Must-Know Beauty Tips | 07/28/2009 10:00 am
The Biggest Beauty Mistake: Wearing Too Much Makeup
This common beauty mistake doesn’t just make you look ridiculous — but older!
© Shutterstock
Editor’s note: We would like to thank Risi-Leanne Baranja, the editor-in-chief of Palacinka Beauty Blog at palacinka.com for providing us the answer to our question: What is the biggest beauty mistake the over-40-year-old woman makes?
The biggest mistake is wearing too much makeup, which can settle into fine lines and not leave the skin looking youthful. After 40, a woman should follow this rule of thumb: S, G, L (Sheer - Glowing- Luminous).
Moisturizing is key for older women with dry skin and/or fine lines.
Applying a lightweight moisturizing makeup primer (w/SPF like Smashbox
Photo Finish Primer w/SPF15) is ideal before adding foundation or
tinted moisturizer.
Next, pick the right foundation and only use it where you really need it. A great new drugstore formula is Cover Girl & Olay Simply Ageless Foundation.
Apply illuminating powder or cream strategically on the upper
cheekbones, the center of your forehead and just below your lower lip
to also create the illusion of lift.
Laura Mercier Shimmer Loose Powder and Dior Night Diamond Powder are great choices.
- Dear Margo: When Dad/Gramps Just Ain't Interested
- Could Mammograms Fall Victim to Obamacare? by Liz Peek
- Liz Smith: Sharon Stone, Steve Tyrell, Sarah (You Know Who), Glamour, Lesley Gore – and More!
- Queen Martha, by Cynthia McFadden
- LIZ SMITH FLASH! The Kennedy Conspiracy and the Mafia
- Remember shopping pre-Internet? What era/memory in the evolution of shopping do you think of most fondly?
- The Love Goddess: In Sickness and in Health ... But Hold the Sickness
- Let Down and Felt Up? by E.D. Hill
- The World in Vogue (Photos)
- Mr. wOw: Falling in Love Again With 'Marlene'
- Dear Margo: When Dad/Gramps Just Ain't Interested
- LIZ SMITH FLASH! The Kennedy Conspiracy and the Mafia
- Liz Smith: Sharon Stone, Steve Tyrell, Sarah (You Know Who), Glamour, Lesley Gore – and More!
- Queen Martha, by Cynthia McFadden
- wOw Celebrates Literature With 'Words Move Me'
- Liz Smith Remembers the 'Good Old Days' of Department Stores
- Could Mammograms Fall Victim to Obamacare? by Liz Peek
- Remember shopping pre-Internet? What era/memory in the evolution of shopping do you think of most fondly?
- Mr. wOw: Falling in Love Again With 'Marlene'
- The Love Goddess: In Sickness and in Health ... But Hold the Sickness
- Could Mammograms Fall Victim to Obamacare? by Liz Peek
- Dear Margo: When Dad/Gramps Just Ain't Interested
- Let Down and Felt Up? by E.D. Hill
- Remember shopping pre-Internet? What era/memory in the evolution of shopping do you think of most fondly?
- Mr. wOw: Falling in Love Again With 'Marlene'
- LIZ SMITH FLASH! The Kennedy Conspiracy and the Mafia
- The Love Goddess: In Sickness and in Health ... But Hold the Sickness
- Queen Martha, by Cynthia McFadden
- Liz Smith: Sharon Stone, Steve Tyrell, Sarah (You Know Who), Glamour, Lesley Gore – and More!
- Caption This!
wOw Features
Reader Voices
Caption This!
Dear Margo: When Dad/Gramps Just Ain't Interested
6 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment
I have to disagree with you on this on this one, Belinda. I think as near to natural is more appealing. All that makeup clogs pores and is disastrous in the long term. I’m no raving beauty at 45 (far from it! lol) but I use a little eyeliner and mascara, a light moisturizer…and maybe a light cover-up for those distracting imperfections that pop up on occasion. But hey…that’s just me. Your picture shows a beautiful woman with fabulous skin! I should be so lucky! I still think that too much of ANY good thing can turn bad.
Thanks for the compliment Debbie, but my photo shows how I look daily and on that photo I have a TON of makeup on. I like to have a flawless look to my skin and since I don’t have it naturally, I wear Dermablend to fake the effect.
If I had beautiful natural and even toned skin I would be like you and wear as little make-up as possible. But from what I have seen far to many women buy into the "oh I only need a little mascara and lip gloss" yet they look awful.
I stopped worrying about wearing too much makeup when I stopped wearing it completely last year. Though I felt really good about it, I must look anything but good, since well meaning friends and family suddenly started surreptitiously giving me all kinds of makeup.
The biggest beauty mistake women 50+ make is not wearing makeup at all. Either they feel dermatological procedures like Botox and fillers take the place of cosmetics, overdo the self-tanner to skip foundation and concealer. This is the reason I love Lesley Stahl who always gets it right.