Hi, my name is Teresa and I am a 52-year-old lover of makeup. I wear it six days a week and I love to play around with different products all the time. I like to share looks I've created and thoughts on products I have tried.
The main compliment I get is that my skin is beautiful or that my skin looks amazing.
Well, take a look at my bare face below. It's certainly not perfect.
I mean, zoom in on my face and you’ll see I have broken capillaries all over my nose. I have redness, a bit of texture, lines and freckles — BUT, I have a few tricks up my sleeve to make my makeup look healthy, glowing and skin-like.
Shhhh… don’t tell anyone but I am about to share them with you!
Now, I am going to pretend you all have a dedicated skincare routine to look after your skin, but if you don’t, this should still work for those with very simple routines as well (my sister is now using these tips very effectively and she has a very basic skincare regimen).
1. Illuminating primer.
The first thing I do is apply an illuminating primer. I have practically yelled this from rooftops over the last few years. I like gold-based ones.
Illuminating primers are light reflecting, which helps to smooth the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles as well as create a healthy, luminous glow for dry skin or dewiness to oily skin. Either way, it makes our skin look healthier and younger.
You might wonder about the point of applying illuminating primer when we are going to cover it with foundation. Personally, I think it gives my skin that lit-from-within glow. Trust the process and you’ll thank me later!
Now, apply your foundation, concealer and setting powder. I am one of those people who set their whole face. Before you shriek at the thought, you don’t have to apply setting powder. I just like to do it for longevity. And don't worry, this technique is not going to make you look like a dry, cracked creek bed.
After these steps give yourself a light spray of setting spray and fan it down.
Next, do the rest of your makeup as you would but stop before adding highlighter, mascara and lips.
While a lot of people veer towards creamier makeup products when they're over 50, depending on your skin type, powders can still work too.
My go-to products are a powder foundation, a setting powder, two different powder bronzers, powder highlighter and a powder blush. Yet, there's not a damn bit of cakiness in sight.
2. Highlighter.
The second trick is highlighter. Makeup trends have it on the way out, but trust me, this will make a major difference as to how healthy your skin looks.
We aren’t going for blinding, dazzling highlighters. We are aiming for a slightly more subtle and enhancing effect. And placement is everything, as it really makes the light bounce off your face.
Starting at the centre of my face, I place it on the usual cupid's bow, the centre of my chin and a little down the centre of my nose.
For my cheekbones, I don’t like to place it too high up. Why? Well, because I have crow's feet and do not need to draw attention to them.
Instead, I bring it a bit further forward, on the tops of the apple of my cheeks. It creates the illusion of a bit of fullness and bounces the light beautifully making my skin glow.
Let’s move on to the forehead. Find the arch of your brows and lightly highlight diagonally up towards the centre of your hairline. Do this on both sides and then with any remaining highlighter, fill that inverted V shape.
Go lightly until you get the hang of it, you don’t need to be a disco ball!
3. Setting spray.
Now that you've done steps one and two, the final step is to bring everything together.
Remember how we covered up the illuminating primer? I bet you were thinking you couldn't even see the benefit of it at this stage. Am I right? Well, my lovelies, we are about to make magic happen.
You know how you see people spray with a light mist of setting spray? Pfft! We are going to go hard!
Grab your setting spray and give yourself a REALLY good soaking. I am talking GET WET!
Once you are soaked, grab a fan, a book, a piece of cardboard or something that will do the same job, and fan yourself until you are dry.
Keep going, don't stop, you can do it!
Now, step back and take a good look at your skin. Am I right?
Look at how everything has just melted together. You should now have a lit-from-within look to your skin (hello, primer shining through).
There’s a glow about you that has made your skin look like your skin but better, yeah?
The best thing? This works no matter what products you are using. Powders, creams or both. You can use light coverage or heavy coverage products. I do it every day and I never like to touch-up, so I can say it's good for long- wear.
Now, if you're after particular products, I use a lot of varied ones — so go forth and play, beautiful people.
If you want to see what I play around with on a daily basis, head on over to my Instagram and please let me know your thoughts on this technique if you try it (and you really should try it).
Want to hear more from Teresa? Share what you'd like to read in the comment section below.
Feature image: Instagram/@teresamadelyne.
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