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How to look younger with makeup
image caption
Tracee Ellis Ross at the 2016 Elle Women in Hollywood Awards.

9 Sneaky Ways to Look Younger With Makeup, Inspired by the Celebrities Who Don’t Ever Seem to Age

These tricks take years off your look.

If you’re looking to defy the aging process, then skincare probably gets top priority in your beauty routine. But what if you’re sabotaging those efforts with the way you do your makeup?

The details of your makeup application can make a huge difference with how young (or old) or you look. For example, a heavy layer of foundation, overly arched eyebrows, or the wrong blush placement can add years to your look. 

So take a cue from the celebrities who don’t ever seem to age. Here are nine makeup tricks we can steal from them to look younger.

Brighten the Inner Corners of Your Eyes

Salma Hayek Savages Los Angeles premiere 2012 close-up

Close-up of Salma Hayek at the 2012 Los Angeles premiere of ‘Savages.’

Even if you wear no other makeup, I recommend that you always conceal the darkness at the inner corners of your eyes. Most people focus on the circles underneath, but this area is actually the most important and makes the biggest difference. It sounds so simple, but it will instantly brighten your entire face and make you look refreshed and well-rested. I mean, just look at Salma Hayek—there’s no trace of darkness around her eyes at all!

Of course, you’ll want to cover the dark circles below as well. I suggest drawing an upside-down triangle shape instead of a half-moon, to help push your cheeks forward. If you have significant discolouration, consider using a colour corrector underneath your concealer. 

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From The Skincare Edit Archives

Products to try:

Use a Sheer Foundation

Julianne Moore Golden Globes 2016 close-up

Close-up of Julianne Moore at the 2016 Golden Globes.

You need less foundation than you think! I’d try to avoid medium-to-full coverage formulas if at all possible—they might wipe out flaws, but will look too heavy on the skin, rob it of its natural radiance, and make your face appear flat and one-dimensional. Younger skin can get away with the full-coverage, matte look, but past a certain age, this type of makeup tends to settle into fine lines and create creases. 

Instead, I would go for as sheer of a foundation as you can get away with, in a luminous to dewy finish. Something like Julianne Moore is wearing above, which still shows off her freckles. 

It should be in a shade that matches your skin perfectly, of course—but know that light-coverage formulas are generally more forgiving. Concentrate your application in the centre of your face, blending it out more sheerly at the edges of your face, where you naturally need less coverage. 

Then, you can add opaque concealer only where you need it. I’ve been doing this for years, before it had the name “pinpoint concealing” (coined by Lisa Eldridge, I think?). Use a tiny brush—I like retractable lip brushes—to apply full-coverage concealer on any marks or blemishes. This way, you’re not covering your entire face when you only have a few problem spots!

Products to try:

Use Powder Sparingly

Tracee Ellis Ross ELLE Women in Hollywood Awards 2016 close-up

Close-up of Tracee Ellis Ross at the 2016 ELLE Women in Hollywood Awards.

When you overdo it with powder, it tends to make your skin look dry—and dry skin always draws attention to lines. So don’t be afraid of a little healthy shine. See how great Tracee Ellis Ross looks with her slightly dewy complexion?

If you must use powder to mattify your oily areas, then go for a translucent pure silica formula. These are the most weightless and natural-looking on the skin, and can be re-applied without leaving cakey, visible build-up. (I’d avoid talc and mica for that reason!)

Also, forget dusting it all over with a big fluffy brush. I recommend using a domed eyeshadow brush or powder puff to apply it sparingly, to your T-zone only. Like the concealer, you only want to put it where you really need it.

Products to try:

  • RMS Beauty “Un” Powder is a high-quality pure silica that you’re meant to press on with the accompanying powder puff. It comes in translucent as well as tinted.
  • Make Up For Ever HD Microfinish Powder is a translucent silica-based powder. Some say it’s not as high quality as the RMS, but I can’t really tell the difference.

Add a Peach or Coral Blush

Jennifer Garner Dallas Buyers Club Los Angeles premiere 2013 close-up

Close-up of Jennifer Garner at the 2013 Los Angeles premiere of ‘Dallas Buyers Club.’

Blush is amazing for adding youthful colour back to dull, drab skin. But an unflattering blush shade or placement can age you fast. You can never go wrong with a peach for fair to medium skin tones, or coral for medium to dark skin tones. As Jennifer Garner demonstrates, this colour family is universally flattering. Avoid anything too sparkly or shimmery, and always err on the side of subtle. A too-dark or too-bright blush can easily look clownish.

As for texture, cream blushes look the most natural on the skin, but can be a bit tricky to apply. I would definitely suggest buffing with a blush brush instead of your fingers. (Yes, you can totally use brushes with cream blush!) 

The goal is to create a faint flush across the fleshy part of your cheeks—don’t go too low, or it could drag your face down. 

