At Cosmetics4less this week we have all been swapping our best hints, tips and advice. So I thought I would put some of our favourites in this article for you.

Use a foundation that matches your skin tone exactly. Not close to it or the shade you would like to be, but exactly the tone you are now.

Max Factor Colour Adapt Foundation.

Apply foundation from your cheek down past your jaw. You’re not going to wear foundation on your neck but you want to make sure it looks natural from your face to your neck.

Apply foundation on your eyelids up to the brow. This will help eyeshadow to go on smoothly, cover any skin pigmentation and give your entire face a smooth and even appearance.

Use complementary make up colours and try to think of your make up as one unified whole, a complete outfit for your face if you like. For example you are wearing a pink lipstick do not wear an orange shade of blusher.

Apply eyeliner as close to the lash line as possible, think of doing a child’s dot to dot puzzle through your lashes. Make sure you get the line between the lashes. Using a magnifying mirror can help a lot!

Maybelline Stilleto Eyeliner in Black.

If the outer corners of your eyelids have begun to droop, make sure your eyeliner turns up at the corners, just ever so slightly. Then you won’t emphasise the droop.

Shade and define your eyes. Eyeshadow is not about colouring in the eye area, it is about shading, defining and highlighting. Shadow palettes with a lighter shade, for the lid, a darker shade for defining and a highlighter make this easier if you are not sure. Shades of brown are the easiest to use and will complement all skin tone and eye colours.

Decide on the kind of blusher shade that suits your skin tone. For fair to light skins choose pale pink, rose or peach tones.  For medium to tan skins berry, plum russet and mahogany tones look best.

Check your make up in a magnifying mirror. This way you can see if powder is beginning to settle into fine lines before it get to bad.

Remember that a slick of lipstick or lipgloss can make all the difference to how you look. Even if you are aiming for a natural look, a little nude colour will brighten up a washed out face and give your make up a more polished and finished look.

Don’t overdo mascara. Clumps and blobs look awful!

L'Oreal Telescopic Explosion Mascara in Black

Be very careful when applying blusher to avoid a harsh edge. The clown look is not a good one! Use a very soft brush in light, sweeping strokes and blend well if necessary.

Don’t over pluck your eyebrows. Drawn on, obviously pencil thin, overly arched or too heavy and thick are harsh, aging and dated.  And don’t forget that as you grow older your eyebrows will not regrow so easily.

Avoid blobby bleeding lipgloss and lipstick. Apply small amounts, blotting in between coats and use a lip fixer if necessary.

Don’t over moisturise the eye area or your foundation and concealer will sink into the finest of lines. Use a very light  moisturiser and allow it to sink in for 20 minutes before applying foundation and concealer.

I hope the results of our brainstorming beauty sessions have been useful. Let us know what you think.

When you are over 40 you shouldn’t be using the same make up routine you used as a teenager. As we age so our facial features and skin tones, so we need to do our make up differently.

Step up the blusher.  As we get older we lose some of the pigment in our skin and the skin often has less glow. So don’t be afraid to use blusher to replace it.

Avoid Pink or Beige based Foundation. This will age you instantly. Pink or Beige or any cool toned powder or foundation sucks warmth out of the skin, avoid this at all costs!

Anything cool toned appears paler on the skin that it actually is and results in that washed out look.  Go for warm tones in a shade slightly darker than you think you need, certainly darker than the one you wore at age 20. This also applies to concealer. A slightly darker shade will give a warmer, more natural and flattering look. Too pale and panda eyes can result.

Don’t over-pluck your eyebrows. Maybe fine eyebrows worked in the 1940s and 1950s. Well for Marlene Dietrich or Betty Davis it did.  But unless eyebrows are pencilled in by an expert you can age yourself by a good 10 years this way.

As we age our eyelids become fuller and droopier and they begin to sag, sorry but they do! If you over pluck you will accentuate the puffiness and this will drag your eye shape down.

