10 Fabulous Makeup Tips for Women Over 40 That Won’t Age Your Face
Makeup Tips for Women Over 40
Does anyone else love to watch makeup and beauty tutorials? Many of Team Busbee’s members are over 40 and really love to try all sorts of new and different techniques to see what will work best for more mature skin! When we’re in our 20s and 30s it can feel more exciting to be a little more daring with our makeup looks. But as we get into our 40s and 50s, we start to notice more of those fine lines and wrinkles around our mouth, eyes, and forehead. That doesn’t mean we want to stop trying new things, but it does mean we want to approach our makeup a little more thoughtfully.
With age also comes wisdom and picking up makeup tricks along the way. We’re sharing some of the tips and tricks we’ve learned that work best for aging skin. If you’re reaching your 40s or you feel like you need guidance, we’re saving you the learning curve. If you have any makeup tips for aging skin that we didn’t share, please leave a comment at the bottom of this post…we’d love to hear and learn from you too!
For ALL of Erin’s beauty secrets to look younger, make sure you check out this post…you’ll find over 30 tips for makeup for mature skin, skincare favorites, and hair must-haves.
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#1) Use Moisture-Boosting Primers
When prepping your face, you’ll want to use primers with hyaluronic acid and collagen to boost moisture, prior to your foundation like Charlotte Tilbury’s Wonderglow Face Primer. Victoria Beckham’s Cell Rejuvenating Priming Moisturizer is also a great choice. It’s a lightweight daily moisturizer that deeply hydrates while blurring pores and bonus—it’s a clean formula too. Clé de Peau Beauté’s Long-Lasting Hydrating Veil fills in fine lines and wrinkles while offering SPF 21.
It might seem obvious, but too much full-coverage foundation on aging skin can make you look older. Getting heavy-handed with your base layer can cause the foundation to settle in fine lines and wrinkles and give you that dreaded cakey look. A radiant, lightweight foundation or skin tint blurs and smooths over uneven texture, rather than accentuating it. You can always cover heavier discoloration or broken capillaries by spot-concealing.
One of the first places to show signs of aging are the eyes areas. Brighten both the upper- and under-eye using the “Triangle of Light” technique: Create an upside-down triangle under each eye, gently pressing the product into the skin. Applying makeup to your eyes like this makes the area look dramatically lifted. But beware of over-doing it! Similar to foundation, you don’t want to accentuate fine lines with gobs of concealer. A few drops of a hydrating concealer that’s the same shade or a shade lighter than your foundation should do the trick. And don't forget to apply a hydrating eye cream and primer before applying any makeup!
Most makeup artists, and even celebrity makeup artists, agree that cream or liquid makeup products can be ideal for more mature skin. Unless it’s finely milled, powder products tend to settle in fine lines and emphasize any crepeiness we may have. Powders can also look splotchy and uneven since our skin tends to get drier as we age. Cream products like cream blush, cream bronzer, etc. are pretty mistake-proof. Just start with a small dab and gradually build to a soft, light, flattering color.
In order to create a more lifted illusion, work against gravity by applying your blush on the upper part of your cheekbones in a slightly upward sweep. You should start the blush further back on your face and not hit the apples of the cheeks as dramatically as when you were younger, since that area tends to droop as we get older.
You’re never too old to wear a little shimmer on your eyes, but as with everything else we’ve discussed, less is more. Metallic eyeshadows can get chalky on dry skin and emphasize any imperfections. Opening up the eye with a soft matte or satin shade on the lid and blending it into medium and dark-toned shadows higher above the crease and the outer corner, makes a world of difference.
I think we’ve all gotten the picture that makeup over 40 revolves around hydration. Our lips are no different. Choose lipstick formulas with cream or lip balm textures. As trendy as they are, it’s probably best to avoid matte shades. Outlining your lips with a liner just slightly outside the lines will give you a fuller look.
For a youthful, dewy finish makeup look, try applying your contour and concealer before you apply your foundation. I know, it feels wrong. But it looks SO good and creates a flawless face and finish. This is the perfect hack for women over 40 because the makeup is so much lighter and more natural.