Products to try:

Strategically Highlight

Kristen Wiig Stand Up to Cancer 2016 close-up

Close-up of Kristen Wiig at Stand Up to Cancer 2016.

Youthful skin has a natural luminosity, and the quickest way to fake it is with highlighter. This is one of the most important makeup tricks to have up your sleeve—it WILL deceive people into thinking you have a better (younger, healthier) complexion, just by the way the product picks up the light. Notice how Kristen Wiig literally glows? 

I prefer cream formats and find they look more natural than powder highlighters. Use you fingers to dab it across the top of your cheekbones, down the bridge of your nose, at the inner corners of your eyes and above the Cupid’s bow.

Products to try: 

Do a Bold, Straight Brow

Naomi Watts Oscars 2014 close-up

Close-up of Naomi Watts at the 2014 Oscars.

We’ve seen this time and time again on the red carpet. Full, straight brows always look younger than angular, pointy, exaggerated arches. If yours aren’t that way naturally, consider consulting with an expert brow shaper, who can help guide your brows into their ideal shape as they grow out. 

But remember, it’s not so much about whether you have naturally thick or thin brows. It’s the way they are shaped and filled that matters. Naomi Watts, for example, has naturally thinner, light-coloured brows. But whoa, see what a difference it makes to fill them in a shade darker, in a straight-across shape? It transforms her entire face!

If you want to create a similar illusion of fullness, you can try a tinted brow gel, tinted brow wax, brow powder or fine-tipped pencil (to draw on tiny hairs). But if you already have thick brows, you might only need a bit of shaping with clear brow gel for hold. 

Products to try:

Focus on the Lashes

Julianna Margulies CFDA Fashion Awards 2015 close-up

Close-up of Julianna Margulies at the 2015 CFDA Fashion Awards.

Instead of relying on dark eyeshadow or eyeliner to define your eyes—which can look hard and harsh as you get older—I think lashes should be the focal point of your makeup look. A long, fluffy fringe opens up the eyes, looks great on everyone and requires zero skills to achieve. 

Julianna Margulies’ makeup look is the perfect example. Yes, she’s wearing some soft shadow along her lash lines, but it’s the lashes that are the true focus here.

Give your lashes a good curl, and then apply several coats of a lengthening black mascara, taking care to coat each hair from root to tip. My technique is to literally press the brush into the roots, and then I clean up any excess with a Q-tip dipped in micellar water. If you tend to get racoon eyes, you may wish to only apply mascara to the top lashes only—or just switch to a tubular formula to avoid any chance of smudging.

For extra pop, try filling in the upper waterlines with a waterproof eyeliner. This is a great trick to make your lashes look even thicker! But unlike a dark eyeliner along your lash lines, it won’t close off the eyes.

Products to try:

Enhance Your Lip Colour

Helen Mirren Arthur London premiere 2011 close-up

Close-up of Helen Mirren at the 2011 London premiere of ‘Arthur.’

Dark, matte colours can make your lips look thinner (read: older), while nudes often wash people out. So I’d go with sheer pinks, corals and reds. Think brighter, not deeper.

Helen Mirren shows off the beauty of a sheer red gloss, but you can always layer on a lip gloss to replicate the look. A shiny finish catches the light and creates the illusion of volume. It also makes your lips look fresh and juicy! 

As for lip liner, definitely use one if you’re prone to bleeding. Overdrawing the lip line—just a little!—is also an option to add more fullness.

Products to try: 

Draw Faux Freckles

Penelope Cruz Ma Ma New York City premiere 2016 close-up

Close-up of Penélope Cruz at the 2016 New York City premiere of ‘Ma Ma.’

This is an advanced tip, and it may sound a little out there, but if you’ve got an extra five minutes... try drawing on a few faux freckles! Makeup artists do this all the time on celebrities to make their skin finish look more natural—as if they aren’t even wearing foundation. Also, I don’t know why, but it just makes you look younger and cuter. 

Take your cue from Penélope Cruz and scatter the freckles in a random pattern across your nose and cheeks, after you apply foundation. I use a tiny liner brush to dot on a waterproof cream colour, softening with a fingertip so that it looks more realistic.

Products to try:

The Bottom Line

As you get older, less is obviously more—but that doesn’t mean a bare face, either. I’m reminded of one of my favourite beauty quotes, courtesy of Calvin Klein: “The best thing is to look natural, but it takes makeup to look natural.”

It does indeed! The primary goal should be beautiful, luminous skin, which can take some finessing—I’d spend the majority of your makeup application minutes there. You don’t want to just slap on a thick foundation that covers everything up. Take your time to carefully blend, buff and highlight, camouflaging only what needs to be covered.

Once the skin in place, you really don’t need to work so hard at everything else. Full lashes, soft brows, flushed cheeks and just-bitten lips work on literally everyone, no matter what the occasion. 

But seriously, do try the freckle thing. It’s a bit addictive!