Picking 45 years of age for this article is totally arbitrary and may not apply to everyone. You may still look 20 when you’re 45, or you may look 45 when you’re 20. We will proceed as though you have looked in the mirror recently and thought that you looked tired or even hard. Your makeup could be at fault.
None of us wants to grow old, but since no one has come up with an alternative, we might as well do it as gracefully as possible. I’m sure we have all seen middle aged women (and men), in clothing designed for the young, and wearing heavy makeup. We may have even made snide remarks about how silly they look
If you are still reading, then I assume that you would like to know how to apply your makeup so that it always improves your look
The facts of life are that gravity exists and eyesight dims, so our aim is to camouflage the effects of gravity and to be able to see how to apply this camouflage.
The very first thing that you must do is purchase the very best magnifying mirror you can afford (on a stand). Be forewarned that you will not be happy with what you see when you look in it, however, nobody else looks at you through a magnifying glass. Now you are ready to start.
We are going to focus just on your eyes for this article.
• Clean your face and put on a non greasy moisturizer and eye cream.
• Apply a concealer if you have dark circles and smooth it.
• Apply your foundation everywhere making sure to cover your eyelids and the concealer. Use a wedge sponge to get the foundation right up to the lash line.
• Chose an eyeliner that is a softer colour like a grey, grey blue, light brown or medium green. Do not use black, dark brown or any other very dark colour.
• Starting at the outside corner of your eye, draw a line as close to the lashes as possible. The aim of eyeliner is not to see the eyeliner but to enhance the thickness of the lashes.
• Do not take the liner all the way into the inside corner, but stop about a half inch short.
• Apply liner lightly to the bottom lash line, but only for about a half inch. Applying liner completely around the eye, closes it in and makes it look smaller.
• Apply a very light coloured eyeshadow all over the upper lid right up to the brow, down into the corner and out to the edge. Blend the edges.
• Apply a darker shade of eyeshadow (not dark) above the crease of the eyelid. Begin in the centre and spread outward, then feather in toward the centre lightly.
• Apply a colour, which compliments the others you have chosen, for your eye lids. It can also be a colour that goes with your outfit . Begin the application at the centre of the lid and work outward, then feather lightly toward the nose.
• The next step and the finishing touch is mascara. The application of mascara can be the final touch to a work of art, or a caricature. I know you have seen women with lashes clumped and gobby. They might be really pretty, but all you can see are the clumps.
• Choose a softer colour. Do not use jet black, but try out lighter browns or greys. Apply to the tops of your lashes first, in a downward twisting movement. Apply to the underneath of your lashes in a twisting upward motion. Try to get the brush as close to the base of the lashes as you can. This coats all the little lashes that are just growing in. The thick appearance of lashes is far more effective than long lashes if they are sparse.
• Use a clean mascara brush (possibly one that you saved and washed from an old mascara) to brush your lashes. Use your new mirror to make sure you have not left any clumps behind and that all your lashes are nicely separated.
Continue to make adjustments to your makeup as you age. Try new ideas, by all means, but view the results with a critical eye. Less (or softer) is very often better.
