You wear your wrinkles with pride — but you want your cosmetics to help you along the way!
Some women want to look older (ha! remember those days?), but these common makeup mistakes always signal a wrong turn. While there a few that will make you reconsider your go-to items, others show how the most subtle change can make a huge (read: age-defying) difference. Check out our easy pro tricks that will make you look and feel your very best.
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Cartoonish brows.
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OD'ing on foundation.
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Foundation that's too pale.
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Caked-on concealer.
"As soon as you've reached the years when you really need a concealer, it can let you down by sinking into lines," says Linter. To keep concealer from drawing attention to wrinkles, apply it only on the inner halves of your under-eyes to cover up any darkness. Or just skip the concealer, as Linter often does, and use a brush-on highlighter pen like Sephora Collection Smoothing & Brightening Concealer (sephora.com).
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Streaky blush.
Forget stroking blush from mouth to ear; that technique only emphasizes gauntness as you get older, says Powers. An instant trick to lift cheeks: Swirl blush ever so slightly higher on the apples.
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Avoid a cartoonish look and only brush your highlighter in specific, face-flattering areas. "Wearing highlighter in the wrong place can give you the opposite of a luminous effect," says makeup artist Jami Svay. "Use it where the light naturally touches your face, like the brow bone, bridge of the nose and along the cheekbones."
Highlighter everywhere.
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Oily lids can spell ruin for eyeshadow, but piling on extra will only make your eyes look weighed down. Your best bet: First apply a thin layer of a clear primer like Urban Decay Anti-Aging Eyeshadow Primer Potion (sephora.com).
Overdone eyes.
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If brown and bone are your go-to eyeshadows, take note: "Brown has yellow or red pigments in it, either of which can actually make eyes look tired," says makeup artist Laura Geller. Also be careful with once-"safe" shadows like bone; they're often too light to cover discoloration on lids. Your new go-tos: sage and jewel tones.
Muddy eyeshadow.
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Avoid tugging at the outer corners of your eyes, says Geller. "This can cause skin to crinkle, and your line will not be as smooth." Instead, point your chin up and look down, so your lids are half-closed but you can still see them, and use a liquid liner, like Lancôme Artliner (sephora.com), which won't pull at skin.
Jagged, uneven liner.
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"Lashes can make eyes look more youthful and awake," says Powers, but one common mistake is skipping the eyelash curler. Use it to curl each lash at the root, holding for 15 seconds.
Droopy lashes.
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It's the easiest way to refresh your look. If you've been wearing neutrals since the '90s, try red. If you've been loyal to red, try a pink. Play with the color, but go easy on texture. "Anything that's severe — a lipstick or hairdo — will age you. So wear a red, but a sheer one," says Linter.
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"Extra lipstick migrates, especially as the definition of the lip's border softens with age," explains Powers. So, instead of applying color straight from the tube, apply with a lipstick brush, like the e.l.f. Retractable Lip Brush (ulta.com). Dab on the center of your lips, and then spread it to the corners.
Wearing the same old lip colors.
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