By the age of 40, you know that your beauty routine requires more than just makeup. You have to focus on skin care, moisturizing, and choosing makeup carefully to look young and vibrant.
By the age of 40, you may also begin menopause, so you need to combine the beauty treatments you used as a teen with those of a woman fighting the signs of aging. Read on to find essential makeup tips for women over 40.
1. Exfoliate
Part of your beauty ritual should be exfoliation. Since skin can lose elasticity as you age, you will want to use products that are gentle on your skin while removing dead cells.
This leaves you with glowing skin and no visible irritation. Exfoliating helps to prevent your skin from breaking out after applying makeup.
2. Change Your Diet
As you get older, your body has different nutritional needs. Believe it or not, many of the foods you eat can directly impact your skin’s health and appearance. If you aren’t already eating a vitamin-rich diet, now is the time to make the switch.
Your skin needs essential vitamins and minerals to reduce the signs of aging, and the proper diet can deliver everything your skin needs to look young. This gives you the right base for applying your makeup.
3. Use a Hydrating Mask
Hydrating masks help to clean deep within your pores. These masks also provide moisture that your skin needs.
By using a hydrating mask, you can cleanse and hydrate your skin in one simple step. Your skin will look great, so you won’t need to apply heavy foundation.
More: 7 Incredible Homemade Face Masks You May Want to Try Tonight
4. Treat after Cleaning
Once your skin is clean, you need to apply any treatments you use. A night mask is a good idea. This is also the time you apply acne treatments if needed.
The idea is to apply it to a freshly cleaned face. You can also apply your dark spot corrector before bed for optimum results.
5. Moisturize
Start off with a quality moisturizer. Apply this in generous amounts, paying special attention to the areas around the eyes and lips. Not only will this help hydrate your skin for the day, it also offers an added layer of protection against UV rays and dirt that can seep into your pores.
6. Use a Powder Base
Liquid foundation tends to seep into areas where you may have lines or wrinkles. This may highlight your fine lines and wrinkles, making you look older than you really are.
A powder base does not collect in your fine lines, and it stays looking great throughout the day. It is also much easier to touch up than liquid foundation.
7. Use Subtle, Understated Makeup Colors
Subtle colors work best on women over 40. Muted tones of soft browns gray, and beige help to bring out your natural beauty without calling attention to laugh lines and wrinkles. While some people may be able to pull off red eyeliner or electric blue eye shadow, women over 40 should go for colors that enhance their overall appearance instead of calling attention to any one feature.
More: 10 Easy Ways to Switch Up Your Look
8. Use Caution with Lip Liner
Lip liner is used to create an outline before applying your lipstick. Use a quality lip liner that doesn’t bleed and it will free you up to use more variety in your lipstick choices.
Without the lip liner, your lipstick may bleed into any lines you have around your lips. You may want to opt for a liner pencil instead of liquid liner to prevent it from bleeding.
9. Get Creative with Lipstick
Glosses and shimmers don’t work as well on ladies over 40 as they do on younger women, but darker colors do. Younger women can rarely pull off a deep red lipstick, but it looks glorious on women over 40.
If you didn’t try different colored lipsticks before, now is the perfect time. Lipstick is one area of makeup where older women have the most fun.
More: 10 Ways to Wear Matte Lipstick
10. Use Your Hair to Frame Your Face
Unfortunately, as women age they also tend to gain weight and develop a fuller face. By framing your hair around your face and adding volume, you can reduce the look of a fuller face and keep that young appearance you have always had. You can also add dramatic eye makeup with this hair style for a youthful look.
40 is a time to celebrate who you are, not feel bad about who you used to be. Following these simple beauty tips will help you stay looking beautiful at any age, so don’t worry about what the latest beauty trends are. Focus on what works for you and put your best face forward.1