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A moment of self-reflection, please, for all those years of trying desperately to look older… What a waste of energy that was. That and also spending 4 hours on an updo to make it look like you’re not trying too hard. Moving on. Trying to look younger with makeup is tricky. Because makeup is usually what makes you look older in the first place. That’s why the best way to look younger with makeup is by finding that sweet spot between good skincare and natural makeup.
We’re assuming you know the importance of following a skincare routine suitable for your age. In order for these little makeup tips and tricks to work, you need to be working on clean and well-cared skin.
The whole idea of looking younger by using makeup is to imitate your younger skin. I know, duh. But keep your 15-year-old self in mind to get a better understanding of what you’re trying to achieve. If you look closely, you’ll see that there’s no actual definition on that skin.
You don’t see your cheeks perfectly marked with a brownish something next to a bunch of pink colors. It’s all blended in. Your eyebrows are all over the place. You can see some blemishes and freckles. Nothing is fully covered, yet it looks youthful and beautiful. That’s what we’re trying to achieve.
Before you get started, know that you’ll be tempted along the way. You’ll want to use more foundation or more concealer. Ignore that and stick to the plan.
You don’t want perfect and you don’t want full glam. You want imperfections peeking through your natural makeup in the most beautiful and youthful way.
Keep reading for the best ways to look younger with makeup.
How to Look Younger with Makeup
1. Keep your base makeup simple.
Layering products is not going to help. More products mean more texture. Think about it, a heavy primer, a heavy foundation topped with face powder adds more texture to already textured skin.
For your base makeup, use 1 or 2 products at most. Keep it simple and keep it light. Make sure you apply them on clean, hydrated, and moisturized skin.
2. Focus on the upper parts.
As you get older and wiser, your skin tends to droop. It’s gravity. As a general rule, you need to go in the opposite direction to look younger with makeup. That’s why accentuating the lower parts of your facial features doesn’t help.
For eyes, focus on the upper eyelid. For lips, focus on the upper lip. And for the cheeks, focus on the very high point of them.
3. Go for light coverage.
Full-coverage makeup is almost guaranteed to make you look cakey and older. They have their place but they usually accentuate wrinkles around the mouth.
Instead, try a tinted moisturizer with a dewy finish. Or use a CC cream or a skin tint as a natural and breathable alternative to foundation.
4. Choose cream over powder.
Lightweight creamy products are easier to blend and less likely to cake. As a general rule of thumb, go for creamy eyeshadows, blushes, bronzers, and cream highlighters.
Related: The Best Lip and Cheek Tints
5. Use a brightening concealer.
Use a brightening concealer and use very little. It sounds like covering less would defeat the purpose. But with textured skin and wrinkles, going for thick concealers does nothing but magnify them.
Use a liquid or a very lightweight concealer with a radiant finish on well-hydrated skin. You can also try under-eye brighteners which have low coverage but make the under-eye area look more radiant and youthful.
Start blending from the outside and move closer to the lower lash line. But don’t cover the lashline. It’ll look unnatural. Remember to dab a tiny bit of concealer on the outer corner of the eye to lift the eyes.
6. Line without winging.
Winged eyeliner is a struggle on perfectly tight and smooth skin. It’s worse for the eye area that’s showing signs of aging like crow’s feet and fine lines.
In the case of wrinkles, the wing usually falls on top of the wrinkles, making them more visible. So, forget the wing and focus on defining the eyes by lining the upper eyelid.
7. Avoid lining the lower lash line.
The eye area is the first one to show signs of aging. Fine lines, under-eye wrinkles, undereye bags, and dark circles happen on the lower part of the eye.
That’s why it’s not a good idea to accentuate that area if you want to look more youthful. Jet black lines on the lower lashline make the eyes look droopy. Keep that area clean.
8. Leave the eyebrows alone.
Filled-in eyebrows with obsessively defined shapes look unrealistic and give you an angry face. Look at Kylie’s perfectly shaped brows.
She looks flawless -like a very put-together woman in her late 30s! Not that late 30s count as old. But the point is she looks so much older than she is.
A clear brow gel to brush up the brows is more than enough. And they don’t need to be perfectly plucked either. Leave a few bushy areas here and there to make them look as natural as possible. And if you must fill them in, go for light browns and avoid dark shades.
9. Bronze without contouring.
Bronzers look amazing on any skin type and tone. But for our purposes, the shade is really important. If it’s too dark for your skin tone, it’s going to look like contouring. Instead, go for cream bronzers in copper or caramel shades that look more like a tan and less like a brick mark.
Too much glitter will make pores and wrinkles more visible. Dewy is the name of the game to imitate that 15-year-old greasy teenager skin. Blend it well on the cheekbones, not below them.
10. Don’t use everything.
We’re so used to watching full glam YT tutorials that we feel like it’s a must to put everything on! Bronzer, blush, highlighter, powder, setting spray! By default, that’s not in line with what we’re trying to do here.
So, don’t obsess over using a blush and bronzer at the same time. It looks way better when you focus on the one. Try it and see for yourself.
11. Go for nude lips.
With age, the lips tend to lose color for some reason. And with less color, the shape of it becomes tricky to define. Too much color on the lips is very likely to accentuate the issue.
That’s why sticking with nude lips is the safer option. Having said that, there’s something about red lips that’s just so feminine and empowering that it’s actually more satisfying than looking a few years younger, don’t you agree?
At the end of the day, there is nothing wrong with wearing makeup that shows your age. Heck, there’s nothing wrong with wearing makeup that makes you look older!
It has to make you feel better and nobody else! But if what you’re looking for is makeup tips to look younger, these should cover it. Remember, always focus on the upper part!
Read Next: How to Change Your Look with Makeup
