Heh! Your description of passport photos was awesome and it’s exactly what mine looks like (and I don’t even have young children anymore!)!
I think your face changes so much as you get older, the skin is different, your eyes, everything. And I guess we are in the habit of using whatever colours, textures and techniques used to work, but that doesn’t mean they’ll continue to work.
Like I said, I use a light touch. Don’t routinely wear foundation/concealer/powder and when I do I keep it very low coverage. I actually do use highlighter when I do a full face, but I use cream and again keep it very light. On a normal day I use eyeshadow, mascara and lip balm or lip tint of some kind, quite often just a coloured lip balm (burt’s bees do nice ones). Sometimes I wear lipstick but I drink a lot of hot drinks throughout the day so I get fed up of reapplying.
I like Bobbi Brown, it really suits my more mature face.