In your 40s...do you look rough without makeup?

[EttiKetti]

I've just had a week doing outdoors stuff on holiday....freshly creamed up, I look ok...better still with a little mascara but travelling home with an ill child, beautification wasn't a priority and I had a huge shock when we arrived home and I looked in a mirror!!

Too much heat/cold/swimming/cycling....or am i just beyond repair for good....dark puffy eyes, open pores, bagginess. Gross, really. Just wondering if I've not noticed before, because I don't pay much attention tbh...

I've started using Dr Hauschka's Regenerating Serum in a desperate bid to turn back time - it's expensive, but really good stuff. I'm not quite looking ten years' younger, but perhaps a little less ravaged by age. Would recommend.

I do look marginally less like the undead in the morning if I've used my Decleor facial oil the night before, and really massaged it in. I use loads though. Seems to even out my skin tone

My dh always tells me I look great without makeup but he is possibly blinded by love.

I think i look OK until i catch sight of myself in a reflection where I wasn't expecting it, iyswim, like a car window or something. Then I think I look like an old bag.

If I have a light fake tan I can look ok otherwise like the living dead

NEVER look down into a mirror . Unless you want to look like Bernard Ingham

Yes nodders, think I might pop a little fake tan on tonight. Feel a bit grey round the gills

God cyb I don't think I have looked down in a mirror for years and it was bad enough then. I also look very attractive when I have been bent over the bath doing my hair and I stand back up like a bloody puffa fish whose had a skinful .

My tips:

• use a really good primer that smooths fine lines and provides a good base for your foundation (I like the new No 7 one)
• really good, strong concealer (NOT that YSL Teint Lumiere stuff). Use it round your eyes and nose
• light, sheer foundation (unless you really, truly need stronger cover - heavy foundation is very aging). I love Bare Minerals, but otherwise use a tinted moisturiser
• avoid heavy eyeliner. I use a brown pencil just above my eyelashes - top lid only.
• pinky blush more flattering on older skins than bronzer
• brown mascara rather than black, unless your colouring is dark
• lipgloss and matt lipstick equally unflattering - I like using a tinted lipbalm
• keep everything light and dewy. No glitter, nothing too iridescent, but not matt either - just a nice satiny sheen.

I look better without makeup. At the moment but that might change over time. Use serus; it really helps.

serums I meant!

Oh yes, serums. Fabulous.

I look like shite. But I say to myself each morning.. 'enjoy the view, coz this is as good as it's gonna get baby'

I'm going to put all my efforts into my teeth. I look OK until I laugh - that's when they all wince and I put my tight lipped smile back on.

But facial exercises have worked wonders for the general gravity issues.

Devora - what's a primer? Can you get it in B&Q?

Same principle, spenditwisely.

I'm intrigued by facial exercises - do they really work?

It's more massaging your face while gurning. Works wonders - believe me if I haven't done it for a while I look 5 years older. You start to see results after about a week.

I look fucking gorgeous! Always have if I'm honest. You don't get fantastic genes in a tub.

hey guys I hear you but there is hope. Skin care has made some serious breakthroughs and can really make a huge differance in your skin even now! I am a skincare expert with oer 20 years exprience. please ask away!

Ok Brijitte, I'll go first. Are there any products that actually work in reducing wrinkles or are we all better off (well in my case) just sticking to cheap moisturiser? (Although I have to say I always use some kind of facial oil every night and my skin always looks and feels ok in the morning (although it doesn't take long for it to all go down hill!)

Spenitwisely - what book/system to you get your exercises from?

Ok Brijitte is there anything that will actually shrink pores?

moonshine - www.amazon.co.uk/Ultimate-Facercise-Carole-Maggio/dp/0330519964/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329039934&sr=8-1

There seems to be a DVD on the market and other books as well.

Did you know you have muscles in your scalp!

But it doesn't shrink pores - I'd like to know the answer to that too. Is large pores a food intolerance thing?

I'm 42 and I don't bother with make up on a day to day basis but I have my eyebrows and upper lip threaded every two weeks. I also have Botox on my frown every 4 months. I couldn't be arsed to wear make up everyday and I feel a bit "drag queen" wearing it during the day.

I've worn foundation since I was 14. Every day.

Dude, I'm in my 20s and I look rough without makeup.

I don't know. I think I look ok in the mirror, but less so if I see a photo of myself or catch myself unawares in shop mirror etc. But I often go without any make-up at all. Thanks to lack of time, and also I used to have bad acne and always tried to cover it up which was a real drag. Now it's mainly gone, I love not having to bother. I try to convince myself that blotchy barefaced is a "look" :o

But re pores, I don't know how to shrink them but I was recently sold some benefit "pore-fessional" after trying it in boots, and that works. It just smooths and fills I think, but looks lovely.