Has anyone else found makeup 'ages' them as they get older?

[HepburnKNotA]

The obvious thing first: I have, and perhaps could even more, tweak my 'old' makeup. I have tried switching my old midnight-blue eyeliner and black mascara for browns. I've tried a different shade and format of blusher.

But these days when I put on makeup I feel I look older with it on, and not in a good way!

I'm 42 btw.

I have (and I'm not ashamed to say it, given the amount I've bloody spent on it in products and effort) really good skin for my age, very very few lines (apart from Number 11s) and since I gave up sugar (and started using Emma Hardie and Sunday Riley stuff) a couple of years ago my skin is smoother than it's ever been. I've never really needed any foundation, barely used tinted moisturiser and these days I don't wear any base at all, ever.

But I do like a bit of eye makeup (liner and mascara) on nights out etc and now I don't know what to try as whenever I put it on, I feel like I suddenly look haggard and over my real age instead of under it! And blusher used to 'freshen' me up, but now I don't know, it has the same ageing effect.

Still happy with my trusty nude lipsticks and glosses, tbf.

Should I just give up and at least enjoy the fact I have good skin (until inevitably that all falls off a cliff in a few years...)? Or should I keep trying different shades? Techniques? I spend all my 'beauty' money on bloody (admittedly amazing) Space NK products so don't have much left for experimenting with makeup if it's not going to work!

Does anyone else feel the same way and if so - did you give up on makeup and just go bare-faced? I feel it's not enough 'effort' for a night out! Though I've never been a big makeup person at all, really.

I'd be wary about asking for a make-over at a makeup counter as
the women working on them seem very heavily made up to me, and might not really know how or want to do a subtle/minimal look especially if they're quite young themselves. I also think you're likely to find more suitable products if you can buy across a varied range rather than everything coming from one brand.

I think you're probably better off watching someone like Lisa Eldridge, she lists the products she uses so you if you like the look you can buy them or at least it would give you a starting point. The other option is a completely independent make-up artist who isn't affiliated to any one brand. I would imagine they're fairly pricey but at least you won't get any hard sell and if you're on a budget you could ask them to make you up using lower cost products.

Loving this thread! Can't believe the response, thanks so much everyone.

I'm going to watch Lisa Eldridge for some ideas.

I'm tentatively thinking about trying one of those kind of eye crayons, the kind that are sort of shadow, sort of chubby liner, to see if that might define my eyes a little without harshness. I see Laura Mercier have a gorgeous one but I'd rather not fork out £££ if I get the shade wrong or if actually it doesn't help. Any good dupes? I'd prefer to practice on myself with a cheap version rather than get the LM lady at my local dept store to show me...

Floisme, like you I am thinking I might end up with just lipstick, which would be bizarre as like you it was the one product I never used to use! I like nude versions as if I use the right one it makes me look prettier , obviously the wrong one makes me look like Death!

I'm just still slightly astonished that I'm FAR from the only one who's experienced this. But then when I think about it, it's sort of mind-blowingly obvious that your face changes as you age and you can't juts keep plonking the same things on top of it.

I've never used powder fortunately, I think that's why I didn't twig that my makeup was ageing me sooner as I'd thought it was only things like powders you had to stop using (settling in the cracks...)

I have found my people! I loved makeup when I was young, but so little flatters me now I'm 51 that I pretty much use a little grey eyeliner, mascara and a very soft matte or softly perle eyeshadow shade (natural, something like a stone or mauve in colour) and brush a soft brown powder through my brows to add a bit of framing to my face. Anything bold, frankly, makes me look like a clown. I might add a bit of powder if I'm a bit shiny, but most of the time my skin's just left. To be honest, I'm glad that this works for me as I cannot imagine spending an hour or two putting on a full face of makeup like the young'uns do now. I'm happy after 5 mins!

This thread isn’t helping me as I do still wear make up in my forties and I’m scared I look awful!! I even took a mirror outside in the garden yesterday and had a look to see how I look in daylight. I can’t decide if it’s good or bad. I’m not sure what my next plan should be 🤭

It all depends on the individual. My skin tone has changed as I've got older and my eyelashes and brows have faded (or gone grey....which is more likely). My hair is also lighter, so all in all, a softer colour palette and softer finishes and textures is more flattering to me. I still sigh over the make up counters and play with bold colours, I just don't do it as an everyday thing.

Depends which beauty counter you go to. BB and Laura Mercier both specialised in natural looks and I’ve never had a hard sell at either. Equally I’ve usually wanted to buy at least one product. Beauty counters are very quiet on weekdays and sales assistants are often bored and welcome a bit of customer interaction.

Nothing beats seeing how a product works on your face, on someone else on video just doesn’t cut it - for me, anyway.

It does seem that quite a few celebs carry on with the same - ish makeup and get away with it. I.e Jo Whiley, Lauren Laverne, Chrissy Hynde. Maybe it only works for aging rock chicks?!

