When most of us older women envision a party, we think of fun music and dancing, great snacks and food, gossip with friends, and an overall great time. We also think of what we’re going to wear and how we’re going to do our makeup. Having the right amount of makeup and making sure it’s done right is important for a great party look, especially for us older women.
As we get older, it often becomes more difficult to figure out what makeup will help us look our best, accentuate our best features, and make us feel confident upon seeing the end result. There may be a lot of makeup advice out there for older women going to parties, but to avoid getting overwhelmed and reading conflicting advice, keep our list of 11 tried-and-true makeup tips nearby to guarantee you look amazing and not like the clown in your nightmares.
Contents
1. Wear What Makes You Feel Good
This is a no-brainer but it has to be said that sometimes older women shy away from going to parties because they don’t think they have the right “look.” While some of us use a party as an opportune time to try a new look, sometimes just resorting to a classic and favorite makeup look is best. No new party tricks allowed! So skip the glittery blue eyeshadow and rock the hot smokey eye look.
2. Treat Your Eyebrows
Unfortunately, getting older means the hair on your eyebrows can thin and their color can fade. To avoid a hideous penciled eyebrow, use a brow pencil a shade darker than your normal brow color and lightly apply even strokes. Step back when finished to make sure they’re even and not too harsh looking.
3. Get A Good Hairstyle
A good haircut can transform your look no matter what your age is! Pick a hairstyle that you love on HairstyleCamp, go to your stylist and see the transformation yourself.
4. Less Is More
Unless you’re going to a rave, which we highly doubt, using every piece of makeup in your case is not necessary or attractive. Avoid loading up your eyes with heavy eyeshadow and mascara, and skip the dark lipstick. Instead, opt for a light-colored lip gloss and go light on the blush.
5. Prevent an Oily Face
No need to worry about an oily face when you keep blotting papers in your purse. Each time you excuse yourself to the restroom, using blotting papers to dab at your forehead, nose, and anywhere' else oil shines on your face.
6. Skip Purple
Wear a purple dress or shirt, but avoid purple-shaded makeup, especially if you’re over 50. Since your skin tone and texture is quite different as an older woman than it is when you’re younger, using purple makeup can actually make your face look bruised or enhance areas you don’t want the attention on.
7. Plain is Plain
If you’re choosing to play it safe with your makeup, that doesn’t mean you have to do a matte look (meaning flat). You may not want an oily face, but you can still use sheen to give your face a natural glow.
8. Practice Beforehand
Nothing is more stressful than doing your makeup an hour before a party just to have your look backfire, making you rush to fix it, then arriving late. Practice the night before or even a week before if you want to be really prepared and have enough time to pick up new makeup if needed.
9. Banish Dark Circles
As we women age, dark circles are inevitable, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t preventable. Use color correctors to conceal blemishes and other discolorations. For light to medium skin tones, professional makeup artists recommend a peach-toned concealer for dark circles. For darker skin tones, use an orange-toned concealer. Lastly, for olive skin tones, opt for a pink-toned concealer.
10.Careful with the Lips
While we recommend lip gloss (because it typically doesn’t leave an unsightly imprint on wine glasses), there are some older women who may be most comfortable wearing lipstick. If you choose to go with lipstick, remember that your skin has softened with age, causing more noticeable lines.
This means you’re prone to makeup bleeding into the lines around your mouth. You can ensure you don’t run into this problem by using a lipstick brush to dab color on starting in the center of your lips and spreading it to corners.
11. Little or No Foundation
One of the biggest mistakes an older woman is prone to making with her makeup is going too heavy on her foundation. Since your hormone levels change as you age and your skin can become drier, we understand it can be tempting to cover up every little imperfection or wrinkle you see, but you run the risk of looking cakey. Foundation can also end up sinking into the lines on your face, accentuating what you don’t want people to notice!
Our tip
Use a makeup brush or your pinky finger to apply foundation under the eyes to cover darkness and anywhere' else you see a skin tone difference. You could also, instead of using foundation, just use a brush-on highlighter pen. Sephora’s Smoothing & Brightening Concealer ($14) is a favorite of makeup artists. Your overall goal is a radiant, youthful look that you feel confident wearing for a couple hours at the party. If you avoid oily patches on your face and overdone eye makeup and lip color, you’re golden.
One of the best things older women can do to ensure an amazing look at future parties is to practice, practice, and practice! Have makeup parties with friends where' you all trade looks and get their opinion, watch YouTube tutorials, and check out your favorite celeb looks. All of these are key for a guaranteed gorgeous party look.