Fabafterfifty Article

Article by Celebrity Make-up Artist Ariane Poole

As we get older our body, hair and of course face changes. So it’s not unusual to find that the make-up which looked great in your 20′s, 30′s and even early 40′s is now not quite as flattering as you would like it to be. There’s no need for despair. There are some fantastic products on the market formulated especially for the more mature woman.

Let’s start at the beginning with priming the skin. Primers are the big buzz word at the moment. These are used under the foundation or moisturiser to smooth, firm and plump up the skin, like a mini face lift without the knife. Primers can also help keep make-up on longer and stop eye shadow from creasing.

Now on to foundations, here the world is truly is your oyster. You may have noticed that your skin isn’t looking as flawless as you might like. It may be slightly dryer, uneven in colour and the fine lines aren’t quite so fine. Fear not, the past couple of years have seen some sensational developments in foundations to address these problems.

New foundations can help the skin look more youthful

The new foundations are not only light weight, sheer yet covering but also contain light reflecting properties to make the skin look glowing, dewy and more youthful. It does this by reflecting light away from the lines making them appear less visible. Always test for the right colour on your jaw line, the one that disappears is the right one.

After applying foundation you are now ready for concealer. By applying concealer in this way you need less and it looks more natural. Here too, there are new wonderful concealers which are sheer, light weight yet covering but best of all won’t accentuate those fine lines.

The type of texture to look for is one which is creamy yet matte so you needn’t use powder under the eyes. If it is too creamy it will settle into the fine lines making them look worse. Yellow toned concealers will hide dark circles without looking ashy. Steer clear of light reflecting concealers under the eyes – in photos you will have big white patches under your eyes.

Leave powder until the end, you may not need any, as it can be ageing. Or you could try one of the many shine absorbing sheets. These get rid of shine without powder.

If you are going through the change you may find a cream to powder foundation works the best.

Eyes
The browns and neutral colours which looked great in the past may now be making you tired. If this is so I suggest trying some of the beautiful purples, plums and lilacs that are around. Not only do these enhance any eye colour and make the whites of your eyes look whiter but the new formulations will not make your eyes look tired or sore. If this is a bit too bold try combining charcoal or navy with ivory or taupe shadows instead. Shimmers or Mattes ? Don’t think that if you are over a certain age that you can’t wear shimmery shadows it really depends on the condition of your eyes.

What you want to avoid is anything that is a frosted shadow. If the skin is very creapy on this area then stick with matte shadow with a hint of sheen. You could still use a shimmer dotted just under the arch to the brow and it would look great.

Too much matte shadow can make the eyes look dull/drab. Mattes and Shimmers are being mixed to create depth and light to the eye area making them truly stand out.

Try to give your eyes more definition

To give your eyes more definition try a gel liner. They are easy to apply, go on smoothly and are smudge and water resistant. Also opt for a black or blue/black Waterproof mascara rather than brown no matter what your hair colour. Don’t forget your brows. As with hair, brows too can lose their colour. Brows really should be softly defined.

Cheeks
When choosing a blush, here too I recommend staying away from ones which are too browny or taupey they tend to drain the face. Also avoid really pale pastel shades as they can look chalky. Instead try warm apricots, peach or rosy hues. These really flatter the face. There is also a wide variety of textures to choose from, creams if you want a dewy look, cream to powder if you want a more satiny look. Both these textures give a more youthful appearance to your complexion.

Lips
As we get older it is a sad fact that our lips do get thinner and fine lines develop. Luckily help is at hand. To prevent lip colour from feathering and keep it on longer try a lip base. These go on bare lips before lip colour and they really work. To get the illusion of fuller lips without the surgery brush a light reflective concealer around the outside of lips and blend into the lips now line lips with a lip coloured ( nude) lip pencil just slightly outside your own lip line.

You should always use a nude lip pencil no matter what your chosen lip colour is , that way as the colour fades (and even the long lasting ones eventually do) you won’t be left with that ugly clowns mouth. When choosing a colour here too avoid any drab colours, also if your lip colour is too matte it can look hard / ageing. Go for satiny, creamy, moisturising textures and if you’ve used a lip base even try some of the fabulous new glosses (they’re not as sticky as they used to be).

Ceri Wheeldon

Ceri is Founder and Editor of Fabafterfifty.com She is also a headhunter with 20+ years experience working on international assignments and offers a jobsearch coaching service to jobseekers

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