As we get older, our face tends to sag and wrinkles and fine lines start to appear. It is absolutely no use caking on the foundation to try and hide the ravages of time, as this only tends to draw attention to the problem. How can we apply makeup to disguise the aging problem without resorting to Botox or going under the knife? Here are some tips that may help:
- The golden rule is to always hydrate your skin with a great moisturiser before applying your foundation. Always apply your day cream directly after you have washed your face and whilst your skin is still damp. This will naturally plump up your skin and make it easier to apply foundation.
- Don’t use a heavy foundation, which may settle into the fine lines and wrinkles and stick to the little hairs that sometimes appear on the face is we age. Instead, opt for a lighter foundation or even a tinted moisturiser. We love Estee Lauder’s Futurist Age-Resisting Make-up SPF 15 (R415,00) and Clinique’s Moisture Surge Tinted Moisturiser (R320,00).
- You also don’t need to apply foundation like a mask all over your face. You can just apply it to the areas that actually need coverage (it’s much more economical that way too).
- Contrary to that popular belief that you should always play matchy-matchy with your skin tone and foundation, as you age you should try going one or two shades darker than your natural colouring if you are pale. This is because lighter shades of makeup also tend to accentuate lines and wrinkles. Obviously make sure you blend properly!
- Play up your best facial features. If you go makeup free, your wrinkles and lines will be more obvious, but if you have lovely eyes, you can play them up so that nobody will notice that you have a couple of wrinkles. Add a pop of eye shadow, use an eye liner along your upper lash line, add a slick of your favourite mascara, and voilà! Your eyes will get loads of attention!
- Always keep your eyebrows in great shape. Make sure they are neat and fill them in with a brow pencil, if they have gotten a bit sparse (Avon has fabulous ones!) Even if I am wearing no makeup at all, the one thing I always do is fill in my brows. You will not believe the difference it makes! You can also experiment with using a brown or taupe eye shadow, instead of the conventional pencil, as this can give an even more natural shape to your brows.
- Don’t cake on the powder to set your makeup. Caked on powder will settle into all the nooks and crannies on your face, and you will just look like a hot mess at the end of the day. Instead, just apply a blotting paper (MAC has an awesome one!) or powder to the shiny areas of your face. Essence has “about matt! Fixing compact powder” which is great value for money and does the job for cheap-cheap. You can also try a VERY light dusting of loose powder instead of compact powder for a less “caked-on” effect.
- Try using more neutral shades on your eyes, cheeks and lips. Yes, you once looked totally awesome rocking that cherry lippie, but bright colours do tend to age. Of course, you may be one of the lucky ones who can still get away with bright colours at any age!
- Only apply blush to the apples of your cheeks. All that Kim Kardashian contouring and highlighting doesn’t really work once age catches up with you.
Give yourself more pouty lips by using neutrals, soft pinks or peachy shades. Use a lip liner AFTER you have applied lipstick colour to create the impression of more natural, fuller lips and also to prevent your lippie from bleeding into the tiny, feathery wrinkles that pop up around the mouth as if out of nowhere. Using a matte lipstick and liner will also help to control lipstick bleeding.
I hope these tips have been helpful! Let me know if you have any more tips to add.
Article by: Maryanne Young