I'm still hanging on to my collection of eyeshadow palettes that I no longer use and have to sit on my hands to not buy more as they're so pretty - just not on me anymore

sheshoots I still wear a fairly full face of makeup (though only takes about 5 mins to put on now I'm not faffing with eye makeup) so I don't think it's makeup per se that's 'bad' it's just a case of assessing it with a critical eye (which sounds like you've done) and adapting if necessary.

I don't think there's any specific age that you need to change things at either, I have very dark hair and eyes, and medium skin which is oily so was ok with the heavier made up/dramatic eyes look until mid 40s. People here are mentioning things changing for them much earlier or later than that so it's not a case of hitting 40 (or 30 or 50 etc) and everything suddenly going to go to hell in a handcart

Chrissie hynde is 26 years older than Lauren laverne

I know. LL is only 3 years older than me but a rock chick is a rock chick.

Yes but aging rock chick? I know the thread is talking a lot about women in their 40’s plus, I just thought strange to call LL an aging rock chick in the same breath as chrissie hynde. That’s all I was saying. I think LL looks much younger than her 41 years actually, she has incredible skin

Sensai Bronzing Gel...what shade should a woman with nearly black hair and very pale skin and grey eyes, with terrible pockmarked, dry skin wear, then?

Well i class myself as aging at 38 so not sure why that's a problem? Surely we're all aging?! No shame in it. Ll often proudly refers to herself as middle aged. It's not a judgement on how old or young she looks, it's a statement on the passing of time.

Can I join the club? I used to rock the whole highlighter, liner and three shades of eyeshadow and false lashes look. I'm good at applying make up and know what I'm doing. Then on the cusp of 46/47 suddenly I looked overblown and raddled, like an aging Madam in a tawdry 18th century brothel. And the harder I worked to correct my look the worse it got. Any shade of bright lipstick looked so harsh and clashed with my blusher.

Thankfully I quickly realised that less is more in your forties. I dropped the eyeliner and started tightlining instead for a still defined, but softer, eye. I switched to a plain taupe eyeshadow with a very slight sheen and had my teeth whitened, so my smile looked fresher but meant I could wear flattering pink, nude lippy without my teeth looking yellow.

I still wear foundation but afterwards I gently place a slightly damp, hot flannel over my face just to soften it slightly. Always, always two very thin layers of mascara followed by eyelash curlers and only a dab of powder on my nose and chin.

Bizarrely, I now look 5 years younger than I did 5 years ago.

I know ruffle and I agree, I’m not trying to argue. I simply thought that placing LL and CH in the same bracket was strange given their massive age gap. No matter though, it’s not a big deal!

Well given the ages on this thread run from 20s to late 50s, possibly older, maybe not that odd.

milly I do very similar. Put on some light foundation then at the end of my make up routine pretty much get rid of it with a blotting cloth. It seems to sit on my skin nowadays and makes the lines look worse.

Ok

millythepink, I love the sound of your regime!

Can I ask, what the blimming heck is tightlining? Seen it mentioned here now several times and I have no clue what it means

Oh and which eyeshadow do you use, can I ask? Do you smudge it on or brush it on? Or is it a creme formula? I feel like I need to crack this eyeshadow malarkey and then my life will be changed

I’m also giving consideration to having my eyelashes done but I can’t work out if it will look ridiculous and overdone.

I think tightlining is where you go in kind of under your top eyelashes. I’ve seen YouTube tutorials but when I tried it myself I just couldn’t stop jabbing myself in the eye and causing my tears to wash the liner away 😳

Ah, thanks sheshoots... I can't be doing with that, unfortunately, I have sensitive eyes and wear lenses and I've never managed to line inside my eyelashes without discomfort, both while I'm doing it and for days after!

I thought of going to a make up counter but I didn’t want to get sold yet more stuff. Not a criticism but essentially that’s their job. If you can’t see what’s not working (and I couldn’t) I really recommend going without for a few weeks. It also kind of breaks any dependency. When I went back to it I could see straight away that my foundation wasn’t doing anything for me and I was amazed I hadn’t noticed before.

And I don’t think we need to be so hard on ourselves. It’s not as if all young people look stunning in make up.

Anyway the point I was trying to make is that Chrissy Hynde seems to be able to rock both heavy eyeliner and a very lived-in face, much as she's done for the past 40 years. Jo Whiley is similar. Ll looks as though she'll go that way, although admittedly she's eased up a lot on the makeup in recent years and I agree looks much younger anyway. Maybe it's more about attitude?

There are non-rocky examples too - Claudia Winkleman has a very distinctive 'made
-up' look which hasn't really changed in the 15-20 years she's been on our screens. Lorraine Kelly is an older example. But then again they may just be very fortunate to be aging better than most and to have enough money to be able address problem areas.

I'm in my 60s but thanks to retinol and sunscreen look a wee bit younger. I've switched from foundation to tinted sunscreen (ultrasun is best for my olive skin), brown mascara instead of black, ditched the eyeliner, a tiny bit of benitint on my cheeks and browny pink tinted lipstick. Definitely less is more as you age and maybe spend the money you save on cosmetics on a monthly facial.