Thursday, November 15, 2007

Anti-Ageing Make-up techniques and products

As we age our body, hair and of course facial appearance changes. So it's isn't out of the ordinary to find that the cosmetics which looked great in our teens, 20's & 30's is now not nearly as flattering as it should be. The time has come to up date and modernize your look. How you apply your make-up and the colours you choose can be just as effective at turning back the clock as some of the expensive get older-defying make-up products. Do not despair, you won't look like some ancient teenager dabbling in the latest trends, there are some fantastic products on the market designed specially for the more mature woman.

SKIN: As we age it is a fact that the tone, texture and elasticity of our skin changes. This is particularly noticeable on our faces with the appearance of wrinkles, an over all dullness to our complexion and a less defined jawline. But all of these can be either corrected or hidden with the aid of Primers! Primers are the first line of defense in our anti-aging battle. If you only choose one new product I would urge you to opt for a primer. These act as neath bases to illuminate, brighten and tighten the skin. They are used under the foundation to smooth, firm and plump up the skin, like a mini face lift and no surgery. Appropriate of all they can be used on their own or neath your favorite existing foundation. A great tip is to mix them with your foundation to give it an anti-aging lift.

Now on to foundations, here the there are many choices. You may have noticed that your skin isn't looking as flawless as you might like. It may be slightly dryer, uneven in colour and the fine lines aren't quite so fine. Fear not, in the past couple of years there really have been some incredible developments in foundations to address these problems. The new foundation are not only light weight, sheer yet covering but also contain light reflecting properties to make the skin look glowing, dewy and more youthful. It does this by reflecting light away from the lines making them appear less visible. Always test for the right colour on your jaw line, the one that disappears is the right one. Don't be tempted to add colour to your face by using foundation. This is the blushers job. Don't trowel foundation on either instead apply with a foundation brush. These give a beautiful no make-up look to the skin.

After applying foundation you are now ready for concealer, this way you need less. Here again there are wonderful ones which are sheer, light reflecting and covering but best of all won't accentuate those fine lines. The type of texture to look for is one which is creamy yet matte so you needn't use powder below the eyes. If it is too creamy / oily it will settle into the fine lines making them look worse. Choose a light reflective one which help soften fine lines. Give your face a lift by dabbing a little concealer on the very outer corner of your eyes. Leave powder until the end by that time your make-up will have settled and you may not even need any, as it can be aging. If you must use it get one that is light reflective.

EYES: Brows - Brows are so very important at any ages but even more so as we get older and are perhaps thinking of maybe wearing less eye make-up. As we get older eyebrows can look sparse and as with hair, brows too can lose their colour. Use a brow powder and an angled brush or a powder brow pencil to softly define your brows. Trim those long ones and tame unruly ones with brow gel.

Eyes - The browns and neutral colours which looked great in the past may now be making you tired. If this is so I suggest trying some of the beautiful deep rich purples, plums and lilacs with a blue / cool neath tone. Not only do these enhance any eye colour but the incredibly improved formulas will makes the whites of your eyes look whiter. If this is abit too bold try charcoal or navy instead. Shimmers or Mattes ? Don't think that if you are over a certain get older that you can't wear soft shimmery shadows it really depends on the condition of your eyes. If the skin is rather crepey then shimmery shadows can highlight this, so on this area stick with a more matte shadow. But you could still use a shimmer one just under the arch to the brow and it would look great. Too much matte shadow can make the eyes look dull/drab - tired and older they are. Mattes and Shimmers can be mixed on the eye to create depth and light to the eye area making them truly stand out. Creme to Powder formulations are great because they are crease resistant and have just the right amount of wearable shimmer. Lining the eyes for definition is a must. Try dipping a liner brush into water then into your favorite eyeshadow. Also opt for a black or blue/black mascara rather than brown no matter what your hair colour.

CHEEKS: Cheeks tend to appear less prominent as we age. To give your face a youthfull glow I suggest choosing a creme to powder blush. These are easy to apply and best of all they are sheer so look so natural. I recommend staying away from ones which are too brownly or taupey they tend to drain the face. Also avoid really pale pastel shades as they can look chalky. Instead try warm apricots, peach or rosy hues. These really flatter the face. You may find that you have to place your blush slightly higher than you used to. Smile then pop a flush of colour on the apples of your cheeks and smooth out towards your ear.

LIPS : As we age it is a sad fact that our lips do get thinner, lose pigment and develop fine lines. Luckily help is at hand. To prevent lip colour from feathering and keep it on longer try a lip base. These go on bare lips before lip colour and they really work. It is a sad fact as we get older our lips become thinner and more lined. To get the look of fuller lips without the surgery brush a light reflective concealer around the outside of lips and blend into the lips now line lips with a lip coloured ( nude) lip pencil just slightly outside your own lip line. You should always use a nude lip pencil no matter what your chosen lip colour is , that way as the colour fades (and even the long lasting ones eventually do) you won't be left with that ugly clowns mouth. When you are selecting a colour here too avoid any drab colours, also if your lip colour is too matte it can look hard / ageing. Go for satiny, creamy, moisturizing textures and if you've used a lip base even try some of the fabulous new glosses (they're not as sticky as they used to be).

Article Source: http://www.uberarticles.com/articles


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