Intelligent Beauty

10 Make Up Tips To Make You Look Years Younger

Feeling uninspired? These simple {make up} tips and tricks will reinvent your beauty look (and take off ten years in ten minutes)…

LOOK FOR SUNSHINE SHADES

Mature skin has a tendency to look washed out or lacklustre, so switch from pinky-toned complexion products (which can exaggerate high colour) to something with a hint of lemon yellow. This unexpected shade lends warmth to a wan pallor (believe us, it’s magical) and everyone will want to know the secret to your newfound glow.

Jouer’s {Luminizing Moisture Tint} has a youth-enhancing dewiness and comes in an array of shades. Or try Stila’s {Correct & Perfect All-in-One Correcting Palette} which has a yellow cream and setting powder to help unify uneven skin tone.

SUBTLE SCULPTING

As we grow older, our once-defined jawlines and cut-glass cheekbones often lose their razor-sharp edge. Use a sculpting cream 2-3 shades darker than your skin tone (it needs to simulate a shadow), and apply to any ‘hollows’ (beneath your cheeks, temples) and along your jaw to create a believable ‘3D’ effect.

Kevyn Aucoin’s {The Sculpting Duo} features a grey-toned ‘lowlight’ and shimmering ‘highlight’ to enhance your features without looking too ‘try hard’.

THE CAT GOT THE…

Cream. Few things add years like a chalky, powdery skin-finish. Not only does powder have a tendency to migrate and settle into creases, but it ‘absorbs’ light and highlights any dry patches. Cream, liquid or crème textures are infinitely more forgiving – flexible and dewy, they look fresh and infinitely more youthful (as well as being more long-wearing).

W3LL PEOPLE’s {Universalist Multi-Stick} comes in a spectrum of colours to lend skin a luminous flush to cheeks, while BECCA’s gorgeous {Shimmering Skin Perfector Poured} leaves skin looking believably ‘lit from within’.

IN YOUR PRIME

When skin begins to lose its elasticity, make up tends to crease more quickly – nowhere more so than around the eye area, where skin is especially fragile and susceptible to crêpey-ness. An eyeshadow primer – such as Perricone MD’s {No Eyeshadow Eyeshadow} – will ‘grip’ eyeshadow cream or powder to prevent creasing, smudging or fall-out, so your look stays flawless.

BACK AWAY FROM BLACK

There’s a reason ‘doe-eyed’ is a term reserved for fresh-faced youngsters. – that wide-awake look becomes compromised with age, when eyelids become ‘heavier’ which in turn, make your eyes look smaller. Black eyeliner only compounds this effect – instead, line the lower waterline with a pale, flesh-toned liner (such as 3CC’s {Clarifying Pencil}) to brighten, then use a soft brown pencil on the inner, upper rim to create the illusion of full lashes, without the stark and unforgiving quality of black.

EQUIP YOURSELF WITH A CONCEALER

Thinner skin and sluggish drainage mean that bags and shadows are a side-effect of growing older, but the right camouflage can work wonders. Disguise dark circles with a peachy-toned under-eye cream – ‘melting’ with your fingertips to create a diffused, soft focus look (we recommend BECCA’s brilliant {Under Eye Brightening Corrector}).

USE A DAMP SPONGE

Tidelines are always a no-go, but never more so than when you’re old enough to know better. A dampened {Beautyblender} will eliminate any edges and create a flawless, ‘airbrushed’ finish – think your skin, but better. And, if your skin is especially dry or lacklustre, finish by applying a couple of drops of face oil to your (still damp) sponge, and ‘bounce’ all over your complexion for a youthful glow.

BRUSH UP YOUR BROWS

‘Drawn on’ arches cease to look chic and acquire a ‘Cruella’ vibe once you’ve ceased to be in your teens. Choose a soft pencil or powder in a shade that matches your natural brow colour (don’t go dark and dramatic – it’s ageing!), and use feathery strokes to disguise any patches and define the shape – blending for a realistic finish. Use a spooley to brush the hairs up and disperse the pigment, then a clear gel to ‘set’ and ensure elegant, Audrey-esque arches.

Look no further than the architect turned arch-itect {Anastasia Beverly Hills} for all your brow-enhancing needs.

CURL YOUR LASHES

If you don’t do anything else, curl you eyelashes and whack on a coat of (brown) mascara. Apply close to the root and squeeze gently to ‘lift’, then repeat halfway along the lash to really ‘open up’ the eye. Step back and look in the mirror once you’ve done one side – the difference is incredible and eyelash curling virgins will wonder what they’ve been doing their whole lives…

KEEP IT SIMPLE

…but don’t be afraid to experiment. Make up is meant to be enjoyed, and the only ‘rule’ is that there are no rules. Love red lipstick? Choose a cream or satin, rather than a matte formula. Love a feline flick? Adapt the angle of the ‘tail’ and try an eye-enhancing colour (plum, forest, slate) to accentuate your most important feature. Keep the rest of your make up pared back – a dewy base, creamy blush and hint of highlight will create the perfect ‘backdrop’ for every make up eventuality.

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Verity Douglas

Verity Douglas

Content Editor

Cult Beauty’s Content Editor and a Cult Beauty OG, Verity loves nothing more than the marriage of language and lip balm. A quintessential Libran, she’s a self-professed magpie for luxury ‘must-haves' and always pursuing the new and the niche — from the boujee-est skin care to cutting-edge tech. Balancing an urge to stop the clock with her desire to embrace the ageing process (and set a positive example for her daughter), Verity's a retinol obsessive and will gladly share her thoughts about the time-defying gadgets, masks and treatments worth the splurge...