Before you apply makeup, the first step is to prepare your skin with vitamin C and hyaluronic acid serum, toner and moisturizer. The vitamin C in the serum is an antioxidant that retards the breakdown of the skin that’s caused by exposure to the sun. This can slow the formation of brown spots on your face and the back of your hands. Vitamin C will lose its effect when exposed to sunlight, so keep your serum in a dark place and use sunscreen and a hat when spending time outdoors.
Hyaluronic acid is a fairly new product on the market for retaining moisture and lubricating your skin. It used to be obtained from rooster combs, so you might even hear it called that. Now, however, hyaluronic acid has been duplicated in a laboratory setting. The skin looks plumper and younger when it has enough moisture, and fine lines become more filled out and less noticeable.
Another skin rehabilitating substance is retinol. It may also minimize fine lines and build collagen, and it’s used to help get rid of acne. Retinol can be drying to the skin, though. If you decide to use it, you’ll want a quality brand that includes anti-inflammatory substances that soothe the skin.
And, of course, continue to moisturize. This includes using a night cream for your skin. Just don’t combine retinol and vitamin C on your face at the same time because you could experience skin irritation. The two substances work better alone and used together, they cancel out much of each other’s benefits.
One of the problems that women in the prime of their lives (over 50) sometimes have to contend with is vertical lines above the lips. Lipstick can migrate into those creases as the day wears on. My top three suggestions for combatting this are lip stain, a lighter shade of lipstick and a good lip liner. Luckily, lighter lip color is in vogue at the moment. For ladies over 50, it’s always a winner. If slight bleeding into the creases should occur, it’s much less noticeable with a lighter tone.
Lip stain is a great invention that’s actually been around for centuries. Now, however, we don’t have to use berries but can pick up a tube of stain with a soft application tip. Here are my make up tips for getting the perfect lips:
1. Choose a lip stain color slightly darker than your lipstick, and fill in the lips so that you’ll still have some color when the top coat wears off.
2. Create a barrier between any wrinkles and your lips with a long-lasting lip liner.
3. Apply light-toned lipstick over the lip stain, then blot with a tissue.
4. Use a clear lip balm over everything to make it shine and last longer.
Some women can’t use mascara. If you can’t use mascara for any reason (such as allergies), there are ways to make your eyes gorgeous without it. First, hydrate with a good quality moisturizer especially for the eye area. Then use liquid eyeliner to draw the perfect upper line. Use a long-lasting pencil liner to lightly outline the lower eye, then smudge the line to remove any excess.
Eyeshadow is a magical tool for adding depth and sparkle to your eyes. With or without mascara, you can get that ‘smoky eye’ look and make your eyes alluring. Use cream eyeshadow instead of powder because you can blend it to create a seamless look, and it won’t build up in the creases of the eyes. Use a lighter color right beneath your eyebrows, and blend a light color from the inner corner of the eye with a darker shade at the outer edge of your eyelid.
Define the crease above your eyelids with the same darker shade as the outer eyelid. Make sure it’s blended with the brow bone color rather than having a sharp differentiation. A dab of sparkling color right in the middle of your eyelid is a finishing touch that gives your eyes a more open look.
When it comes to your eyebrows, you want a gentle lift with edges that extend outward to counteract any droop in your eyelids. Waxing by a professional can give you the best arch, and when applying eyebrow pencil, ‘less is more.’ You want to give just a touch of color to your brows and then blend it with an eyebrow spool brush. If your eyebrows are going gray, they can be dyed during your next visit to the beauty salon.
I like to mix my foundation with a lotion sunscreen for a more natural look. It not only gives more of a youthful glow, but it protects my skin from the sun. Remember that you’ll need a different shade of foundation in the winter than in the summer. A bronze tone is going to look out of place in February, while you’ll want a little color in the summer months.
After you’ve done all this prep work, it’s important to choose the right finish to set the light makeup you’ve applied. One make up tip that I’ve found works well is to skip the powder and instead apply cream makeup that dries to a powder finish. That way, you won’t have to worry about over-applying. Once the makeup dries, blot it gently with a tissue all over your face to remove any excess.
Remember to prepare your skin before applying makeup. Besides that, the best advice I can give you is to moisturize and use cream or liquid beauty products over powder-based ones. If you do use any powder-based products like eyeshadow, blush or face powder, remember to blot it well. You don’t want powder to sit in the creases because that will make you look older. Try some of these tips, and you’ll find out how rewarding it is to look fabulous when you’re over 50!