Gray Hair? Try My Makeup Tips
Ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille.
The reality is that you need makeup with your gray hair.
Other wise you can fade into the woodwork. Makeup gurus say, when you get older you should wear less makeup. Really? I disagree. It takes a village to get me out the door.
A few of my makeup necessities.
At a certain age, your features kind of lose definition and you need some makeup help to bring out your features. Less hair in your eyebrows? Eye lashes suddenly gone or shorter? Lips lined? Eyes lined? Cheeks sagging? It’s not the end of the world, because some solutions are waiting for you on YouTube, IGTV, at Target, Ulta, Sephora, and even your local drugstore. There are tons of products and tutorials out there just waiting to be discovered.
I’ve become more interested in what can help perk me up visually. It’s not that I was ever indifferent to my appearance, but…well, let me share a moment of insight.
Recently, during sheltering because of COVID-19, I decided to create some makeup and skincare video recordings. After figuring out what I was going to talk about, I walked into the family room not wearing my pajamas for a change, but with a stylish top, makeup on and ready to record. My husband took one look at me and said. “Boy, you really clean up well!” I hadn’t realized that I had not put on any makeup for weeks, so his comment was a real wake up call.
Scene 1 Take 1
So, here’s what I figured out: My face shows my years. I have age spots, veins, scars from cancer surgeries and biopsies. Not to mention a whole road map of lumps and bumps from just living my life for 79 years!
It only hurts when I smile.
Let's start with the hardest thing to get right. I always seem to be searching for the Holy Grail of foundations. You need a good one or a tinted moisturizer, to smooth out the look of your skin and to give you a beautiful canvas to work on,
One of the biggest challenges is to find the right color because it can make all the difference in the world. There are some valuable tips in these articles which will help you tell if your skin is warm, cool or neutral. Before I located this information, I was buying the wrong color and hated the way every foundation looked on me.
So, here are some foundations that work well on me: La Mer in the color Shell, Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua, in 12 Beige Rose and my latest, Esteé Lauder Futurist Hydra Rescue SPF 45.
I found out about Futurist Rescue when I was doing an Instagram Live with Hannah Martin who was the makeup artist for both Kate Middleton’s and Princess Eugenie’s weddings. She was also Bobbi Brown’s senior makeup artist for Great Britain and Ireland. I love her makeup videos on Youtube. I think my favorite is watching her make up her mother-in-law, a woman of a certain age. Something we can all relate to, can’t we?
You can learn what products she used by clicking on the Show More link under her description of the video.
I asked her what foundation she would recommend for older skin. She gently corrected me and suggested that I call it mature skin and then said, “give Esteé Lauder Futurist a try.”
I discovered I have a cool skin tone, which means I have a lot of pink in it. Most foundations are yellow based. When I wear them I look like I”m wearing a mask. I wanted a foundation that looked like my natural skin but better. It took a lot of trial and error, but eventually I found a few that worked. They’re not the cheapest but I’m very happy with them.
The Esteé Lauder is very natural and has a tiny bit of glow. I put it on with a brush which allows my skin to look more natural. The color, Fresco, works quite well with my cool skin. I have my own way of making sure the color is correct., It’s called the Sitting-in-the-Car-Color-Seal-of-Approval. I sit in the car in shaded light and if it looks good in the car mirror, then it’s a go!
Blush and bronzer are also important to add color and vibrance to your skin. As an artist and a painter, I love collecting colors and I have ton of brushes. My favorite blushes these days are Nars Orgasm and Bobbi Brown Pretty Coral. My bronzer is either Dior’s Soft Sunlight Bronzer, even though I hate its container–– It has broken at least 3 times and they won’t replace it. My other favorite bronzer is Armani Sun Fabric 100. I like them because they can be applied lightly.
My tip for applying bronzer and blush is to use a large, fluffy brush. The one I use is a powder brush by Real Techniques. I put them both on whisper soft and then blend them. I really smush them around with a Sephora brush #55 so that I can’t see any edges. It should look seamless, natural and light.
And of course, eyebrows are important as they are the frame for your face. I go to work on mine after finishing my foundation. I use either Senna’s Ash powder or Sephora’s Retractable Brow Pencil in 05 Neutral Grey Brown, and then comb through the eyebrows with Glossier’s Boy Brow either in Brown or Blond. This way I cover all the little hairs on my brows. I need every one of them.
Next, I use Nars Eyelid Tinted Primer. I love that it removes any discoloration on my lids and makes my eye shadow last longer.
Many years ago, Pablo, the world- famous makeup artist, told me that I should always use lavender on my eyes. I use variations of it.. Here are the palettes I like –– Laura Mericer’s Artist Palette. I just discovered it’s been discontinued but I’’m listing it because you may be able to find it. Tarte’s Tarlette Amazonian Clay Matte Palette, or Dior’s 002 Cool Neutrals.
For the crevices under my eyes, and the dark spots on the side of my nose next to my eyes, I use Bobbi Brown Corrector in Light Bisque. I use Judith August’s The Everything Pencil in Pure Beige on the white flat scar on my forehead. It’s a wonder.
Eye liner? Fenty’s Big Truffle Eyeliner and or Sephora’s 03 Purple or Laura Mercier’s Caviar Pencil in Plum.
Mascara? L’Oreal Telescopic in Carbon Black
Concealer? I use Charlotte Tilbury’s Magic Away in Fair #2
Lipstick? I go though phases. Right now, I’m using Charlotte Tilbury’s Bitch Perfect and Pillow Talk. I’m also using Dior’s Saint Germain and Chanel’s Legende lipsticks these days.
So, personally, it’s been a case of live and learn. Figuring out this stuff just takes time and some experimenting, but if you’re like me, it’s worth it. After a certain age, a bit of effort can make all the difference.
If you’d like to see one of the makeup videos I made for Instagram IGTV, click here. Would you believe it has had over 121K views!
What has worked for you?
Any tips to share?
Any surprises?
