ANTI AGING BEAUTY & COSMETICS

As women age, their skin changes [no news in that!]. But have you considered changing your skincare and cosmetics to suit your changing skin.

Many of us change our moisturisers or night creams but that’s about it.

Let’s explore our skin through the decades and look at what changes in our skin care and cosmetics we should consider.

Anti Aging Skin Care in Your Twenties

Skin Condition

Hopefully most of us are through that hormone driven problem skin age. Some of us though may still be fighting acne.

Skin Care

For those with normal skin – a good cleansing routine and a light moisturiser and sunscreen will keep your skin in good condition. For most, an enriched night cream is not required, and may cause clogged pores for some.

Adopt the simple four step skin care routine: Cleanse, Tone, Moisturize, Renew.

Follow two simple steps: stay out of the sun and drink lots of water. Water will help your skin to stay moisturized. Regardless of skin color or skin type you must use a daily moisturizer with at least SPF 15 sun protection.

If you are fighting acne, continue to use the same products you have been using to remove the oil and fight infection.

Acne Treatment Products

Acne treatment products generally are those that contain Benzoyl Peroxide and Salicylic Acid.

Both Neutrogena and L'Oreal have some wonderful products for fighting acne that contains these ingredients.

You may find you only need spot treatments Clean & Clean and Clearasil Ultra. These acne or spot treatment products dry out the infected area without affecting your overall skin oil balance.

Cosmetics

Often a simple protective liquid foundation or bronzing gel and subtle brown shades of eye color is all you need during the during the day. Let your natural youth shine through.

At night, with wonderfully firm skin on the upper eye lids you can go a little crazy and mix up some exotic themes. Remember though, to remove all makeup before retiring to let your skin breathe and renew itself overnight.

A simple lipgloss looks great on young faces. Choose one with sunscreen and conditioners to help protect your lips.

Anti Aging Skin Care in Your Thirties

Skin Care

This is the age where we need start more intense wrinkle prevention. Follow the same two simple steps you did in your twenties: stay out of the sun and drink lots of water.

Start paying attention to the area around your eyes. The skin around the eyes is very fragile and is the first to show signs of use from simple expressions such as laughing. Start using eye cream.

Skin Care Products

Look for eye creams that will diminish darkness, reduce puffiness and smooth your skin. Try eye care products from Almay, Murad and L'Oreal.

Cosmetics

Women in their thirties generally want to start moving from the fresh youth look into something more sophisticated.

The smoky eye look is great for this. Use a flat angle eye brush and some powder eye liner. Tap the brush into the liner and then tap it along your eye, do not drag it.

You should be staying out of the sun and instead using a bronzer to achieve that healthy sun kissed glow. Use a matte bronzing powder. Make sure it is not too dark for your skin tone. To add a bit of shimmer use a bit of liquid bronzer over the top in places the sun would naturally hit. You can use this on your body also.

Anti Aging Skin Care in Your Forties

Skin Condition

Our skin starts showing signs of dryness and loss of tone from our forties. The elastin and collagen levels are dropping.

Skin Care

Fortunately today, there are a number of effective serum treatments you can use to lift and firm the skin. Look for products with retinol.

Concentrate on maintaining optimal health: diet, exercise, stress management all show on your face at this age.

Start using night creams with special anti-wrinkle eye creams for that delicate eye area.

Cosmetics

Consider using a base primer under makeup will help smooth out one's skin, fill in lines and wrinkles and reduce the size of pores. I have always used Clarins Beauty Flash. Revlon also have good primers.

A few makeup tricks to help you lessen the effects of age:

Number one rule - Don’t overdo your makeup

Concealer - Use concealer generously to cover up any aging lines or blemishes.

Foundation - Apply a loose translucent powder with a powder brush in the morning and DO NOT reapply during the day. Excessive powder, accentuates lines and wrinkles. Touch up by simply rebrushing your face to redistribute the existing powder. Avoid any compact powders. They build up in the wrinkle lines make them stand out more.

To add a bit of youthful glow, use a cream blusher in golden almond and copper tones. Blend them gently from cheeks to temples in an arc for a soft transparent effect.

If you have lines running form the edge of the nose to the corner of the mouth [naso-labial fold; use a beige highlighter. This reduces the shadow, making it less noticeable. If you have a touch of saggy neck, apply a non-frosted powder slightly darker than your natural skin tone under your chin. This creates the effect of a shadow, making it less prominent.

