Makeup mistakes that age you

Why it ages you. Powder absorbs oil and scatters light diffusely, which on young skin reads as a smooth matte surface. On mature skin there is less oil for it to bind to and more texture for it to fall into, so it dries down lighter than the skin beside it in every line it lands in — and it records every one of them, especially in photographs.

The fix. Powder once, on the T-zone only, pressed in with a small dense brush rather than swept with a large fluffy one. Nothing on the cheeks, nothing under the eyes, nothing along the smile lines. Use a very finely milled powder, and use a trace.

And blot instead of re-powdering. Plain tissue pressed on the nose at midday lifts the oil and leaves the base. A second and third powder layer is where the cracked, dusty look genuinely comes from — see best setting powder for mature skin.

Why it ages you. Two separate problems that usually arrive together. A thick film cannot bend when your face does, so it cracks along the lines it was applied to cover. And a base even half a shade too dark stops at the jaw, which draws a line across the face and makes the neck look like a different person's.

The fix on weight. Less product, pressed in with a damp sponge rather than spread with a brush, and a thinner formula. A serum or a skin tint with concealer placed on the two or three spots that actually need it beats a medium base everywhere — best serum foundation for mature skin has the options.

The fix on shade. Match along the jaw in daylight, not on the back of your hand and not under a store light. Then look at your neck. Shade matching gets harder with age because skin tone evens out and lightens as sun exposure drops, so the shade that was right five years ago may no longer be — how to match foundation shade covers it properly.

Why it ages you. Shimmer and frost reflect light directionally. Point a directional reflector at a surface with raised texture and you emphasize the texture — which on a lid that is thinner and looser than it used to be means crepiness becomes the most visible thing about the eye. The pale frosted brow-bone highlight is the single worst offender because the skin there is among the thinnest on the face.

The fix. Matte and satin finishes only, in warm mid-tones. A matte shade one step lighter than your lid under the brow, and nothing shinier than a satin on the lid itself. If you want any metallic, keep it low along the lash line where there is less loose skin.

A related habit. Dark matte in the anatomical crease, which on a hooded or dropped lid disappears when the eye is open and reads as a hollow when it is closed. Place color lower and more horizontally — see best eyeshadow for mature hooded eyes.

Why it ages you. Brow hair thins and loses pigment with age, so a pencil shade that matched twenty years ago is now darker than the hair it is filling — and a hard dark brow on a softer face reads as drawn on. Over-plucked thin brows have the opposite problem: a thin brow sits higher visually and gives the face a permanently surprised, hollow look.

The fix on shade. Go one to two shades lighter than you think, and cooler. Most mature brows want a taupe or a soft cool brown rather than a warm dark one.

The fix on technique. Short hair-like strokes with a fine pencil, following the direction the hair actually grows, rather than a filled outline. Then brush it through. A brow that reads as hairs always looks younger than a brow that reads as a shape — how to fill in sparse brows over 60 walks through it.

Why it ages you. Under-eye skin is the thinnest on the face and it moves constantly. Concealer applied there in quantity creases within the hour, and creased concealer in an under-eye line is more visible than the shadow it was covering. A concealer that is too light also stops being a correction and becomes a pale patch, which reads as tiredness rather than hiding it.

The fix. A fraction of what you are using, in a flexible serum or creamy formula, patted on with a fingertip rather than a brush. Place it only on the inner corner and the darkest part of the shadow, not across the whole socket, and blend upward toward the lash line rather than down onto the cheek.

Set almost none of it. A trace of finely milled powder on the inner corner at most. See how to stop concealer creasing under the eyes.

Hard black eyeliner on a pale, sparse lash line. It reads as a drawn band rather than as lashes. A soft brown or taupe pressed into the lash gaps does the same job and looks like your own eyes.

Lining the lower waterline. It closes the eye visually and smudges by eleven, especially if your eyes water. Define the outer third on the skin instead.

Skipping blush entirely. Many women drop it in their fifties and the face loses dimension. A soft wash on the apple of the cheek restores it, and we say this as a site that holds no blush in its registry and will not name one it has not researched.

A lip color darker than your natural lip. Dark lipstick on a thinner lip emphasizes the loss of volume. Mid-tone and slightly warm is safer than deep and cool.

Not moisturizing because you are oily. Stripped skin produces more oil and over 50 the barrier recovers more slowly. Every layer above it then sits badly.

Using the same routine in January and July. Mature skin shifts with humidity and with indoor heating more than it used to. The base that is right in summer is often too matte in winter.

Several items above ask for precision, and precision is the thing that gets harder. Fine brow strokes, a trace of powder on the inner corner, a thin line between lashes — all of them assume a steady hand and good near vision. If you do not have both, the honest adaptation is to simplify rather than to execute badly.

Simplify by dropping steps, not by doing them roughly. A face with a thin base, defined brows and nothing else looks considerably better than one with every step attempted imprecisely.

Choose formats that remove the precision requirement. A cream shadow stick instead of a palette, a twist-up corrector instead of a pot and brush, a brow gel instead of a pencil. See best stick makeup for limited dexterity.

Sit down, use a lighted mirror on a stand, and rest your elbow on the table. An elbow on a hard surface removes most of the visible shake from a hand, which is the cheapest fix on this entire page.

Work on one half of the face at a time and check. Finishing both sides before looking is how asymmetry happens.