My Expert tips for an Evening Makeup for Mature Skin

Women over 40 know: Makeup can be disastrous. It has the potential to enhance and magnify the signs of ageing, like fine lines, wrinkles and dry skin.
We do something to our faces in order to be more beautiful… and the result is just the opposite! I see it happen all the time…

Usually, a good anti-aging makeup reflex is to go for less. Minimalism is always a good option in order to avoid buildup in lines and wrinkles.
So, what about those moments in life when you want to add some glam to your face? A sultry eye, … Is wearing more makeup for drinks, dinner or other festive nightly occasions detrimental to looking youthful and energized?
Not necessarily!

It’s all about the right textures (creamy and hydrating, to avoid a dry and wrinkly look) and the best application techniques (soft and blurry are your friends).
Watch my video and keep scrolling to find out about my favorites for a youthful and fresh anti-aging evening makeup.

Watch my video to learn how to do an anti-aging evening makeup, glamorous and youthful!

Transform Your Anti-aging Daytime Makeup into an Evening Makeup

At most times, we’ll be wearing already our daytime makeup (a video showing you how to do this can be found here) and just retouching and upgrading it into an evening makeup. That’s why I wanted to show in this video how I go about this.

First step: a bit of cleaning, especially around the eyes, using a micellar water, like Bioderma’s Créaline. Second step: re-moisturizing with a bit of cream which I apply with dabbing movements. Don’t rub or you’ll ruin your foundation.

Smooth and Youthful Skin

Beautiful, flawless, glowy skin is my obsession! (Everyone who knows me, can tell a tale… 😉
My mantra: when it comes to anti-aging skin makeup, texture is key. Look out for hydrating creamy or fluid formulations, which will give your skin a soft smoothening glow. Beware of mattifying textures which tend to give a dry-looking finish, making your wrinkles look 3 times deeper than they are.

The foundation I use in this video is a project in progress. I’ll tell you soon about it…
In the meantime, MAC’s Face & Body Foundation works really well. In this video I also use a smoothening primer, MAC’s Timecheck.

I apply foundation with a brush or my fingers (their warmth actually helps achieving an even smoother and more transparent finish), always going from the center of the face to the sides.
Make sure you use a shade which is perfectly suited to your skin tone! This allows you to use very little product and to obtain the sheerest coverage. (If you want to know more about this, have a look at this post: Foundation: How to Find Your Perfect Color.)

Generally, I prefer using very transparent foundations for overall evening out of the skin tone and then correctors or concealers (here the Stay in Place Flawless Wear Concealer by Estee Lauder) in very small amounts wherever necessary. The best way is to apply them with a pointy brush and then blend them invisibly. Needless to say, that these products also should be the very same color as your skin and your foundation.

If you want to know more about anti-aging skin makeup, have a look at these posts: The Best Foundation for Mature Skin, and Anti-aging Concealer: The Best Products for Mature Skin.

Your Glamorous and Anti-Aging Eye Makeup

You always loved a sultry cat eye? Having passed the 40’s mark, you don’t have to necessarily give up on this all-time favorite. However, you should make sure to observe a few basic guidelines for anti-aging eye makeup.

Again, it’s all about the right textures. I love using silky soft eyeliner pencils, like the Satin Kajal Liner by Victoria Beckham, or MAC’s Coffee pencil.

When it comes to eyeshadows, it’s the matte, velvety textures which will successfully veil textured eyelids and small wrinkles. Shiny textures actually enhance and accentuate volume and unevenness, and when it comes to eyelids, this is an effect we definitely don’t want!
As they will do you more harm than good, leave those shimmery pearls and metallics to the youngsters.

You don’t have to forsake all the glam though, as sparkle, on the other hand, doesn’t have this unfortunate wrinkle enhancing effect. So, go for it! (…if that’s your style of course.) In this video I use a black eye shadow with a subtle sparkle, (MAC’s Dazzleshadow Illuminaughty) which catches the light prettily.

My all-time eye makeup favorite is always the combo of eyelash curler and mascara, its eye-opening effect is unparalleled.
My pro tips: Give your lashes a bit of extra curl by (gently!) warming your eyelash curler with your hair dryer.
Then, when applying your mascara, do insist a bit more on your lashes’ roots for an intense volume effect. But don’t overcharge the ends to not make them look heavy. In this video I use Pat McGrath Labs Fetish Eyes extra-black mascara.

Eyebrows are just lightly accentuated with a taupe colored pencil from Too Faced and brushed upwards with a transparent eyebrow gel (MAC, Brow Set).

For an Evening Makeup for Mature Skin: Add Some Color to Cheeks and Lips

For your evening makeup, you often want to accentuate your cheeks a bit more. I often like to mix two colors of blush, a soft pink for freshness (in this video from MAC, col. Pinch Me) with a matte brown for depth (like the KVD Beauty, Kitten Mini Shade + Light Contour Duo, col. Deep).

A strong eye like the one in this makeup is often best paired with a subtle, almost nude lip. For this I like to use ceamy lipsticks in nude colors, like the one from Lancôme, col. Mademoiselle Chiara.

Glossy ore matte? Depends on your taste of course, but also on the shape of your mouth. Matte lipsticks (and very strong or dark colors) will make your lips appear thinner, therefore they’re best for fuller lips. Thin lips can be made lto ook a bit fuller lining them just a millimeter outside the natural color delimitation. In this video I use a lip liner which is exactly the same nude color as the lipstick, the lip liner Almond Rose by Maybelline.

If you like gloss, apply it to the center of your lips and then blend it out gently, but without going all the way to the border. This avoids bleeding of your lip color into surrounding wrinkles.

There is no age to stop looking glam and gorgeous!