Help! I look like like the walking dead

[MargoLivebetter]

I saw some photos of me at an event from shortly before Christmas and my skin looks waxen. Not that it isn't wrinkly but the colour of it, I literally look wan and waxen and that is with make up on!! In one photo I'd been caught with my eyes closed and I looked like I'd risen from the mortician's table.

I'm a gimmer and a crepey and unlike a lot of people my age who seem to get a bit rosy and pink, I have gone the opposite way and seem to have no colour at all.

I'm naturally light olive with brown eyes and greying light brown hair that I have run through with warm blonde highlights. I always look better with a tan, but these days my face is never tanned because we're not supposed to be tanned any more.

I currently use a moisturising foundation that is very slightly darker than my skin tone, a little bit of blusher on my cheek bones, mascara and some fairly neutral lippy. I am never going to spend a long time on my make up, I just can't be arsed, but I do need to warm myself up a bit.

Any tips on getting some glow back would be very gratefully received.

Absolutely second Miracle Balm that @Christwosheds - I spend most of my day on Teams calls and a bit of this just makes me look alive and a bit more put together! I have it in a few shades

Thank you @Thesheerrelief and @Daisyvodka I'm going to try the light fake tan and Miracle Balm. I think maybe the neutral lippy isn't helping either, given 'natural' is giving corpse vibes. I hate shopping but I can just about tolerate Liberty, so I'll go and try some shades of miracle balm. Hopefully there'll be a decent sales consultant who can help bring me alive.

@SoNiceToComeHomeTo good point about my ancient self no longer being an Autumn, although what else I could be, I don't know.

Don't be so hard on yourself lol. I would absolutely recommend making sure you're sleeping properly first. If you can conjure 7-8 hours a night, you've solved half of the problem. The other is diet and skincare. Try to limit your UPF and sugar intake. Skincare-wise Isle of Paradise tan trops, Monderma tretinoin, and Advanced Clinicals hyaluronic cream. A lot of dullness is just a light layer of dead skin that you should remove on a daily basis. Use any gentle cleanser or exfoliant.

Thank you @rumanah. I shall have a Google of those suggestions too. I mostly average 7.5 hours a night of sleep, so not too bad. I'm not dull complexioned as such. I just look like a face shaped cream wax candle!

Oh dear, I didn't quite say that! Just that the shades that particularly suit you within the Autumn range when you were assessed in the 1980's may no longer be the best ones, just as the bright pinks that used to suit me don't any more, but there are more blues and greys and also stone that looks good now - all in the Winter palate.
This article mentions the growing grey issue and suggests bright lipstick!
https://www.houseofcolour.co.uk/blog/article/silver-vixens

Lol @SoNiceToComeHomeTo I honestly took it in the spirit it was intended. There is a 30 year gap since it was done and I am feeling particularly ancient at the moment!

https://www.boots.com/drunk-elephant-b-goldi-bright-drops-30ml-10334856

This might help. You add a few drops to your moisturiser and it gives your face a nice glow - it’s not tan (I use a few drops of Skinny Tan a couple of times a week at night too to stop the pallor) and washes off. The bottle is ££ but I am still on one I bought in December 2023 and use it at least five days a week. You can also apply it over moisturiser as a kind of base.

Thank you @Judystilldreamsofhorses . I'm writing a list of all these things and I'm going to try them all.

Are you using a powder over your foundation?

Im not quite clear whether you just don't like your skin as pale as it is at the moment(which is of course your right!), or whether something in particular is making you look corpse-like. Surely not all pale people look like corpses, so it must be something else.

Are you dying your hair, and is the shade no llonger right for you?

@TheSpottedZebra I don't use powder over my foundation.

With the help of all the posters on here, I'm coming to the conclusion that the issue is the overall tone. These days, I don't have any natural colour in my face at all (as in a rosy cheek). I'm a light olive skinned person, so in the winter I am naturally sallow. As I've got older and wear factor 50 on my face all of the time, I just look sallow in a really pale waxy way. It is not a good look. My health is decent for my age, I sleep enough and I eat well, so I'm fairly sure this is me needing some appropriate make up to glow me up a lot.

I have a really good hairdresser and she does a lovely job every 8 weeks bringing warmth back to my locks and subtly blending the greys. She has adjusted the colour tones as I have gradually gone greyer. I don't think my hair is the issue.

Google makeup for olive skin. Reddit has a whole sub devoted to it. Work out if you’re a cool, warm or neutral olive and read up on specific product recommendations

Clarins also do lovely tanning drops that you add to your moisturiser for a glow. I am useless with fake tan but even I manage okay with this!
Depending on budget, I really rate Tatcha products - the dewy skin cream really gives a great sheen without being heavy or greasy.
I would definitely recommend a brighter lipstick or gloss. Now I’m in my 50s, a neutral lipstick makes me look like I’ve been dug up! If you go for a gloss or balm the bright colour won’t be as scary as it might be with an actual lipstick.

Thank you@AlwaysReadyForABlether I'll add the clarins tanning drops and Tatcha dewy skin cream to the list.

This time of year is the worst. I do think it helps to get outside, with SPF. The bronzing drops are good but my retinoid takes it all off again.

I tend to pile on the blush. Bright pink. Blush blindness is quite in at the moment.

Update! I went shopping yesterday and today I am testing out some of my purchases. I tried the Jones balm in Liberty but it is a bit too oily for me. Despite being a gimmer, I have slightly oily skin on my face and I could tell it was going to be a bit too much and probably end up oiling off, so I didn't go for it, which was a shame because I really liked the idea of it.

I've got some tan drops to add to my moisturiser, but I haven't tried them yet. I got an Elf liquid blush thing, which I have tried today and it is bloody fantastic. Just the right amount of colour without being oily. Really chuffed with that. I've also bought a couple of brighter lippys and I am wearing one of them and that also makes a huge difference. I didn't get any yesterday but I did look at the glow drops or bronzer (can't remember what it is called) and I am going to get some of those too. I think they will be good for later in the year when I'm going for a more tanned look.

Thank you all so much. I honestly didn't know where to start and I'd definitely got stuck in a rut.

Thats good. It sounds like you are looking and feeling better already OP.