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Who has time to apply makeup for 40 minutes in their 30s? We have plans to cancel, and friends to bail on! It’s gotta be quick and easy! Makeup is supposed to make you feel good and nobody else. We can go for any look we want regardless of our age. But the thing is, your canvas -your face, keeps changing. The looks you try in your 20s may not work for you in your 30s. The good news is that there are certain tips and tricks you can use to make better use of makeup in your 30s.
In your 20s, you don’t care about covering your wrinkles. But in your 30s, it becomes an issue. It’s so annoying when you do a perfect glam look only to see that you’ve just increased the visibility of your wrinkles.
Sure, makeup is personal. And if you can manage to do a cut crease and use 7 different colors on your eyelid, by all means! I applaud you for it! But know that you don’t need to rely on a ton of makeup products in your 30s.
In fact, less is more! Makeup in your 30s should be all about natural beauty: enhancing perfections and subtly covering imperfections.
This tutorial is a natural makeup look that you can wear every day. It’s quick, easy, and comfortable to wear. It’s also perfect for people who just started wearing makeup in their early, mid, or even late 30s.
So it’s not a particular look. Rather, it should give you an idea about what kind of products to use, what to prioritize, color recommendations, how to apply makeup, and overall makeup tips to keep in mind in your 30s.
But before applying your makeup, make sure your face is clean. Don’t forget to moisturize your face, your lips, and your under-eye area. Good skincare goes a long way.
Prepping can make a huge difference in your finished look too. It makes sure your makeup looks better and stays longer. For that, you can try primers to blur out fine lines.
How to Wear Makeup in Your 30s
Keep reading for the best tips on how to wear makeup in your 30s to look your best.
1. Foundation
In your 30s, you deal with issues like dryness, fine lines, and occasional dark spots. Most of us give in to the temptation of using a full-coverage, water-proof foundation to cover all that we perceive to be wrong with our face.
Don’t! And it’s not just because you don’t want your makeup removal to be a whole reveal, trust me. More importantly, matte, water-proof, full-coverage foundations don’t move! And they can be really hard to work with, especially if you’re a beginner.
Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with full-coverage foundations. The thing is you need to find the right texture.
Because with facial expressions and mimics, your wrinkles move. They’re all over the place! And heavy foundations always have the potential to make those wrinkles more visible.
It may work for you if you’re performing on stage. But most of the time, they’ll stick to your face and mimic your wrinkles. They’ll crease!
A heavy foundation is just going to sit in the lines and make your face look older. They look like a mask, which is far from natural!
Instead, use a lightweight foundation with a nice, dewy finish. A CC cream, BB cream, or even a tinted moisturizer can also be a great alternative to foundation.
And if you do need a flawless base with high coverage and waterproof and all that, make sure you go for creamy formulations.
Apply a thin layer all over your face, preferably using your fingers. You’ll save some product, and the heat will make the blending much easier. Try these super-light foundations for women in their 30s.
2. Concealer
Do not go for that crazy triangle concealer application you see on Instagram! It’s the worst! It’s impossible to apply that much product on your under-eye area and not have it creased! Baking’s not going to cut it.
Makeup in your 30s should be light and natural. There’s nothing natural about 3 layers of concealer coated with powder under your eyes. Use a light concealer and blend it starting from the outside and work your way closer to your lower lash line.
The least amount of concealer should be applied as you get closer to your lower lashes. Because that’s the area that tends to crease the most. This way, you’ll make sure you’re not making your fine lines and crow’s feet more visible.
Plus, a good concealer can help your base too. On the days you want to skip foundation and go for that no-makeup makeup look, you can try your concealer to spot cover imperfections.
Remember that under-eye care can make a huge difference in your makeup. Make sure you’re hydrating your under-eye area with a proper eye cream. And don’t forget to remove your makeup with a proper cleanser.
3. Eyeshadow
There are times you want to try a different eye makeup look with bold colors, winged eyeliner, and a smoked-out eyeshadow. Great! But even if you’re not doing anything special, using a single-shade color on the eyelid can warm up your face.
So don’t think of eyeshadow as something that needs to pop all the time or something that needs to be perfected. It’s just another way of enhancement. It also helps to reduce the visibility of veins and fine lines on the eyelids.
Earth tones are as natural as it gets. Using colors that are already on your face will make your makeup look natural. Brown, grey, green -these colors enhance beauty.
You don’t want your makeup to be something of its own. You want your makeup to enhance what you already have. Use the color of your choice and apply it all over your eyelid.
You can even use your bronzer for this. Blend it well to avoid harsh lines. Apply a line of the same eyeshadow under your lower lash line to create a more consistent look.
4. Eyeliner
Let’s get one thing out of the way; black, winged eyeliner is not your friend. It’s supposed to define your eyes. But the wing is really tricky. Starting from your mid-30s, your eyelids tend to look droopy.
