Advice for makeup novice

[Cooroo]

Background: not used make up since teens (blue mascara, eye shadow, nail varnish). Now in mid 50s I think I might look less tired and saggy with a little help! On advice of my hairdresser (!) I bought some tinted moisturiser and brown mascara - I'm going for subtle.

So today I wore them to work. No one noticed, which is probably good, but it just went really shiny. Felt horrible. So I've just washed it off. It was just something from Morrisons, forget the brand.

Should I persevere? Are there people out there who teach middle aged women what to do? Where did I go wrong?

I need the answer to this too. There must be someone (not scarey make up counters) who can show us what to do.

Sounds like a good start! The make up counters will help you with products and application if you want to spend a bit more, and there are good products out there to reduce shine. My skin is oily and cheaper stuff slides off, but some things stay put-Estee Lauder's Double Wear foundation is quite long lasting, and Bobbi Brown do some good longwear stuff. When I've got less money, I go for No7 stuff in Boots. It sounds like you need a formula for oily skin in terms of foundation and then a pressed powder to set it in place?

Cross post! If you want to avoid scary counters, try YouTube videos?

Oh lord, my heart sinks when you say 'powder'. I remember my mum using that! I hate the smell and feel of made up skin. But want to look better! YouTube is a good idea. I'd have to prowl the make up counters and check out the staff as I don't want to be advised by a total youngster!

Youtube is good, also Bobbi Brown's makeup books (your library probably has copies) are brilliant and really explain makeup.

Unless you have blonde or red hair with very light lashes and brows, just go for black mascara.

Lisa Eldridge is great. Her tutorials are very good and the makeup always looks very wearable and natural.

A general rule for bases like tinted moisturiser, foundation and BB creams is to get one that suits your skintype. I would suggest going to the counters and asking for samples to try them at home before buying.

I agree with the pressed powder for touch-ups. You don't need to add so much that it is visible, but just enough to take down the shine. You can apply it with a brush if you prefer. Powder is also good for setting the foundation IMO.

Go to a Boots No7 counter & get yourself matched for a foundation, the one in the grey tube has a light coverage :) ask her how to apply it

Get a small pack of make up brushes, you'll need an eyeshadow & a blusher brush for now

The Natural Collection at Boots has sheer subtle shades & are very cheap.

Get a natural eyeshadow & go over your eyelid to disguise any red veins then use your mascara.

Get a very light pink powder blusher & swirl on cheeks

Maybe a tinted lip balm, the Body Shop do some called Born Lippy (the stick not the pot ones). The Natural Collection at Boots may have some as well.

The idea is not to look as though you are wearing make up, go for a natural soft look :)

That's some really good advice! I shall check out YouTube and print out Midnight's whole message for future reference. Boots I come next Saturday!

Guys check out Facebook page MrsGloss and the gross. It's got great advice. ??

interesting typo, I assure you I'm not that gross

Definitely check out Lisa Eldridge on you tube. She has a tutorial on make up for mature skin. She's great as she will recommend products from the more expensive to supermarket brands. And she is subtle in her application.

What's your colouring?

here's an example from Lisa Eldridge

Oh dear lord! Obviously I meant Goss. Lol.

I don't know what my colouring is! I don't even know what the options are. Well, I'm white, as in racially. But beyond that I really haven't a clue. I have avoided make up and fashion for a while. People say I have good skin, which I attribute to not having covered it in make up.

Enjoying I watched half the video and gave up in terror! So many products! What is a concealer? And all the other things I'd never heard of? Eye shadow primer?

If I could employ this woman full time that would be great, but I think I'd need several long sessions to even begin to master all that. Now I'm frightened again and feel like I may not bother!

Cooroo maybe think in terms of celebrities - I don't mean saying you look like them, but which celebrities do you match in terms of eye/hair/skin colour? For example I am pale with dark hair and eyes, so would compare my colouring to eg Nigella or Anne Hathaway - but I know I don't look like them!

A book might be more helpful than Youtube - you can go through it at leisure then. A concealer is for concealing eg dark circles, blemishes, redness around the nose etc. Eye shadow primer is a base layer that helps your eye shadow and liner stay put.

Do you wear sunscreen? If not, that's something to start pronto. Yes, every day.

Perhaps go to a counter and get a lesson?

I don't really know any celebs! I have mild prosopagnosia so don't recognise people well or register facial characteristics. I suspect this is part of the reason I gave up on make up long ago.

Thanks for the explanations of things. I'm definite feeling overwhelmed but will try a counter. I'm surprised there aren't people out there teaching this stuff. I suppose there are, but to motivated would-be beauticians, not scared ignoramuses like me!

Don't worry about eye primer & concealer :) just keep to the basics.

Skin colouring or tone is about whether you can wear cool toned or warm toned makeup & clothes. Look at the veins on the inside of your wrists, if they are blue then it usually means you are cool toned & look good in jewel colours & have pink undertones to your skin. If they look greenish then you will suit coral & oranges & yellows & will have a yellow undertone to your skin. If you have both like me, then you can wear whatever you like. But its not an exact science & we are not adding loads of colour to your make up so don't worry about it :) at this stage its about getting comfortable with the basics such as foundation :)

As an above poster said... Join us on the Mrs Gloss & the goss facebook page. Everyone is lovely and gives great advice!

What would you like to achieve with makeup? You mentioned wanting to look less tired, so how does that manifest - circles under eyes, pale/grey skin? If you've got great skin, maybe you don't need base products. A touch of blusher or sheer lipstick to "perk you up" or a dab of concealer/corrector on dark circles could work wonders. Maybe experiment with things like that before going all out with a full face, because I'm not sure you'd be comfortable with that (from what you've posted).

So depending on what you want it to do, my starting points would be: cream blusher (apply with fingers), sheer lipstick/tinted lipbalm, concealer/corrector, mascara. But start with what you want to do. Makeup is just a tool not a magic wand!

Op, you can book a session with Bobbi Brown for free. Tell the artist you want a natural look. Appointments are anything from 5 to 45 minutes. Explain you want minimal product. It sounds like a tinted moisturiser, a concealer pen, some pressed powder, a blush and mascara is all you want or need. If you have cream blush then the only brush you need is for powder. Eco tool are very good, as mentioned above. Try not to get overwhelmed by the people at the counters - many are required to wear x amount of products, or go bold. They still know how to do something less ott.