Basic make up for mature skin hints and tips please.

[Nunenco]

I have never been one for makeup, I only had a few bits and prefer a natural look. Ideally I would not get any makeup at all but now that I have hit the menopause and my face tells me I need to sort myself out and at least try to freshen up my face a bit. I have never really been that bothered about make up but I feel more aware now that face masks have come off. I have to be careful about my eye area as I’m the past I have had a few spells of conjunctivitis. I like swimming which dries out skin easily so moisturise frequently but would like to find a few products that give a bit of a glow and are well tolerated around the eye area. Nothing mega expensive or very bright colours please. Thank you very much!

No7 will have everything you need and they're good with advice and can colour match too.

Kiehls avocado eye treatment cream is very good for dry skin.

In terms of makeup: if you want to keep it natural I would recommend a concealer for under eye brightening (Touche Eclat is good but there are cheaper alternatives also), an eyebrow grooming product (I love eyebrow powder for a soft effect) and mascara (brown is softer in effect then black).

My skin needed softer colours so I changed from black mascara and liner to brown. Liner is generally a bit softer/blurrier, no hard lines.

Plus softer more luminescent lip gloss, and cream rather than power eye shadow. I use a pale mouse cream shadow as a highlighter on lids and sockets.

Thank you, I will have a look at these. It’s so hard. I chucked everything out before lockdown but never got around to replacing it. I have sort of muddled through summer by adding a few tanning drops to a moisturiser. I read somewhere to stay away from pink colours and look for peach tones instead but pink shades were never really my thing. It’s so hard.

For skincare, I would suggest a simple routine. For aging skin, it's all about getting moisture into your skin. Perhaps something like a hot cloth cleanser (Superdrug Vitamin E are lovely), a hydrating serum/ vitamin C serum (Inky List/The Ordinary) a basic moisturizer, and an oil on top( The ordinary Rosehip oil is lovely). They are all cheap recommendations but lots of fab high end products if you have the budget. Also, prescription Retinol for anti-aging is the way to go in my opinion, rather than spending a fortune on retinol products. You can buy it on a subscription from a company called Dermatica - you send them pictures and they prescribe it.

The info on skincare out there can be overwhelming but Caroline Hirons cheatsheets on her website are great.

For makeup, I think go for CC/BB creams over heavy foundations. Or if you want a foundation, go for anything that says 'dewy effect.' They are nice and light. I like Korean ones - I buy them from Yesstyle - my current favourite is The Saem Eco Soul CC cream. I also like Clinique/ Laura Mercier/Erborian/IT Cosmetics. For blusher, go for a creamy one rather than a powder.

For skincare, something with Hyaluronic acid in - so something like Clinique moisture surge - you can pick up Aldi equivalent for a fraction of the price but it's rarely in stock.
Make up - I agree with No7 - I use Airbrush away as it's light and I don't like heavy foundation.
I also use Rosalique because I have a fair bit of redness around my nose and cheeks and this helps it a lot. I wear this the most, for everyday at work etc.. and use it as a base under the No7 if I want to build it.
My one find over the last few years is....Never, ever wear powder foundation. I don't have many wrinkles but the ones I do have the powder just sits in them and makes them appear way worse so powder is most definitely not my 43 year old friend.

If you want your skin to have a glow, use a tinted moisturiser but add a drop of an illumination cream such as Mac strobe and apply with a brush all over.

No 7 intelligent foundation ( medium for me )
It is the only make up item I have purchased over and over again
It's a tiny step up from a tinted moisturiser and is fab at just smoothing out my skin tone and pores , giving an even finish and slight glow
Love it

I read somewhere to stay away from pink colours and look for peach tones instead but pink shades were never really my thing. It’s so hard.

Well, it really depends on your colouring. If you have cool tones, pink is better than peach. Peach is for warmer tones. I find most beauty info for mature skin is ridiculous. I read in more than one book that older women should wear a paler pink lipstick. That is putting women of a certain age in one box regardless of their colouring! Imagine Oprah Winfrey or Paloma Picasso in a pale pink lippie. Ridiculous! I remember seeing one snowy haired lady with a pale complexion dressed mainly in red (I think she wore a red cape) and a lovely red lipstick. She looked great!

I am loving Body Shops oils of life range. I'm 51 and swapped over from Clarins as I just couldn't afford it anymore. I use vitamin e range for face wash and toner though otherwise I get a bit too much oil.

I really think make up wise it depends on your skin tone and for shadows, eye type. I bought a few different cream shadows to use instead of powder and they are awful on me. I have unfortunately got hooded eyes now and the cream transfers quite badly to the droopy bits. Not even primer helped with this. So I've gone back to powder and use more highlighters on the actual lid and the colour above the socket line. Just natural colours, definitely can't go too dark or bright.

I did swap to cream blusher though but as we have to wear masks all the time I haven't been bothering to use it. I feel like I'm getting all poshed up if I use blusher and lipstick now 😀

I still use Clarins foundation, the everlasting youth one. It was what I changed to after DW, which I still use once in a while if I'm going out at nigbt (rare). And I use the beauty flash balm as a primer. I gives me a nice glow, DW seems very drab and drying on my skin now, so never wear it in the day as it looks awful in daylight.

Oh and I tightline my eyes now, on the upper waterline. It makes quite a difference as I can't go too heavy on my top lid.