Any experts out there - over 40s makeup refresh

[Alifemoreordinary123]

I’m heading towards my mid 40s and really feeling it. Haven’t changed my makeup since my early 20s. I really want to feel polished, albeit in a subtle way. I have poor skin tone (pigmentation and redness from dermatitis), look pale, hooded eyes but am averagely attractive (despite my grim description). Obvs the wrinkles are setting in and heavy makeup tends to seep into them. I would love to look fresh, dewy and bright. I’m useless at contouring and I’m not sure where blush goes anymore. Where do I start wise mumsnetters? I want a set of products I can take day to night - no more than 5-10 mins application. Currently I use;

No7 city tinted moisturised
Benefit dandelion
Bare minerals loose bronzing powder
Eye brow pencil

Do I need to prep? Are there light covering products better for aging skin? Which blush is best. Lipstick seems to bleed - are there lovely natural products that finish everything off?

I'm similar in age and I'm baffled by make up.
I wear BB cream daily which is like a tinted moisturizer over my ordinary moisturiser and gives my skin a smooth finish without looking cakey. Also eyeliner on my waterline and on my upper eyelid (which i think is meant to be aging but I've always done this). Peachy lipstick or red if I'm going out with some sparkly brown eyeshadow applied with fingertips.

It gives me enough confidence but I don't look overly made up.

I'm a similar age too. I've found BB creams and tinted moisturisers the best for me. Every time I try foundation I feel like the wrinkles around my eyes look ten times worse! I use tinted Vaseline (in the pink tin) every day. It's my go to. I have found lipsticks seem to be cakey and dry on me now.
I did buy the Laura Geller set, but the foundation was a bit off for my skin tone. I've found the blusher and bronzer really good.

Laura geller all the way!

ive moved from foundation to Nars tinted moisterise now as foundation showed my lines.

Start with your skin care and shaped eye brows as you then have a good base/foundation to work on. The best advice i was given and took was book a session with a make up counter like nars, Charlotte tilbury, ect in a department store. usually around £30 for full face done (day/night look) and you can redeem that cost off the products you buy. That way you can get a full face tailored to your skin tone etc and know what suits you.

I am in my 50s and barely wear makeup because I am so useless with it, plus am Asian so a lot of it looks wrong on me. I am seriously thinking of doing one of those sessions at the MAC counter.

Depending on where you are based, I recommend Space NK. You can go and explain just as you have here and they'll put make up on for you and then you can come back if you like it to buy it. I've been several times and it's been free. There's 15% off if you buy from them online - for first time orders.

Oh yes, I only wear BB cream, eyeliner on my waterline and a very light lipstick, usually MAC Mehr.

I don't get the Laura gellar love, I bought it and it's ok, but it really oxidises and I see my reflection half hour later and I'm tangoed!

A really fab tinted sunscreen is Altruist anti pigmentation/redness cream. Not expensive and you can buy on Amazon. It’s green but changes to skin colour on application.

Dermatica/skin and me are excellent online dermatology services. I use Dermatica and it has reduced my pigmentation to nothing.

For make up… Trinny London and Jones Road are both popular for our age group.

Does anyone have an eyeshadow for dummies recco? I have never worn it but now have hooded eyes that I want to open up, but am scared it will look too much.

Ps I've just bought Hourglass Vanish primer, it's amazing! First primer I have ever got and it's like your face is airbrushed! (I'm 47) Not cheap, but try some out in a store.

Daily I wear Neals Yard Beauty Balm. Also flipping expensive but has changed how I feel about myself!!!

I've just bought the Laura Geller and very pleased with the feel and finish.

I use Nars tinted moisturiser which gives a bit more coverage than No7 City Light.
I also have Eborian BB cream

Erica Taylor is good on make up for as we get older - the placement of blusher needs to be higher basically.

I used Urban Decay eyeliner as it doesn't smudge on me. I'll possibly give Too Faced a go as that seems not to budge from testers. Also UD brow pencil.

FB keeps showing me Lanera and I'm tempted tbh

Recently been told by Tick Tock that darker lipstick is aging so currently wearing paler colours 🙄

I really cba with primers - I already use vit C serum and spf before any foundation type stuff and I'm not doing another layer too.