A winged eyeliner may not look as fleek. The wing simply disappears in the droop. So don’t get frustrated if you think you can’t make it work. It just happens to the best of us.
Additionally, black colors tend to create a harsh look -even an angry one at times. A better alternative is a brown liner applied closely to your upper lash line.
You can even use brown eye shadow for this. Wet an angled brush and dip it into a dark brown eye shadow. Apply it like you’d apply eyeliner. Brown looks softer and more natural.
On the flip side, we can’t underestimate the appeal of black eyeliner. But if you don’t want to emphasize fine lines, try to go for thinner lines and short wings.
5. Mascara
You can’t go wrong with this one unless you’re applying it over your fake eyelashes. It’s almost impossible to fake lashes by using a whole set of faux lashes that flutter unnaturally.
The strip gives them away and it’s pretty obvious. Not to mention, uncomfortable. For a natural look, try applying multiple coats of mascara instead of using fake lashes.
And there are some amazing mascaras that’ll make fake lashes completely redundant. Apply one coat and wait for it to dry. Then go for the second coat. The trick is to properly layer your mascara.
6. Eyebrows
Your eyebrow game can help with your overall makeup in your 30s. But it’s one of those things that are almost impossible to generalize. But there may be one thing to keep in mind.
Having dark brows is one thing. It simply looks natural. But excessively filling in your brows with very dark shades can make you look older, angry, and unnatural. That much definition on the brows requires a full glam.
Even then, it can look unnatural. Because definition has nothing to do with dark shades. So fill in your brows, make them look fuller but try to stick with the shades that are actually your brow color.
7. Bronzer
A bronzer on its own can instantly freshen up your look. It warms up the face, gives it a definition, and just mimics your own shadows. But avoid contouring your face with harsh lines. Contouring is old news and we know that we’re not fooling anyone.
You can try cream makeup products in your 30s, which tend to blend better and give you a seamless look. Cream or powder, apply a light layer of bronzer right below the cheeks, along your jawline, and across your temples.
Blend it well for a more natural look. The lighter the bronzer, the better. Because you can always build things up. But if you start with too much product, it’s difficult to tone it down.
8. Blush
A blush can give you a very youthful appearance in your 30s. It’s all about the choice of color and the right place to apply it. Blushes give a fresh look when applied properly. Other times, they make you look like a cartoon character.
Harsh pink, purple, or orange blushes may not look natural on lighter skin tones. But they look gorgeous on darker skin tones.
If you’re on the lighter side, you can try peach-colored blushes for subtly faking a natural flush of color. Apply it on your cheeks using a soft brush.
You can consider one big swipe across the face like a ‘W’ shape. That’s perfect for faking a sun-kissed look on the mid-face, including the center of the nose.
But if you’re going to use it only on the cheeks, don’t bring the blush too close to the sides of the nose. Gently blend it with the bronzer on your face.
In terms of texture, you can try powder blushes for a matte, long-lasting look. And try cream blushes for a more natural, dewy finish look.
RELATED: Affordable Makeup Brush Sets
9. Highlighter
Highlighters are never a must-have. I mean not everyone has to walk around with a shiny dot on the tip of the nose. But they’re just another tool that can help.
A highlighter can soften your makeup look, and give your skin a natural radiance. But unlike one big swipe of glitter on the cheeks you see on Instagram, there are more strategic ways to use a highlighter.
For example, you can try applying a highlighter on the inner corners of the eyes to open the eyes. You can also apply it on the brow bone to wake up tired eyes.
But the wrong product can make things worse. Liquid highlighters work better than compressed powder ones. They’re easier to blend.
They’re perfect for freshening up your face and your eye area. A fool-proof option is luminizers. They’re like sheer balms you can use to fake glass skin.
10. Lips
Lips are tricky in your 30s, especially if you’re a smoker. Your lips tend to look thinner and lose color in the corners. People are obsessed with making their lips plumper. But I feel like everyone’s too hung up on going vertically whereas some of us need a horizontal enhancement.
Let me elaborate. Yes, lips tend to thin out. But they also tend to shorten from the sides. It’s because the corners are losing definition.
Here’s what I do when I need to make my lips look wider, which also helps make them look bigger and fuller. And this actually helps you properly apply lipstick on thin lips.
Get a dark lip pencil or eye pencil, something like dark brown. Open your mouth and draw horizontal lines on that spot, the corners, where the upper and lower lip meets.
When you close your mouth, you won’t see the dark pencil. It just creates a shadow and makes your lips look wider. And now you can comfortably overline your lips.
A nude lip pencil can define your lips without making them look unnatural. Use a pinky nude gloss or nude lipstick to finish the look. Red lips are a classic. Don’t shy away from bold lips if you feel comfortable.
This concludes our guide on how to do makeup in your 30s. Remember to own your bare face. Keeping it natural saves time and feels less awkward when you remove your makeup. Don’t forget to take care of your skin!
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