How to Apply Makeup for Mature Skin 2024: Step by Step (with Pictures)

This is an easy Makeup tutorial for mature skin! with my best hacks on How to look 10 years younger with makeup. 

Today I have a fantastic tutorial to share with you that is actually one of my favorite makeups to do.

 And this is because I genuinely love how incredible this makeup does for my mature skin (I use this technique for any woman over 35!)

When I do makeup for my clients, I love how the transformation looks on the Client or the model, and my absolute favorite part is when the client is so happy because of the transformation that I just made.

As a side note, I had someone (with mature skin and deep wrinkles) once thank me for the beautiful “gift that God gave me” with my talent.

These are the kindest words a client has ever said to me. She had never worn makeup before and was afraid, but she ultimately loved the result. 

Some people over 35 have fine lines and wrinkles ( some have deep wrinkles, others are blessed by the gods and have very little to no wrinkles at all), dark spots, extra dry skin, etc.

These are things that we need to take into consideration when doing Makeup.

If you are over 35, 45, 55, 65, or even +75, looking for makeup tips to look instantly younger, attractive, and beautiful, keep scrolling on this step-by-step makeup tutorial with my secret makeup tips for mature skin.

Permanent Makeup on Mature Skins

My rule of thumb with permanent or semi-permanent makeup is: “If you are not sure that in 5 or 10 years that makeup trend will still be relevant (most likely it won”t), skip it.” 

For example, winged eyeliner is a thing now, but what if in 5 years, a winged eyeliner is not exactly the best way to do your eyeliner? What if you want to wear a different type of eyeliner someday? And you have a winged eyeliner permanent tattoo.

That’s why I personally only go for semi-permanent (like microblading) or not permanent makeup at all. 

But that’s my personal opinion.

For example, microblading is still relevant and a great way to have beautiful brows every day, but I don’t want to be attached to an eyebrow style every day. 

If you have permanent makeup tattoos either on your eyebrows, eyes, or lips, and you don’t like it anymore, this is a good tutorial. 

The model featured in this tutorial has permanent makeup that she got 15 years ago, and it’s no longer on-trend with the current makeup trends and techniques. 

So what we did was to ignore her permanent makeup completely, using tips and tricks to hide her eyeliner, lip liner, and eyebrow tattoo. 

Check the details below.

Important: Makeup is not always beneficial for mature skins with deep wrinkles or fine lines. If you don’t apply your makeup with the proper techniques for aging skin, you’ll most likely end up looking older, and your natural wrinkles stand out even more.

Quick note: I know some of my blog readers like tips and tricks to look younger, and others may prefer just the proper guidance to apply makeup when you are older.
I honestly don’t like the idea of always seeking to look “younger”. It doesn’t “have” to be that way.

“Older” is as good, beautiful, and sexy. 

 But desiring a younger look isn’t bad either.

Whatever makes you feel good and confident, go for it.

You are beautiful no matter your skin type, tone, or age.

I hope you enjoy these makeup tips.  

Skin prep for Mature skin 

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The best skin prep routine to do before applying makeup at any age it’s a hydrating routine that includes:

• Serum (this one is my favorite)
• Moisturizer (I like this one here for its anti-aging properties)
• face oil (this one here is especially effective for mature skin!)

After 20, a person starts to produce less collagen in the skin every day, resulting in skin that becomes thinner, fragile, sensitive, and combined with less elastin produced, wrinkles and dry skin start to appear over time. 

So we want to focus on our skin to be hydrated and properly prep with a serum and moisturizer like the ones I mentioned above.

Next, apply face oil on top of the moisturizer.

Yes! Face oil is a KEY to locking in all the moisture into the skin.

A couple of drops of face oil create a barrier to protect the products we applied.

The most important thing to consider To minimize the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles is hydration.  

Imagine a super dry sponge. You can see every wrinkle and small holes that the sponge has, but when it is hydrated and gets all this moisture from the water, those little holes and wrinkles get less notorious. 

So we want to kind of do the same but with our skin.

The best primer for Mature skins

Primer’s not magic it won’t make wrinkles disappear.

But it adds a smooth base for your makeup AND reduces the appearance of pores, fine lines, and wrinkles.

There are several good primers out there for mature skins. In this guide here I enlist 10 of my favorite affordable primers for fine lines and wrinkles. 

My favorite is the it cosmetics anti-aging primer.

It’s a hydrating primer that contains collagen and hyaluronic acid and hydrates the skin for a healthy and youthful look. OH, and reduces pores’ appearance. 

Now that we have our skin prepped adequately for makeup, let’s get into the makeup steps. 

