Mature beauty does not have to be complicated. To create emphasis and soften the harshness of the face there are certain guidelines and mistakes to avoid while doing make up.

Since you are no longer young, the makeup you have been doing so far needs a drastic change, because old age presents its own special problems like the tendency of the face to sink in, eyes set in their sockets, complexion becomes dull with dark pigment stains, eyebrows thicken with long curly often white hairs, hair appears on the chin and around the lips, varying depths of lines and wrinkles furrow the face, there is a lack of intensity in the eyes and expression.

A transformation make up is required to hide and soften these ageing symptoms and make one look better , younger and more radiant.

Prior to make up, the face should be cleaned thoroughly with cold cream or cleansing milk to remove all traces of old make-up, dirt and grime. Wring out a napkin in cold water and wipe the face dry apply skin tonic with cotton swab. Apply plenty of moisturizer and allow it to be absorbed into the skin while paying special attention to eyelids and under eye area.

FOUNDATION:

Foundation is more easily and evenly applied after moisturizing. Moreover, moisturizer also helps conceal expression lines and wrinkles and lightens up dull and sallow areas. A common mistake woman over forty make is to apply foundation in a thick layer, foundation should have a warm or golden color, but a lot of women overdo it, may be because of poor lighting. To check, apply a small amount to one area of the face, for instance, the center, blend it over the nose and upward and see how well it matches your skin, if it does not blend in, you should not be using it. To avoid putting on too much you should have a good moisturizer underneath, and then apply foundation with a damp sponge or moistened fingers. The product will blend in easier and not streak.

As most women age, their skin tends to become paler and sallower, so they use a heavy foundation for heightened color but it blocks the skin's pores. A lot of women have good fine skin though and they should use a lighter, pinker foundation or merely a pink glow all over just to counteract the paleness or yellowness; there are some women whose complexions get pinker as they get older, they need to tone down the color, by using a peach or a golden shade. A rule to remember is the darker the skin, the pinker the foundation should be, avoid beige, which is likely to make the skin look grey

Another common blunder is leaving a sharp demarcation, where foundation ends, an unusual solution to this i.e., to pick a shade to match the neck instead of the face and add glow to the face with a lot of blusher.

CONCEALING SMALL WRINKLES:

Before applying the rest of the makeup, prepare a "background canvas" smooth, clear and even. Do not worry too much about under eye circles, they do not look bad at this and an over enthusiastic attempt to hide them with a heavy concealer looks worse. A touch of light foundation is all that is needed

Apply it as thinly as possible; it looks and wears better, de-emphasizing wrinkles.

For bags under the eyes, apply a light film of concealer to the indented area at the bottom of the eye bag, this will lift the entire under eye area and the eye bag will seem to vanish. Do not apply concealer over the entire area. It would only make the bag appear more prominent. Similarly camouflage each pigmentation spot with over cream, the same shade as your complexion.

BLUSHER:

After foundation comes blusher, which you first blend in with your fingers, highlighting your cheek bones, then apply between lids and brows. Add a little more pink to the cheeks, and blend well up and out to the hair line, giving shape and lift to the face

EYE MAKE UP:

The eyes are most beautiful part of the face and this is true that in older women eyes lose their beauty by using too much make up or by using it incorrectly; just dabbing the color on the lid is not enough. All it does is to make you look as if you are wearing eye shadow, but it does nothing to enhance your eyes. You may think one eye shadow is more natural looking than three, but you can and should use more and have it appear less by blending it, pale hues like peach, yellow or pink are fine on the center of the lid as long as they are offset by a dark, smoky shade at the corner and possibly a kajal pencil on the bottom lashes

On the other hand, many women use too much of strong color. What you want to do is to bring a sparkle to the eye and strangely enough, dark grays and grayish blues are most becoming, some color can be carried under the lower lashes, but not in a line; like other make up, it should be a soft, blurred smudge

Be careful with indecent shadows - they accentuate wrinkles and fine lines, matte or at the most slightly shimmery eye make up is most flattering to older skin

Another tip don't follow -don't follow the same lines you used to because your eyes have changed. Compensate for any drooping of the lids by adjusting eyeliner and contouring with shadow upward, at the outer eye corner

For deep set eyes the sunken effect can be removed by applying pastel eye shadows during day. A shiny white eyes tick can be applied under the brow and blended out of the temple and green eye shadow or pink blusher applied in the crease of the eyelid.

What can take a heavier hand is your eyelashes; you can play with a lot of mascara and focus on the shape of your eyes. Two coats of brown or black mascara applied as thinly and deftly as possible to the top and bottom lashes make the eyes look wider. Wait for sixty seconds between applications for the lashes to dry. It gives a better and more lasting result.

FACE POWDER:

There seems to be a major misunderstanding about what face powder does; .women often think that they should not wear powder because it will make them appear older, but in fact it fixes makeup, makes it look neater and helps it stay on longer. The powdered effect is gone in twenty minutes

Women actually do not know how to apply it.  They leave it resting lightly on top and that is when it get cakey. They should press into their make up so that it holds on to the base and does not look powdery, besides setting other make up powder also helps you look younger.

The same principle applies to pores, there are women with large pores who think their skin is too dry for powder but it really helps camouflage the problem

The right powder is light or colorless, translucent and most of the experts choose loose formulations, but pressed powder is preferred. This will also settle the slightly oil panel (nose, chin and forehead) down the center of the face and act as a perfect foil to your glowing cheek.

LIPSTICKS:

Now we come to the lips, In an attempt to look younger and retain sex appeal, a woman over forty may use too much gloss or too greasy a lipstick which leads to bleeding i.e., the lipstick which leads to run into the inevitable cracks that surround the older mouth. It is suggested that lips should be continued first with a lip brush or a lip pencil in a darker shade on top. If your face tends to be reddish, then move towards golden russets, apricots and prim roses instead. Mouths wearing pale, cakey lipsticks appear aged there are very few older women who look good in pale colors. And pale lipsticks are the ones gather most noticeably in the creases

If matte lipsticks are the ones leave you lips too dry, put a little gloss just in the middle, but don't go overboard. When you are over forty, you must be especially careful that your make up never looks messy. A popular belief shared by women of this age is that dark colored lipsticks are for young age; but that's not true. Use them now for a more stunning look.

For the final touch use a light pink powder blush (a soft touch) under your brows and on the chin. This gives a healthy glow to the face

EVENING EFFECTS:

Do not apply less make up. The evening allows you to create a more youthful illusion. So you can be more daring. That does not mean a radical change but just a little more of what you usually wear plus some extra touches of black or navy, dark brown or burgundy, around the eyes. Remember also artificial and candle light both end to eat color so intensify it with more pink on the cheeks and brighter lips.

The only specific touch to avoid is a heavy dose of glitter. Shine accentuates wrinkles, remember, and beyond that it is just common sense and good taste. Older woman can not afford the mistake of looking ridiculous. So when you are dressed to kill, stop to take a good look …is there something too loud, something that is too much?

Enjoy your new look!