There isn’t just one makeup technique that suits everybody. All women are different so you have to adapt your style to your facial features.
The mature eye has lost firmness, has wrinkles, lines and crow’s feet, a droopy look and/or age spots. Makeup can correct those defects, and bring out the good points.
Here are the steps you should follow for a great look.
Photo before
Step 1 )
After the foundation, apply a creamy concealer with a smoothing, lifting effect. Suggestions: Lise Watier Anti-wrinkle firming concealer, Dior Diorskin Sculpt smoothing lifting concealer, Clinique Line-smoothing concealer. For the application technique, consult the article “How to apply concealer“. For this makeup technique, I don’t recommend powdering at this stage, because powders can accentuate lines and wrinkles. It can also cover up the luminous effect of the concealer.
Step 2)
Use a medium-size brush with densely-packed hairs or a sponge applicator for this stage. Sweep a base eye shadow all over the eyelid, from the lashes to the eyebrow. It should be matte or velvety, not pearly, A neutral beige is the best colour, don’t make it too light and avoid white. Use an eye primer to ensure that your eye shadow adheres better and lasts longer. For suggestions, see my article: “My favourite Eye Primers “. To make sure you’ve covered the whole area, raise your eyebrows and pull the skin up with your fingers.
Step 3)
This step is the hardest to get right because we’re now correcting the structure of the eyelid. Use two brushes: one finer and more precise with a rounded shape and the other larger with soft hairs for blending (some brushes are specifically designed for this purpose.)
Choose a medium-toned neutral shade. A too-dark shade will harden your features (avoid black, blue and grey). Use a taupe or medium brown shadow. For a mature face, eye makeup should be discreet; you can accentuate your mouth instead with a nice bright lipstick in pink or coral.
Contrary to step 2, this time don’t raise your eyebrows or pull your skin up because the shadow could be in the wrong place when you come back to a normal expression.
To get the right measurements, apply a dot of eye shadow at three precise places, keeping a neutral expression. Then you can tilt your head back and finish the application using the dots as guide marks.
The first dot should be situated at the outer corner of the upper lid, opposite the end of the eyebrow. The second dot should be in the hollow under the brow bone in the centre of the lid. The third one should be between the end of the eyebrow and the first dot, just under the eyelid fold, so that when you join up the dots, you’ll get a V-shape (see photo).
An important point to remember is that certain people don’t have a large enough area on their eyelid to create the third dot (it’s the case of the model in the photos). I talk about this in more detail in another article concerning hooded eye or droopy eyes. For the moment, in order to balance out the too-small eyelid area, place the dot very slightly above the eyelid fold.
As I said before, when you’ve drawn your dots, you can raise your eyebrows and complete the makeup by joining up the dots with your eye shadow then blending for a fade effect. Apply the eye shadow sparingly so that the look is soft and diaphanous.
Step 4)
For a mature eye, avoid heavy pencil lines and dark colours like black or charcoal so that you don’t harden the features. Use the same colour as the shadow in step 3 or one shade darker but use an eyeliner brush to line the eye contour. You can use a pencil but smudge it with your finger or a sponge applicator.
Step 5)
Curl your lashes to open up the eye and apply two coats of brown or navy mascara. If you have dark eyes and hair, you can use black mascara but it should be a defining mascara so that you don’t get a heavy look.
Step 6)
If your eyebrows are rather thin, apply a little eyebrow powder in a colour that matches your hair using an eyeliner brush or a specially designed eyebrow brush. If you have grey hair, choose a eyebrow colour designed for blondes.
Try it for a fresh, young look!