I have no idea how to do make-up, please help!

[keepmehappy]

All I have ever worn is mascara and now I'm mid-40s, everything seems to be going paler and it's as though my features are fading away IYSWIM! Very melodramatic but that's kind of how it feels.

I had a Groupon for a make-up class and it was the most awful experience - full of 14-year-olds with bulging make-up bags who wanted to perfect their contouring etc etc... I explained I just wanted to look a bit fresher and more like I used to look, not heavily made up, but came out looking like a Kardashian, really thick obvious eyebrows etc. Felt so silly and embarrassed.

Are there any YouTube tutorials or anything that will just teach me how to bring my features out a bit? I really have no idea where to start 😞

Aw I feel the same. I find tinting your eyelashes and eyebrows helps loads so I'd start sign that first xx

Thanks, names. Do you go to a salon for that, then, or where?

I think your best bet is to have a look on Lisa Eldridge's website and see if she has any good videos of the basics to offer.
I think a good start would be a light foundation/bb cream, brown/black mascara, an eyebrow mascara (to cover greys and hold eyebrows in place but still very natural), a cream blush in a very natural pink/rose shade, a Rosie pink lipstick to match blush and maybe a cream eyeshadow in a taupe/mushroom/almond shade.
I obviously do not know your colouring but I think the above would suit most fair/medium skin tones.

You can always search YouTube for products and techniques for simple make up looks. Some are explained really well.

I'd hate a group class, too. You could always go to a make up counter in boots or Debenhams etc and ask them to suggest and show you some products. Some will do a full face on you for free (the expectation might be that you buy some of the products but you don't HAVE to).

I take it you don't really want to wear a face full of sculpted make-up every day, such as silly contouring or heavy eye shadow. You just want to look brighter and fresher, correct?

My advise is to go to a store and get matched for a BB or CC cream. It's tinted moisturiser that makes you skin look amazing. Also get a good concealer for under the eyes. Then a bright, flattering blush to give you a bit of natural looking colour. All that with mascara and you'll look great and very natural. Best of all, it only takes a few minutes to get the job done. Don't forget to buy a foundation and blush brush and a beauty sponge.

There are amazing videos on YouTube about make-up for older women.

She has this video, I've not seen it but it looks like you could get a few tips from it!

I'm not saying you're that old op but it looks natural and easy.

Thanks - I had to look up what bb cream was there - never even heard of it before! I thought of the department store thing but had a facial there one time and really felt so self-conscious with people walking past gawping at me... and the woman wasn't particularly nice either. Another experience I was glad to escape, I'm afraid...! I'm beyond hope, I know 😂😂

Do you wear foundations or wanting to? Bb creams are quite good (well some) and some tinted moisturiser. I've yet to find one that matches my pale sling tone so Im not sire of the best quality ones but have worse a couple that arent too heavy. I'll try and dig them out to see what they were.
You can get lip tints to wear instead of lipsticks or gloss. They are good because you don't feel them at all, they just add a bit of colour. I use the soap and glory brow pencil/crayon which is good. Goes on well and is nice and light ( has an added gel at the end to hold eyebrows in place)
A little, and I stress a little, but of contouring can work really well to put some cour into your face. I always contour, but not these big brown and white streaks everyone seems to be sporting these days. Just a lttile round the hair line and forehead and along the cheekbones and vigorously blended in. A good blush that goes well with your skin tone is pretty essential. Again blended in really well.

Hah, sorry, x-posts there - no, not quite that old but still need the help! I will go and ask to be matched for that cream, then, sounds good. And yes, just younger/fresher/brighter/ not so tired is the look I'm after! Thanks for all the help so far, really appreciate - and will watch that vid.

Have you thought about contacting a mobile bridal makeup artist in your area and asking if they'd come to your house and give you a makeup lesson? Most do makeup trials for not much, so I doubt a lesson would be extortionate

Most bridal makeup artists are very good at simple, natural makeup (check pictures of their previous work first to make sure you like it though!)