The Hourglass primer is amazing. I haven't got it at the moment, due to cost, but it's on my Christmas list, I'm trying to use up what I have got already. On YouTube Ali Andreea is great for make up tips for over 40s who want to freshen up, I think the primer was her recommendation.

Otherwise, less is more. I use a Korean BB cream and no powder any more.

I also don't line my lips, but use a long-stay lip product and then a bit of gloss on the top.

Depends on your colouring, but I moved to brown/beige eyeshadow, liner and brown/black mascara a long time ago and it's definitely more flattering for me.

Bit of highlighter on your cheeks, well blended in. You don't want to look greasy or shiny, just not matte.

Loving these replies - particularly those of you who also find this hard, and the general theme around less is more. I’m going to go and Google now, but a couple of questions… Hourglass primer sounds amazing - do you put anything on top of this? Nars tinted moisturiser sounds good too - do those of you using tints use a brush or fingers to apply?

Brows and eyes are really tricky for me - I have a condition which means I have few lashes or brow (both microbladed but it’s a poor base really). Can’t wear false lashes either.

@Michiamo thank you - I have wondered about Dermatica. How bad was your pigmentation and have you noticed other improvements? Is it about £30 per month?

Do you use anything over the Altruist anti pigmentation/redness cream?

@wwyd2021medicine do you use Eborian under Nars?

Last question having googled. I’m considering going for;
sunscreen
airbrush primer
and then either Eborian BB cream or Nars….
…. I’m assuming I don’t need both of the latter?

I use la roche posey spf 50 and then add nars moisturisers with clean fingers on top, then bronze,blush.

I have my eyebrows microbladed. I go over them slightly with pencil.

No need to use anything over the Altruist,I guess you could use foundation but in my experience nothing covers it well as it’s a strange colour!

I think it’s £24.99 a tube but it lasts way longer than a month as you use a small amount. And at first you can’t use it every night. I think the introductory tube is just postage costs anyway. It is the only thing that worked for me,nothing over the counter touched it and hydroquinone can only be prescribed by a derm,not even a GP.

Dr Natalia Speirings is an excellent dermatologist and is good to follow on Instagram. She does q&a sessions on there regularly and is very no nonsense.

Realise I didn’t actually answer some of your questions!
My pigmentation was pretty severe on my cheeks. People would often say I had dirt on my face!
It does still flare up in the sun and the hydroquinone keeps on top of it but I don’t think I’ll ever be cured as such?
My skin texture/lines are good and that’s probably down to tretinoin and sunscreen every day of the year.

I'm 43 and changed my entire make up routine a few years ago as heavy makeup up didn't work for me anymore. It's all about skincare first. Make sure you have a good serum and a good eye cream. I sometimes add The Ordinary hylorolic acid after the serum too. Always use SPF face cream. Then I use Trinny BBF tinted moisturiser over the face cream. I have changed from dry eye shadow to cream ones that are also good as a base to even out skin tone as powder eye shadows show up my wrinkles. I don't do dark eyeliners anymore but soft gold or light green shimmer type ones as they open up the eyes and give a younger fresher look. Also i don't use the eyeliner all the way down as it pulls the eyes down but stop just before the outer corner then raise up slightly. Then finish off with mascara. For the face I will only add a little bit of concealer (optional) under the eye but at the hollow, not directly under the eye as this will show up any wrinkles more. Then I use a contouring stick or bronzer for the checks but, go higher than your cheek bone to give a more lifted look. This worked for me much better.

I've recently discovered Merit make up. It's minimalist in style so great for everyday. Not heavy coverage and you can look put together very quickly with a small number of products. Only caution is that it's not great on oily skin because the look it's catering for is glowy/dewy.

I'd also recommend one of the Hourglass palettes. They're expensive but they are eyes, cheeks, highlighter and finishing powder in one very nice palette. A bit of mascara and a swipe of lip gloss and you're ready to go again with minimal products or time spent. These would be suitable for all skin types unlike Merit.

Not sure if this is what you are looking for. Both are very much a light touch make up look.

I've also heard Jones Road was made with older women in mind but I've not tried any of their products.

No OP I use one or the other. As I said, I think the Nars tinted moisturiser is more pigmented so it's the one I tend to use when I'm going out or want to look more finished.

You don’t need to spend loads on a sunscreen,just make sure it’s spf50.

There are loads available.