Ever catch yourself wondering exactly how those 40 plus celebrities stay so youthful looking? Well, three hours of preparation and a team of professionals attacking them before any cameras ever start flashing is the first step. Everyday women often find themselves feeling less than beautiful when they look in the mirror, especially when they have spent the day walking past rows of magazines displaying women who look twenty years younger than what they actually are. While you should never compare your ten minutes a day of beauty to a celebrity’s costly and time consuming routine, there are a few tricks that you can steal to make your own look as youthful as possible.
First, understand that what worked for you at twenty and thirty will not work at forty and beyond. On that note, what works for a woman ten years older than you will not work, either. However, certain rules apply to all women who have seen their first wrinkles, fine lines, sun spots, and beyond.
The first rule of great makeup application for women over forty actually applies to the area of skin care. Aging skin needs much more hydration than younger skin. As a matter of fact, wrinkles are caused by a lack of moisture in the skin. This is the one area that it is best to splurge on. Purchase the best skin care routine that you can afford, preferably with products containing Vitamin E. That being said, a skin care routine does not consist of just soap and lotion anymore. A “routine” should include an anti-aging liquid face wash, an anti-aging moisturizer, eye cream, sun screen with at least an SPF of 15 (preferably higher), and a night time anti-aging cream. Though it may sound like a lot, applying these products daily will greatly reduce the amount of time and effort you’ll have to spend on facial care in the future. Great skin care makes any cosmetic application go on smoother, and skin that is well taken care of needs much less coverage when it’s time to apply makeup.
Next, focus on the eyes. While many women are in the habit of applying their foundation first, it is best to apply eye makeup beforehand so that corrections can be made more easily. Give yourself an instant eye lift by plucking or waxing your brows every so often, giving them a bit of an arch. Try not to create more of an arch than what you already have, but instead just trim up the brow area as a whole. An arch that is too accentuated gives women more of a frozen look, which is not what you want. A nice, natural curve is best. Next, apply the eye color of your choice from the base of the top lash line to the crease. That’s right, choose whatever color you like. You are certainly not restricted to neutrals anymore. Next, choose a highlighter with just a tiny bit of shimmer to sweep across your brow bones. This will open up your eyes and take attention away from any fine lines and wrinkles that may be setting in around the corners. Finally, apply a dark mascara and a natural liner. A common makeup mistakes that many women over forty make is applying a liner that is too dark. Any harsh lines on the face are aging, so keep liners neutral. Never go without lining at all, however, as a mature woman’s eyes tend to get “lost” in her face with no definition. Just a line that is a shade or two darker than your chosen eye shadow looks best.
Next, apply a foundation with a moistened applicator. Never use your fingertips. If your skin is uneven or has a few wrinkles, it can be quite easy for foundation to only highlight these problems. Moistening the applicator sponge makes a liquid or a powder foundation go on much more smoothly. Try to select a foundation with a built in highlighter for a dewy appearance, which is a must for women who are disguising the signs of aging. To complete the look, add a cream based blush in a soft color to accentuate your cheek bones. Sagging skin on the cheeks can be a real problem, so create the visual illusion of firmer skin by applying the cream in an upward motion. Apply the most color to the apples of the cheeks, and allow the color to fade as it goes up the face. Keep in mind that blush should be subtle, and never the focal point of your face. As you begin to age, there are much better areas of the face to highlight than your cheeks, so try to give blush a minor role in your routine. Also, steer clear of using harsh bronzing blushes. Once the skin has lost elasticity, a bronzing cream tends to seep into lines and create a leathery look. Stick to lighter shades.
Finally, the lips are a dead giveaway of a woman’s age. The color your use on your lips is very important. First, prep your lips with a plumping cream, as they begin to lose their fullness with age. A great lip plumping cream can greatly enhance your overall look, whether you apply lipstick or not, so always keep one on hand. Next, line the lips with a color that matches your natural lip color, and not the color of the lipstick you will use. Using a color darker than your lips can create a clownish look and bleeding into fine lines, so just stick to neutrals that will do the job at hand, which is simply to give the illusion of fuller lips. The color that you select to fill in your lips with can make or break your entire look, so choose wisely. Women who are in their forties look great with a lighter color. Darker colors can age the skin for women of this age group. However, once your lips have begun to shrink, which usually starts to occur when a woman reaches her mid fifties, it’s time to switch to a darker color. The reason for this is due to the diminishing appearance of the lips that comes with age. To keep your lips from appearing withered and small, use a berry shade that compliments your skin tone, staying far away from matronly pinks and bright reds.
Your skin care and makeup application techniques can take years away from your face, or they can add years to your overall appearance. A great way to stay up to date on the best looks for your age is to pick up a few high end fashion magazines each month. Study what models of your own age are wearing, not those who are your daughter’s age, and take notes. Aging doesn’t have to mean constantly trying to look younger. Today, the cosmetics industry is focusing more on celebrating the beauty of every age group, and so should you.
