New Makeup Tricks For Our Medium Years
I’m not a makeup artist. But I’ve interviewed hundreds of artists for magazine stories, I’ve had countless experts sweep, swipe and stipple my face, and I’ve worked alongside dozens of artists on photo shoots. Thus, it goes without saying that I’ve picked up a few (thousand) tips over the years. And yet, the learning never seems to stop.
Earlier this month, I was in New York City for a few days and popped into the Blushington Makeup Studio in Midtown to try their on-the-go service, which focuses primarily on easy, daytime, complexion-improving makeup. And I came away with a few new tricks I think will be helpful to anyone with aging skin. Like me. And like you.
Stop. Before you do anything else, swipe on lip balm Since I hit my mid-forties, my lips are dry All. The. Time. The first thing I do in the morning and the last thing I do before bed is swipe on lip balm. Yet, it never occurred to me that balm should be part of my makeup routine. It’s skincare, not makeup. But the Blushington artist started my session with a generous coat of lip balm, explaining that you swipe it on first-thing so it has time to sink in before you apply color at the end. Duh. You wouldn’t put foundation on without moisturizer (or at least I wouldn’t). And it helped. I walked out of the studio wearing a pinky-nude lipstick that felt comfortable and moist and didn’t peel off an hour later. I’ve continued this trick at home using my favorite balm: Fresh Sugar Lip Advanced Therapy.
Tap, don’t rub in, concealer I know not to kneed my eye cream; under-eye skin is thin and delicate—and tugging at it is just asking for stretching and sagging. Most pros advise using your ring-finger to gently tap in any under-eye treatment. And yet, for some reason (impatience mostly), I was rubbing in concealer to accelerate the blending. The Blushington artist, by contrast, swiped on my concealer, then left it. Initially, she didn’t blend it at all. Instead, she moved on to filling in my brows, explaining that she preferred to let the concealer, like the lip balm, sink in for a few minutes before gently tapping it in with a finger. The result was the same as my rubbing, but my under-eye skin was spared.
Consider using two colors on your brows My hair is blonde, but it’s not all one color. It has a deeper, ashy base plus wheat-colored highlights that become golder between salon visits. (Thank you mineral-heavy Michigan water.) Because most of my hair has a cooler tone, I use a taupe blonde pencil. However, the artist pointed out that the hair on my head is a mix of cool and warm, and thus it might be flattering to have my brows mimic this. She also pointed out that monochromatic brows can look harsh and fake (like, obviously penciled in), especially if your natural brow is pretty sparse. So, she started by stenciling in my spare areas with a taupe pencil similar to what I use at home. Then she followed that step with a light dusting of golden blonde brow powder. The overall tone didn’t change dramatically, but the sweep of gold powder did make my brows look thicker and the finish was softer and more natural than pencil alone. I imagine this tip works best for other blondes, light to medium brunettes, and some warm redheads. Basically anyone with gold woven into their hair.
