next mistake we can make with makeup on mature skin is to not buff our foundation out to our neck area.
Applying foundation to your face alone can essentially ‘cut-off’ the face and the neck, creating two separate and distinctly noticeable zones.
Buffing your foundation out to your neck creates harmony between your face and your neck for a softer, more youthful look, so make sure you always buff!
READ ALSO: The Best Foundation For Women Over 50
Brows
Moving up slightly, a mistake that’s so easy to make when applying makeup on mature skin is to follow our natural eyebrow shape.
For many of us, our eyebrows are not perfectly symmetrical or perfectly full. To create the illusion that they are, we need to follow a simple tip that will make a huge difference.
To match our eyebrows up and get them into perfect proportion for our face, there’s a simple measuring trick we can use to get them right every time.
If you want to make the first measurement, take your eyebrow pencil and rest it at the corner of your nose and the innermost corner of your eye. Make a small mark here on your eyebrow.
For the second measurement, place the eyebrow pencil at the corner of your nose and along the outermost corner of your eye. Place a dot here along your eyebrow line.
The third measurement is from the corner of your nose to the centre of your pupil. Mark the dot on your eyebrow and this will indicate the peak.
Where these three dots sit indicates the start and end points of where your eyebrows should be. There will be a defined start, middle and end point.
Quite often, these dots will not match up exactly with your eyebrow. This is OK! Fill in the gaps.
Make sure you don’t go too heavy with filling in your eyebrows here and aim to maintain a natural look.
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Blush
The last makeup tip to help give mature skin a soft glow is to apply a blush. When applying blush, however, there are a few pitfalls we can avoid that work against us rather than for us.
You may have heard that applying a blush to the apples of your cheeks as you hold a smile is the way to go. However, applying your blush here can create a more aged look, reminiscent of a makeup choice your grandma may have made.
Our mature skin sits a little lower, and when we apply our blush to this area, it pulls our face down slightly by highlighting exactly where the drop in our skin is.
To avoid this happening, find the corner of your cheekbone (usually just below your lower eye area) and feel it with your pointer finger.
Apply a little blush here for a gentle flush and a look that will help raise your features for a more youthful complexion. Make sure you buff out all of the blush so as not to leave any marks and maintain a natural-looking glow.
READ ALSO: How to Choose the Perfect Blush Color for Your Skin Tone After 50s
9 Responses
I love your site!!
I am consistently amazed at how you think of everything and post just what I need – you make things easY to understand and possible to actually get results! I’m so grateful – and looking forward to a better me in 2021 . Thanks to you! I’m happier, healthier, thinner and feel pretty at my age 56, and not feeling insecure anymore. Your context is so fresh and your so committed to helping your followers, everyone is feeling better somehow. I’m slowly but surely going to get to every fix! I’m a work in progress….and feeling great thx to you! Can’t wait to post my transformation July-December 2020. Ty so much!
Robin
Hi Schellea,
Loving your site as always.
I hope you are well and keeping safe, thank you for all the great tips, excersises etc.
Hope you have a wonderful Halloween despite Covid.
Hi Schellea,
Thanks for all your wonderful tips and encouragement for us over fifties.
I just had to say how fabulous you are looking, you are obviously following your own plan and it’s paying off. I hope it works for me too.
Thanks again. Stay safe.
Eve in freezing cold and wet England.
Hello from Miami Shellea, I am following your exercises with enthusiasm and satisfaction as I am able to follow everything you do. I am also a follower and admirer of yours and from what I realize, all women around the world have similar interests and needs. Yeeey!
I am curious to confirm if you are in Australia, as I am constantly trying to guess your English style as well as the décor in your living room. Are you transmitting from Australia, am I correct?
Hi Schellea,
Thank you for all your make-up tips, I don’t wear very much but it’s helpful to know when I do how to apply it correctly. I’ve never used a primer before so hence don’t own one so I should go out and buy myself one, is there one that you can recommend?
You are just one of my bestfriends and listening to all these other lovely ladies they have all become friends… Stay safe each and everyone of you.
Love Chris..Sydney xxx
Well Schellea, I found you almost by accident. One day I finished a particular exercise and you popped up next. I did my first exercise with you and now I enjoy all your exercises. I am 75 and have done different forms of exercise all my life. Now I have you to lead me with the exercises I need for my age. I just can’t thank you enough. I almost feel like you are my daughter.
With fond regards
Jennie
I love your simple to follow videos! I tried the eye lifting technique which was amazing! And I never even work eyeliner much, but always wondered why it looked so different on me than others doing the line straight out thing!
Please tell me wear to buy the earrings you have on in the video, they are fabulous! I just love the color and how dainty they are yet not huge.
Thank you so much!
Amy
Useful post about makeup, It’s best to learn from other’s mistakes than to feel the urge to commit one by oneself & then think of learning. I think we’ve all made some of these mistakes to some degree or another. I’m glad that you have shared all these mistakes here.