Thread: My Mom Wants (Everyday) Make-up Help

Hi everyone,
My poor mom keeps asking me for make-up advice and I don't know what to tell her. She is in her 50's and complains the most about her eyes. She has read that "less is more" when it comes to make-up for aging women, but, for example, if she tries giving up the black/brown eyeliner (on the waterline) - that she's been all her life - she feels she looks sick or tired. However, I also feel the same way when I go without eyeliner - so that part I think has to do more with our eyeshape as opposed to age.
One of her other concerns is that when she goes to make-up counters and/or stores (like Ulta or Sephora) for advice she doesn't feel like the employees really understand these "issues" yet because most of them are young girls. She was once even told "we don't have any age-wise make-up". Ouch. This is why I feel so bad.
Does anyone have any tips or advice for make-up for aging women (i.e. products, technique, brands, stores, etc.)? I think she really just wants someone to give her a makeover that truly understands and could even relate to her situation.
Thanks guys.

I really like the book "Plastic Surgery Without the Surgery; The Miracles of Makeup Techniques" by Eve Pearl.

Really straightforward primer which addresses a number of issues we face as we get older, as well as just basic contouring concepts.

There are also a lot of good videos and tutorials for specific eye shapes (there are a couple recent threads on hooded eyelids on bhuz recently, and Princess Farhana has a blog article about it- I'll go link hunting in a bit!)

ETA: Stop the Squint Look: Help me with my deep set eyes!

She should find a makeup artist who is approximately her age, so they can really understand her skin issues.

No need to give up eyeliner. If she wants a "less is more" look, perhaps try an angle brush with powder for a softer line.

Some makeup artists say the eyeliner in the waterline is a dated look for day wear.

Perhaps just updating the colors and textures of her makeup will make her feel more modern?

Perhaps to start off with she can have a look at a few youtube channels. There's a woman who is in her 50s, her daughters are famous makeup artists in the uk. She specialises in beauty and fashion for women her age.

Her channel is:

YouTube - ModernandMature's Channel

There's also wayne goss, a makeup artist who specialises in makeup for the over 30s. He has a lot of advice and makeup tutorials for mature women. I really like his channel.

YouTube - gossmakeupartist's Channel

Also, perhaps you could ask around for makeup artists who work with more mature skin and book your mum for a consultation.That would be a nice gift if that was possible:).

Hope that helps.

Hi, I'm in my 50's, so I can relate to your mom's situation. I also look tired without liner (people tell me I look tired, so it's not my imagination).

I second the recommendation above to check out the GossMakeupArtist on youtube. He is fantastic and has some specific recommendations, such as how to use makeup for the "hooded" eye (your mom may not have hooded eyes per se, but the lids on 50-something eyes have generally lost some elasticity) For example the darker shadow one might traditionally use to define the crease should actually begin a little higher than the crease to elevate the look of the eye. Introduce her to a good eyeshadow primer as well to minimize creasing.

Lining the water line looks very harsh on people my age, and aside from looking dated, accentuates any lines, and while it may make the eyes look brighter, it also makes them look smaller. If she wants to define this area, I would suggest that she use a very soft medium brown shadow (darker if she has very dark skin) and, with an eyebrow brush, softly define the eye underneath the lashes instead, making sure to extend it towards the outer corner of the eye (I suppose you could use a gel liner to do this if you can find the perfect color that's not too harsh, yet darker than the skin tone). (I've seen some great close-up makeup ads of Lady G and Scarlett Johansson with this look.) She can also benefit from using false eyelashes, preferably invisible band demi style or a few of the individual type applied towards the outer lid.

She should also pay attention to defining her eyebrows - brow makeup wasn't stressed much during the time we were first learning our makeup techniques (at one point in the 70's it was the rage to pluck them to almost nothing, 1930's style). Many of us tend to be almost afraid of making them too prominent until we're shown by a good makeup artist how much they can do to frame the eye, even make it appear more youthful by creating a slightly higher than natural arch (well done, of course). Proper eyebrow makeup can be a huge asset to 50-somethings, and most of us never learned what a big part their color, shape and placement can do to make people appear more confident, awake, etc. Since I got over the fear of making them more prominent, I find I am sometimes more comfortable with less eye makeup if my brows are done.

Not sure what other kind of makeup she likes to use, so I won't bore you with any more suggestions, but I think she will enjoy the youtube tutorials from Wayne Goss. You will probably enjoy them too as most of them don't focus on older women, and he has great product recommendations for all sorts of makeup, and he's also quite charming and easy on the eyes.

-Devora

Awesome! I will forward this information on to her. Thank you so much!