How can I avoid dated looking make up?

[Oblongbluebell]

I’ve recently got back into wearing make up. I feel like I do a semi-reasonable job of applying it, but I can’t help wondering if it looks a bit 90s/early 2000s. What should I do/use so that my make up looks current? What shouldn’t I do/use to avoid looking like I’m in a time warp?

Any advice/suggestions welcome. Thank you.

My teen looks nothing like that!

Wow, such a lot of amazing responses, thank you. I will check out all the suggestions. I’m desperate to look more pulled together and reasonably ‘current’.

Not sure if there is a SpaceNK nearby, but I’ll have a look and see.

@RhadamanthNemes you look fabulous! Helps though that you have lovely bone structure.

I don’t want to use make up that doesn’t suit me, but I suppose that can also lend itself to falling to a rut and not updating your look. I don’t do contouring- don’t have the time or the talent.

I think I’ll work more on my skin… try to master that matte yet glowy look. Simple is probably more practical for me anyway.

Thank you all.

For me it's being really specific about where I put products
So I don't use powder all over, just where needed. Then add a bit of glow back with highlighter, finishing powder etc

Oblongbluebell:
Laura Mercier makes an oil free tinted moisturiser that gives a really nice matte glow 😄 If you’re feeling spendy, Hourglass makes a beautiful finishing powder that does the same.
Cream eyeshadow gives a nice soft glow. Bobbi Brown for nudes and Laura Mercier for colour.

I use different coloured gel pens for tightlining. Purple pen by Dior. Green and Grey pens both by Stila and a black gel pen by Collection 2000. The purple and the green pen make my green eyes look greener.

@KathrynWheel I would love a link to those eye pencils if you can do it easily please? Anything for green eyes

I loved heavy black eyeliner back in the 90s/00s and occasionally wear it now when the mood strikes, but I’m pretty sure this is “dated”.

You’ll pry it from my cold, dead hands, though

I am so with you!!!

I was lucky enough to have my makeup done professionally the other day. She used shadow to line under the eye, and eyeliner only on top. Said it was dated and aging to have liner on the lower lid.

Liner on the lower lid is fashionable for the young people. I'd also disagree and say that eyeliner on the upper lid is definitely ageing and harsh. Tight lining is more forgiving on the upper lid.

I bloody love my cat flicks. I don't feel 'done' without them. I'm 33 with no crows feet yet thankfully. It will be a sad day when they have to go 😣😂

Thin, penciled eyebrows to me are the most dated look because thats what we all did in the 90s. Brow wiz by anastasia is very good for making brows look full and you can make hair strokes to make them look fuller but natural. Also- frosty lipstick/obvious fake tan is very dated.

With regard to eyeliner, I cant use it on my waterline as it makes my eyes tear up and washes off completely after 2 mins so I still line underneath and make a wing look. If its done well, it looks great and I tend to use browns or wine colour instead of black so it looks less harsh and it makes my green eyes pop so I'll never stop using that because it suits me. I think its a bit silly to have hard and fast rules because everyone is different and what suits one person will look awful on another etc Hooded eyes need a completely different type of makeup to prominent eyes for example so you cant really say everyone should do xyz because it completely depends on your facial structure.

I agree. Just because something is technically dated doesnt mean it looks bad though. I really like the farah fawcett hair flick and that looks incredible on those with thick hair and that with soft waves looks stunning so I dont think dated is necessarily bad. I think slavishly following modern makeup trends when they dont actually suit you can look way worse in many instances. Not all modern makeup trends look good either and they'll be dated in a few years time anyway!

I wouldn't give it a moments thought. Wearing fashionable makeup (whatever that is) which doesn't suit you is far more dating.

Fashion seems to be fat lips, caked on foundation, false eyelashes, extreme contouring, and plastic surgery making women all look the same. I'd rather look like myself, personally, even if I look (shock horror) old. I'm 47 and very happy to look my age.

I follow Hannah Martin and Andreea Ali on Instagram. Hannah is Bobbi Brown trained and has some high profile clients. Andreea does work for major Paris fashion houses. They both have loads of reels and YouTube videos. Using the right textures and applying them correctly makes a huge difference. Less is more. I changed my blusher placement as it wasn't working for me anymore. I wouldn't get too caught up with fashion in terms of specific colours, I wear what I think suits me. Generally lightening things up, so brown or grey instead of black eyeliner, etc works better.

I weep at the loss of my wings. I'm in my 50's and I really miss that look. I've tried doing them upwards as, I've seen on so many blogs for my age, but any eyeliner at all just makes me look overdone and it moves around anyway. Enjoy your wings while I mourn the loss of my youth, lol

Red lipstick is out

Red lipstick will never be out - it's a classic for a reason!

Andreea Ali is great, the person that linked to one video they didn't like the make-up on- she makes a lot of different videos for different looks, select your age group and the type of look you like and watch that one. I used this video to revamp my own make up because I'm over 50 and her advice about contour (too muddy for older skin) and creating that fresher look is spot on, I also always use brown mascara and so do my late teen girls!

If you are 35 though, or 21 or 55 there's different things will look great. I don't believe in clothes ages at all, but I do think that when skin changes in the menopause it helps to adapt your products and make-up to that. I wouldn't wear a dark/intense lip tint for everyday, for example, but also this is dependent on colouring. I agree with everyone, get those brows filled out a bit, go for a glowy skin (although I still use powder on the T zone) and start with simple stuff then experiment from there.

@SunsetStrip it can be hard to do wings over the crow's feet I've found, they are no longer a straight line up!

Thank you all! It sounds like I’m not doing too badly. I already only use eyeshadow on my lower lash line- just a dark brown. I also use eyeshadow on my top lash line instead of eye liner.

Next steps are to improve my skin texture so I can try to get glowy skin.

I’ll dye my brows again to get them looking thicker.

Thanks again.

Off the back of this thread, I might cut out the pressed powder and have ordered some black/brown eyeliner as opposed to my usual black

@Thighlengthboots l love the thing about wine eyeliner. I’ve got green eyes, so lm going to give this a go.

l hope it doesn’t look like I’ve knocked myself out!

I also ordered the brown eyeliner. It arrived yesterday with the black honey Clinique colour wash lipstick (almost lipstick) which I already love.

Great thread!

Haha! no- purple/wine/brown liner looks incredible with green eyes. I promise. Hope you like it!

Cat flicks are fine in terms of modern make up trends. It’s just making sure the eyeliner is tight to the lashes and the flick goes up from the corner.

It’s the heavy Amy Winehousesque that goes out far then up in a curve that’s ‘dated’.

I used to do the latter but I feel so much more youthful and fresh with the more modern style.