In your 40s you start getting those annoying fine lines around your lips. It makes us look older and sometimes causes your lipstick to feather, creating the joker effect. You want to find ways to minimize and hide those lips lines. At night, always use some sort of lip mask. Right now we're loving the Kiehl’s lip mask. To get the dead skin off and make your lips look extra smooth, use an exfoliator. To prevent the lipstick from feathering, use an eyelid primer around your upper lip to really keep that lipstick in place. Erin likes to line the lips with a lip pencil that matches her lip tone. You can also use the natural liner to draw the shape of the lip you want…Erin usually overdraws them to make them look bigger and fuller. After that, she fills in her lips with the liner. Then, she uses creamy, hydrating lipstick over it! Finally, you can also do some light reflection concealer on your Cupid’s bow to add pop and fullness to the lips!
It may seem like a no brainer, but when you’re wearing the wrong foundation shade, you can look a lot older! When you’re trying on a new foundation, make sure you look closely at the shade in natural light by a window to see how it looks on your skin tone. Another great test is to put it on the back of your wrist. We can’t tell you how many times we have purchased expensive foundation, only to get it home and think… what were we thinking?? It’s so easy to buy the wrong shade. We also suggest asking for samples so you can test them at home first.
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I wanted to give a makeover to my mom on her birthday. So for that reason, I was looking online for some tips and hacks to hide fine lines and wrinkles. I came to find your blog while browsing through the internet. Thank you for saving my time. I also liked your recommendations on makeup products. I will try this out and see whether these tips work for my mom or not. Thank you for sharing this blog with us. It was very helpful.
Thank you so much for the feedback, Manojnatha! I’m thrilled you found these tips helpful. Please come back and let us know how it worked out with your mom. 🙂
Try shaving the peach fuzz you get with age off of your face. I shave my face at least once a week. It makes all the difference for makeup application. I know it sounds weird, but trust me it makes a big difference. Peach fuzz is not pretty on anyone, anywhere.
Hi Denise! You’re actually not the first person I’ve heard this from and it’s a good idea. Regardless, whether someone is comfortable shaving their peach fuzz or not — hydration is vital! Thanks for your tip.
I love expensive cosmetics, but I would love to tell you about the best lipcolor I have ever used. My partner loves the look of lipstick but detests its messiness and stickiness. I discovered “Revlon Colorstay Overtime” lip color. I used to love Chanel’s European version but it dries out the lips. It will never mark your champagne, or wine glass, leave a mark on your napkin or even come off on your mask. This is a two process color which lasts almost all day. The second step is a lip gloss. I apply it after the color dries to seal the color. If I am going to be kissing my man, I wipe it off or blot it, leaving just the color for many hours. Try it.
Great budget-friendly choice, Catherine! Another nice thing about the Revlon Colorstay Overtime is that it contains vitamin E, so it’s definitely moisturizing. Thanks for your feedback!
Get Our FREE Wardrobe Basics Checklists, Capsule Wardrobes & More!
Sign up and you instantly receive… FREE Wardrobe Basics Checklists, Closet Editing & Organizing Checklists, Zoom Call Tips, Capsule Wardrobe Shopping Suggestions and a Lookbook of outfit ideas! You can download and print all of these.
I wanted to give a makeover to my mom on her birthday. So for that reason, I was looking online for some tips and hacks to hide fine lines and wrinkles. I came to find your blog while browsing through the internet. Thank you for saving my time. I also liked your recommendations on makeup products. I will try this out and see whether these tips work for my mom or not. Thank you for sharing this blog with us. It was very helpful.
Thank you so much for the feedback, Manojnatha! I’m thrilled you found these tips helpful. Please come back and let us know how it worked out with your mom. 🙂
Try shaving the peach fuzz you get with age off of your face. I shave my face at least once a week. It makes all the difference for makeup application. I know it sounds weird, but trust me it makes a big difference. Peach fuzz is not pretty on anyone, anywhere.
Hi Denise! You’re actually not the first person I’ve heard this from and it’s a good idea. Regardless, whether someone is comfortable shaving their peach fuzz or not — hydration is vital! Thanks for your tip.
I love expensive cosmetics, but I would love to tell you about the best lipcolor I have ever used. My partner loves the look of lipstick but detests its messiness and stickiness. I discovered “Revlon Colorstay Overtime” lip color. I used to love Chanel’s European version but it dries out the lips. It will never mark your champagne, or wine glass, leave a mark on your napkin or even come off on your mask. This is a two process color which lasts almost all day. The second step is a lip gloss. I apply it after the color dries to seal the color. If I am going to be kissing my man, I wipe it off or blot it, leaving just the color for many hours. Try it.
Great budget-friendly choice, Catherine! Another nice thing about the Revlon Colorstay Overtime is that it contains vitamin E, so it’s definitely moisturizing. Thanks for your feedback!