I learnt loads from my makeup artist for my wedding, and she mentioned as I was chatting that most of her business was actually private makeup lessons.

If I were you Op I'd go to the Boots No7 counter and get matched to a bb cream/tinted moisturizer and a cream concealer, get a brown mascara and get matched to a natural lipstick and blush. Explain about your position and ask them to give you a basic tutorial of these items. Once you get the hang of it it's easy.

Lisa Eldridge is fab!

She has LOTS of different videos. Explains things really well.

I learned everything I know from her. Probably should go back and learn a bit more to be honest.

Start small and build up. I second the tinting - saves a lot of faff apart from anything else and isn't expensive.

There’s a website called Beauty and the Boutique - they have some really good tutorials for everyday make up. Also have a look at the tutorials for the smashbox contouring set - very simple but makes a big difference. I’m personally finding (after ignoring my face for a decade) that skin care is a much bigger issue for me than make up as when my skin is better I don’t need much make up!

I've been getting slightly obsessed with Lisa Eldridge lately, she's really good at explaining it and she's not at all into the contouring/heavy look make up (unless of course you search for that).

Lisa Eldridge is addictive ! Her videos are so easy to watch and listen to - she seems such a lovely lady .

That particular video is a brilliant transformation, but bear in mind that the client would have been stunning at 20. She still is, but needs the techniques and artistry Lisa Eldridge employs to reveal it. And, as a dowager, you actually need a great mirror and reasonable eyesight to achieve the result yourself at home. It is very difficult to get make up perfect once your vision is deteriorating. You miss your errors and think you've done a decent job, but a harsher light can show you that you needed less makeup, gentler colours and much more blending. Remember Barbara Cartland...

The thickening of the cornea means we don't see colour as well with age, and if there is any cataract forming everything will yellow, so you (everyone older) chooses colours with a distorted perception. In some ways, especially foundation, you are safer avoiding it altogether because the finish is never good enough. A sunscreen, BB cream, cream blusher, mascara and a lip oil is just enough for a lift and should make you look healthy and define your features, but not dowager crone. Your priority should be a good skincare regime; it is very difficult to learn the tricks of artifice later in life.

Xing, thanks... I think! I don't quite have one foot in the grave just yet, am only 45! 🤣🤣 But I do get the points you're making. I'm actually really bad at looking at my face close up and in good light - I just never seem to find the time to scrutinise it, there's always something more important to do. So now I'm really not sure what's "gone wrong" IYSWIM.Well, you know, not "wrong", but is it mainly a skin thing? A wrinkles round the eye thing? A disappearing eyelash thing? I'm honestly not sure!
However, I have now booked myself in for a lash tint thing this week, so at least I'm giving stuff a try! Thanks all.

@keepmehappy I love the name. The wrinkles happen and the eyesight goes, from about 45 IME, with the onset of menopause frankly. You're still frantically busy, with teenagers and demented parents and FT work, so you continue to do what always worked. And at a moment, it doesn't. Few of us see that moment happen in real time, only in the rear view mirror. Most people aren't as fixated on their appearance as the supermodels who are held up as role models and I don't have any answers. I wish I knew the questions! But I'm 20 years older than you and staying fit/living well and fully is the only response that works for me. And skincare, and trying new stuff/technology. Better mirror is my next miracle (please).

Xing, that is really eloquent and insightful, thank you! Ooh, this thread's gone all philosophical
...😊

"Living well and fully"... good advice at any age.

Search Pixiwoo on YouTube OP. Both the girls are nearly 40, actually I think Sam is 40, and their makeup tutorials are fantastic.

Watch YouTube tutorials

Agree on Lisa Eldridge, and Hannah Martin is good too. Easy to follow videos on YouTube. Go for the ones that say ‘easy look’, ‘five minute make up’ and things like that. Those will be your very basic looks and that’s a good place to start.

Bobbi Brown make up is very good and flattering on slightly more mature faces.

I second Beauty and the Boutique too. The products she recommends actually work!