Makeup can be a powerful tool for enhancing your natural beauty, but as we age, our skin changes, and so should our makeup techniques. For women over 40, certain makeup trends and techniques that once worked may no longer flatter mature skin, potentially emphasizing lines, texture, or dullness. In 2024, it’s time to leave behind these outdated styles and embrace fresh, modern approaches that complement your features and enhance radiance.
Read on for tips from Victoria DiPietro, cosmetologist and owner of Bella Angel (whose clients include Chelsea Handler, Elizabeth Banks, Bridgit Mendler, and more) and MUA Kerrin Jackson.
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1. Using Eyeliner on Your Bottom Lash Line
When you apply eyeliner that doesn't suit your eye shape or age, dark under-eyes and crow's feet around the area can inadvertently be highlighted, DiPietro warns.
To avoid this, she suggests "not [using] eyeliner under your bottom lash" and instead, only using eyeliner on your upper eyelid. "By using eyeliner correctly, you can create the illusion of a lift on your eyes," she notes.
She instructs to "outline your eyes on the top lid and just in the corner of your eye." And, DiPietro adds that you can "go a step further and add a cream color eyeliner or white on your waterline." This can help to brighten up your eyes, helping to create a more youthful and flattering look.
"Another tip to create a younger look with eyeliner is [to] create a subtle wing," DiPietro suggests. She notes that you can "make sure when you make the wing that you start at the last lash and go up just a tiny bit."
It's important that you "stop right under where your eye creases, so that the wing doesn’t disappear and exaggerate your crease," she says.
2. Wearing a Matte Lipstick That Is Too Dark for Your Skin Tone
Lips are an important feature, but as we age, they start to get thin, making it harder to work with. Plus, the colors or formulas that once worked may go against you as you hit 40s and above. Jackson instructs "steering clear of blue-based red lipsticks or darker lip tones."
These products, she notes, can "make your lips appear thinner and definitely make you look older than you are."
Jackson goes on to say that "the trend of dark lipstick comes and goes with much regularity these days." This fad, she points out, will "never help anyone look younger, and this is due to simple principles of light."
Black or dark red shades "absorb more light than lighter and brighter shades," she continues.
Instead, try lining your lips with a nude lip liner and applying a neutral-toned lipstick and a gloss on top to "plump" up lips.