Eyebrows - Use a soft eyebrow pencil that matches your hair color and never ever use black eyebrow pencil.

Eyes - Dial down the color on your eyes. You can still use frosted shadows, but chose colors that enhance your skin tone rather than compete with it. Blends of pink and gray eye shadows soften graying hair. Blending three hues of a single color work best. Use a very one light tone under your brow, a mid tone over the total eyelid and one slightly darker shade on the crease. Then blend! This last blending step is the most important and the most overlooked. Subtlety is the key.

Lips - Use soft matte lip colors in pink, berry, coral or peach shades to make your lips fuller. Avoid lip liner pencils. Instead, line your lips with a stiff bristled brush using your blush. This keeps lipstick in place and helps prevent bleeding or feathering of your lip color.

Overall, be soft and subtle in the choice of makeup and colors for the youthful look or get professional help!

MAKEUP TIPS FOR ALL AGES

Foundation

It is absolutely imperative that you pick the right shade of foundation. Pick a shade lighter than your skin tone. Avoid pink tones, they tend to look very ruddy in artificial lighting, making your skin appear uneven and flushed.

Most women have yellow based skin. This includes most Caucasian and all Asian, Latin and African women. Pink tone foundation "clashes" with natural yellow-based skin.

Apply your foundation with a makeup pad or sponge. Sponges are great for absorbing any excess liquid. Thoroughly blend the makeup with the sponge, covering the face evenly and equally, from the hairline to lower neck.

Blusher

use a darker shade to contour your face and "lift" your cheekbones. Apply from the earlobe downward to mid-cheek.

Eyebrows

Choose the pencil color to be a shade lighter than your natural eyebrow color. Tweeze any stray hairs often, for a clean and classic eyebrow shape but please, don’t overdo it. Keep your natural eyebrow line.

Eyeliner

Eyeline is used to enhance your natural eye color and alter the shape of the eye. Brown is the most versatile color and looks good on everyone in the daytime and at night. Apply sparingly during the day and apply a heavier smudgy, smoldering look for evening.

Avoid black eyeliner during the day. It tends to ‘wash out’ your color and magnify imperfections in your complexion. At night, use a muted shade of black, such as a slate gray or a "grey black".

Apply with a sharp eyeliner pencil, lining the rim of your eye as close to the lower row of eyelashes as you can get. Avoid getting any in your eye.

Gently smudge the line with a sponge-tipped cosmetics smudger using a gentle horizontal back and forth movement.

To make your eyes appear larger, use a bright white eye liner pencil on the very inner corners of the lower lid. A great trick that makeup artists use.

Eyeshadow

Stay away from colors with pink, red or auburn hues. They tend to give your eyes a bloodshot look and make the eyes appear smaller. remember that dark colors recede features and light colors highlight. Blend your eye color with the color of your skin and clothes.

Use a palette of three color tones:

1. Apply the lightest shade over the entire eyelid. Add the paler color to the top for added depth and perceived size.
2. Apply the medium shade on the lower eyelid.
3. Apply the darkest shade in the outer corner of the eye to create depth.

A pale nude or near white, slightly shimmery for the tops of your eyes, near the brow bone. Apply with a small, fine haired professional eyeshadow/eyeliner brush rather than the small sponge-like applicators that usually come with the colors.

If you use shimmery eye creams and squeeze tube liquid matte eyeshadows, don’t use too much or it will look creased.

Apply eyeshadow a little more heavily on the crease between the upper and lower lid to add more depth and dimension to your eyes, and make them appear larger.

Lip Color

Lip color comes in many forms: lipsticks, cream wands, gloss sticks, rollon glosses, color or gloss pots.

Apply powder lightly over the lips before applying lipstick helps it to stay on longer.
Apply lip conditioning stick under your lipstick to condition and protect your lips from becoming chapped and dry.

Use a lip brush when applying lipstick to control the amount of color that is applied.

A Lip Gloss alone can be used alone to give a light, natural but finished look or over your lipstick to enhance its color.

For easy lipstick stain removal, apply glycerine to affected area and wash as usual.

Fixing Spray

The last step in your makeup routine. Spray from 8 - 12 inches. Your makeup will stay in place longer and will leave you with a more finished look.

Nail Color

Select a nail polish to match the general tones of your makeup. If using dark colors regularly, always use a base coat to protect your nails from discoloring.

The new French nail kits give a great fresh professional look that can be worn with anything, any time.

More Make Up Tips

Makeup Tools -Makeup tools assists in applying the makeup in the correct and precise form.

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