Aging Makeup Mistakes

THICK FOUNDATION
Heavy makeup is a one-way ticket to looking older than you actually are. Choose a sheer foundation or tinted moisturizer,and after you apply it, press a damp makeup sponge into areas where you have wrinkles to soak up any excess. While the less-is-more maxim may seem counterintuitive, the more skin you can see, the better. As long as it is well-hydrated, fresh skin looks much more youthful than an obviously covered complexion.


BASE THAT'S TOO LIGHT
Foundation that's paler than your natural skin tone exaggerates fine lines. Even if you have ivory skin, you need to go a little bit warmer as you get older. Switch to a hue that's one or two shades darker and has luminescent particles. A light-reflective formula makes the skin look like it's glowing.

HEAVY CONCEALER ON DARK CIRCLES
The skin under the eyes gets thinner as we age, making thick cover-up look like concrete. Keep it light and apply it with a brush. The brush distributes the color more evenly. And put it only on dark areas, not under the entire eye.

FACE POWDER ON TOP OF LINES
Powder is fine for reducing shine on the nose and the chin, but on other parts of the face it exaggerates wrinkles and can make skin look too dry. One unbreakable rule applies: Avoid the eye area completely.


BLUSH ON THE APPLES OF THE CHEEKS
It draws attention to sagging skin. Instead, apply color on the highest point on your cheekbones, not too close to the nose, and lift it upward with a brush that's large enough to cover the whole cheekbone. Skip the drama queen shades, too: Colors like wine and cinnamon will only make you look gaunt if you're thin and clownish if you're not.A neutral rose color flatters all skin tones and really brightens things up.


LIPSTICK THAT MIGRATES
Your natural lip line can begin to fade as you age, which makes lipstick more prone to bleeding and feathering. Tracing it with one of the new clear lip liners can help the color stay put.


MAJOR LIPSTICK
Bright colors, dark shades, and anything metallic or iridescent are too heavy for thinning lips. Instead, choose a neutral rose shade. And consider switching from a lipstick to a sheer gloss—it will give you more fullness.

MASCARA ON THE LOWER LASHES
It highlights crow's-feet. And dark circles. And it just generally looks bad. Coat your top lashes with the blackest black mascara you can find—it will make the whites of your eyes look clearer and whiter. It's also best to avoid superthick formulas that don't separate easily. Lashes get dryer as we age, making mascara more likely to clump and fall onto your face. And don't forget your curler. Curling your lashes is the easiest thing you can do to make your eyes look bigger—and therefore younger.



EYELINER ON THE LOWER LASHES
All that does is make your eyes look smaller and draw attention to dark circles.Unless you have really big eyes. Stick to the upper lids—and make the line thicker toward the outer corners, where eyes have a tendency to droop as we age.



SPARKLY SHADOW ON THE OUTER CORNERS
A little shimmer is flattering and keeps eye makeup from looking too stark, but at the outer corners, it magnifies every fine line. Restrict sparkle and shimmer to the inner corners, the centers of the lids, and just on the brow bones.