Two Mature-Makeup Gurus on the Best Techniques for Your Skin
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Welcome to Wrinkles Week on the Strategist, where we’re deeply vetting skin-care solutions for anyone looking to smooth fine lines and wrinkles (or prevent them from showing up in the first place). For more, head to ourWrinkles Week hub.
Whether it’s talking throughsome odd new ingredientwe’ve spotted or hashing out thecurrent status of blush, Strategist beauty writers and editors make some of our best discoveries as a team. It all works so well that we decided to loop some of our favorite beauty experts into the conversation, too. In our roundtable series, we’ll be talking to the doctors, aestheticians, nail artists, and hairstylists we trust the most about their favorite products and best beauty advice. For this edition, Strategist senior editor Crystal Martin talks to cosmetics company founderLaura Gellerand beauty influencer and makeup artistErica Taylor. Below, we dive in to their best tips and techniques for makeup on mature skin.
Crystal Martin, senior editor, the Strategist:So say I have skin that has some lines and wrinkles, mature, as we call it: How do I prep my skin for makeup?
Laura Geller, founder, Laura Geller Beauty:I always recommend that people spend more time in the evening doing their skin-care routine and in the morning, doing an oil-free moisturizer or an SPF moisturizer and primer.
Erica Taylor, makeup artist:We’re in different schools, Laura. The first thing is exfoliation. After about your mid-30s, your skin does not turn over the way it used to. And if you don’t exfoliate, it doesn’t matter if your makeup is $5 or $500, it will be nestled up in dry skin.
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On my eyes, I also actually apply a layer of under-eye balm before concealer. It’s a coating so your concealer doesn’t settle into lines. I’d also recommend Laura’s spackle primer for the final prep step — it’s smoothing and hydrating.
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C.M.:Do you feel like there are things folks should avoid?
E.T.:I see people teaching women to do all this baking and the powder under the eyes and then saying, “Look how blurred everything is.” I’m like,Go outside and look in the mirror in your car. You’re gonna look 300 years old.Laura, I think you’ll agree with me on this. You don’t have any matte lipsticks in your collection?
L.G.:That’s right.
E.T.:I think they make our lips look so dry and crusty thin.
L.G.:Yeah. I always tell people when you put a littleshine on the lips, your lips look not only healthier but more voluminous.
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C.M.:Can we talk about eyebrows? I like them dark …
L.G.:Oh, we can go off, Crystal, are you ready for us?
E.T.:Mistakes are definitely being made. The dark brow and the dark lip is one: I feel like that can add years. Now, I’m not saying you can’t do a pretty lip for an occasion …
L.G.:But you need to do a super natural-looking complexion.
C.M.:That reminds me, what about finish? Matte, dewey, glossy … what are we doing on the face?
E.T.: A straight-up matte foundation — and I don’t think Laura even has one in her collection — probably not the best because it’s going to make us look dusty. But mattifying certain areas like next to the nose where there’s a lot of pores. The T-zone and areas that have a lot of texture, you can mattify there. But primarily, you would need radiance.
C.M.:I’m wondering how to balance that need for radiant finish with this idea that mature skin should avoid highlighting products?
L.G.:Figuring this out was a three-year mission for me and my product-development team. I said, “I know when I put highlighter on, my lines around my eyes look worse.” So, we needed to create a highlighter that lifts and brings light to the cheekbones or wherever you want to put it to create attention,
C.M.:So how do you fix that?
L.G.:You have to add ingredients that have a lot of hydration. Then when you put the product on, the dewiness of it, the luminosity, actually softens and creates a blurring effect around those areas where people are afraid to put anything. Our new highlighter Gilded Honey highlighter is where we actually deliver that performance. It has grape-seed oil, vitamins C and E, hyaluronic acid, and squalene.
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C.M.:And so those ingredients are what makes the difference?
L.G.:One hundred percent. If you look at most frost or shimmer, it’s generally accomplished with mica. And mica is drying. So, after using those drying products, people have been brainwashed to believe that you can’t use shimmer or luminosity on mature skin.
C.M.:Let’s keep discussing face. How do we apply our foundation properly?
L.G.:I have found personally that I need to use something liquid-y or creamy on my skin first before I even use my baked foundation these days because I’m super-dry, like ourQuench-n-Tintor anothertinted moisturizer, just to get my skin to have to be more malleable and move a little bit. And I’ll tell you, Crystal, it really makes a difference when you apply foundation with whatever applicator is intended to be used with the formula. Don’t use your fingers! If it’s a liquid, then use a brush. If it’s a cream, you can use a sponge and dampen it. But those tools do make a difference to how flawless your skin looks.
E.T.:It’s important that they’re up to date, too. Not the same ones you bought a decade ago because brushes have gotten better. Remember those flat brushes that left streaks all over?
C.M.:Is there a brush brand you like?
E.T.:First and maybe best option is the brush that’s designed to be used with your foundation. So if I’m using a Haus Labs formula, I’ll use their foundation brush. But also just a good brush, and it doesn’t have to be crazy expensive. I even like Real Techniques. It really is about the density and the shape.
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L.G. :I think the brushes that are cruelty-free and synthetic are better, frankly, than animal hair.
E.T.:Agreed, and they’re less itchy on the face.
L.G.:But, you know, if you want to invest in good brushes and you can afford to do so, there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. And I would say thatRose and Bencertainly would have the experience of knowing the kind of brushes that work best for different areas of the face, whether it’s applying foundation, blush, concealer.
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E.T.:I’ll add this technique point that you should put the foundation on the back of your hand first and pick it up with the brush from there. Pump once and work the brush into that. You start with just a little because you can always add more later. And if you apply too much, it’s going to look cakey.
C.M.:I actually do that. And you’re right, you can always go back for more.
E.T.:Oh, let me tell you my brush pet peeve. Look at your brush. If it’s matted or smashed up, you’re too aggressive with your brush. You’re applying too much product with too much pressure. I always say the rule is “Just the tip.” Light pressure with just the ends of the brush on your skin.
C.M.:Can we talk about blush? Are we thinking cream formulas?
E.T.:Yes, I think creams. But if you’re going to do powder, I prefer baked. They start off their life as liquid and then the pigments are put in. So there’s much more hydration and forgiveness in a baked powder formula.
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C.M.:And lastly, let’s get into eyes. We already figured out that we can and should use luminosity on the skin. What’s up with eyeliner?
L.G.:Eyeliner makes your lashes look fuller, too, even before you’ve applied mascara. One thing is along the lower lash line make it very soft. That could mean putting on a pencil or kajal eyeliner and then smoking it out with a brush.
E.T.: And never liquid on the bottom. You can tight line the top, though. My tip for that is hold the liner across the line and press, don’t drag. It’s easier to get a straight, clean line this way.
L.G.: Before we go I have three tips that are very critical.
C.M.: Oh, please, share!
L.G.: People don’t talk about this enough. If you’re mature, you need a magnifying mirror. I know it’s scary to look in a five-, seven-, ten-times magnifying mirror, but the scarier it is, the better your makeup will look. Because it shows every little mistake you may be making. Second, if you don’t have a steady hand applying your eyeliner, rest your elbow on a countertop and apply your eyeliner. And that leads me to the last one, it’s better to apply your makeup while sitting down. All these will make a difference with how your makeup application looks. I’m preaching this all the time.
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Some other makeup for mature skin we love
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