Don’t use more eyeliner under the eye than on the top. Look in the mirror, place a finger in the middle of your lower lashes and gently pull down slightly.  This is just not a good look is it?

Yet this is what happens when you put more eyeliner or shadow under your eye than above. It drags your eyes down.

Make sure that your upper eye liner or shadow is at least 3 times heavier than below as this will automatically lift your eyes.

Don’t use frosted eyeshadow or white frosty highlighter, not ever. If you own some, bin it!  Any frosted or shimmery eyeshadow or highlighter accentuates lines because it makes skin look scaly, yuch! Also frosty pinks, blues and purples are best left to teenagers.

Don’t forget your decolletage. This area will probably have had more sun damage than anywhere else and will be prone to burst capillaries, lines and uneven pigmentation.

It is such a shame to see a beautifully dressed and made up woman let down by this area because she has not looked beyond her face in the make up mirror. Skillful use of  foundation and powder can work wonders and always use a sunscreen here. If the damage is too bad then a fine silk scarf can be very flattering.

Don’t over-powder. Our skin becomes more porous as we age and the use of moisturisers and anti-aging products accentuate this. The result can be caked powder. If you have time leave a 10-15 minute gap between applying moisturiser and foundation and another gap between foundation and powder.

Don’t use dark or harsh lipstick shades if you have small lips. As we age our lips begin to sag downwards, so applying harsh lip liner or dark shades just draws attention to this.

Try using a lighter shade in the middle of your lips to give them a rounded, fuller shape. Use a little concealer on the outer corners of your mouth and go to just on the inside of your natural lip line on the bottom outer lip corner. This will help to lift the mouth.

Don’t over use lip gloss. Lip gloss makes any lipstick susceptible to running and if you have any lines around your mouth, no matter how fine, the colour will find them and bleed into them. Keep lip gloss to a minimum. Use foundation or concealer around your lips before applying lipstick and gloss and consider a product specifically targeting this area, for example Elizabeth Arden’s Lip Fix.

Last but not least, use an eyelash curler. Always think of creating up-lines wherever possible. An eyelash curler gives your lashes an upward sweep that is very youthful and flattering in just a few moments.

Smoky eyes shouldn’t be harsh they should be subtle and sexy. Keeping the eyes open and fresh with maximum impact.

Quick Tips Before We Start
Lining the inner eye with a creamy white pencil will open up the eyes.

Lining the eyes with black gives you a cat-like effect.

You can’t go past deep violet tones for smoky eyes, especially when you are wearing black.

If you want a little more colour just touch the inner corner of your eye with a bright lavender, gold or blue. Metalic colours are best.

Remember they don’t have to be black and dark. You can achieve smoky eyes with bronzed colours, a jewelled effect and even green.

First of all prepare the eye area making sure you have used no oily products, powder lightly and apply foundation.

Apply a chocolate brown shadow under the eye. Keep the shape slightly rounded.

Using a large brush apply a soft wash of the same colour to the whole lid. All the way up to the brow bone and extend out to the edge of the eye.

Apply a heavy black kohl pencil to the inside rim of the eye and also above the whole top lash. The top line should be smudged rather than defined. Heat the pencil up by rubbing on the back of your hand before use and blend slightly with finger tip or cotton bud.

Mix black and khaki eyeshadow and smudge it around the whole eye, right up to the lash line. Blend with a small brush.

Wet the brush and smudge the black/khaki shadow upward towards the brow bone. Don’t worry if the line isn’t perfect as you will be blending another colour with it up to the brow bone.

Apply an aubergine eye shadow to the under brow area, blending it well with the black.

Clean and tidy up any powder that has spiled onto your face. Define the brows with a pencil and brush. A strong defined brow is important for this look.

Curl your lashes and apply several coats of thickening mascara or false eye lashes.

Finish with a dash of metalic green shadow in the corner of the eye.

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