Color Correction for mature skin

It’s super normal for mature skin to have sunspots blemishes, dark spots other skin imperfections that need to be corrected with color because a Concealer is not always enough to cover them. 

If you have dark spots, dark circles under your eyes, and/or Sunspots darker than your skin tone, I recommend using a peachy salmon color correction concealer like this one by Bobbi Brown.

if you have deep dark circles under your eyes try a darker shade like an orange color correction concealer

Check the quick tutorial below on how to use this color correction palette. All in one palette for flawless skin tones corrections!

This palette is my TOP option for color correction on mature skins. The formula feels soft and hydrating on the skin without leaving a grassy feeling and lasts ALL DAY.

The model in this tutorial has deep redness so I used a green concealer to balance that redness on her cheeks.

even though when it looks like a lot of product was applied, it wasn’t and I did my best to use the right amount of product because this is so important for mature skins to avoid the excess product mistake.

Note: with mature skin the phrase “less is more” has never been so accurate. Less make-up In terms of the amount of product it’s gonna make your skin look younger.

Otherwise excessive Makeup it’s going to make your skin look older and wrinkles stand out even more. 

So keep this in mind when you are doing color correction if you can avoid color correction, you can just avoid it principally if you don’t have so many color corrections that need it.

but honestly, I love to do full glam makeup even for mature skin, and color correction is an important part for me.

like anything else in makeup, is OPTIONAL.

Step 3. Foundation for Mature Skin

I usually apply foundation after eye makeup in case I have fallout from the eyeshadows. but for mature skin makeup, I want to do first the face and then the eyes, and let me tell you why. 

“We want to apply foundation concealer and everything that we used on the face and let the products settle in the fine lines and wrinkles.”

I know this sounds weird, but once we do the rest of the makeup and give the liquids and creams time to settle we can now blend the areas that need corrections before setting powder and setting spray.

I’m going to go more into detail on the final steps of this tutorial. 

After my color correction, I’m applying the foundation.

I’m using a liquid lightweight full coverage foundation.  

Foundations to avoid if you have 35 years or more: 

Stick foundation: except for those that are really lightweight and hydrating stick foundations but normally stick foundations are thick and heavy, and these are not a good fit for mature skins

Matte foundations: Avoid made foundations and instead look for satin, and dewy finish.

Foundation Tips for Mature skins: 

• Use lightweight liquid formulas. we want our foundation to melt flawlessly into the skin like we have nothing on the skin. A good option is this one here.

• Apply your foundation with foundation a brush like this one and after that, blend your foundation with a makeup sponge like this one.

• Pick a full coverage foundation. We want to get a lightweight but full coverage foundation. For the every day, a light to medium coverage foundation could be a good option, but for sexy full glam makeup, a full coverage foundation like this one is the way to go.

• CC creams are your best friend. Nowadays makeup and skincare are combined in several products. Take advantage of that and pick a foundation that also has anti-aging and skin-Loving ingredients. My favorite for mature skin is the amazing it cosmetics cc cream. 

I apply foundation on the face without touching the under-eye area and the eyelids.

We don’t want to add foundation in the under-eye area because in that area, we will be adding concealer next (and we added color corrector concealer), and a common mistake is to apply too many products under the eyes which results in a creased concealer.

Related Makeup post: Why your concealer creases under your eyes and 10 tips you need to try to STOP this from happening again!

How to do Eyebrows Makeup for Mature skin

If you, like my model, have microblading, doing makeup for your eyebrows is easy.

Basically, your eyebrows are ready to go, and you could probably need to brush them, and you are done.

A common eyebrow I see on mature skins is a very thin eyebrow either because they tweeze their eyebrows super frequently to make them look thin when that was a thing to do, and now the eyebrows don’t grow on some parts anymore, and it looks thin all the time.

OR because they have permanent eyebrows tattoo, which is thin.

The eyebrows are the definitive makeup step that will make you look younger or older.

I cannot emphasize this enough: if we are shaping and doing our eyebrows with current beauty and makeup trends, we’ll look INSTANTLY younger. And vice-versa.

I have a complete and updated eyebrows tutorial where I show you how to make your eyebrows look thicker when you have thin eyebrows or no eyebrows at all.

Related Makeup post: Microblading VS Laminated Eyebrows: Which one is the right for you

Now we are moving to the eye makeup.

PRO TIP: Once you finish your face with liquids and creams, we are going to move directly to the eyes. Once the eyes are ready, we are going to finish the face, blend what needs to be blended, refresh the face, and then, we will set everything in place.

We are trying to give some time to the makeup to one, oxides (some foundations heavily oxides and even change the tone), two, getting oily when we are gonna get oily (or dry), and three, settle in fine lines, wrinkles, etc.

Why in the world would we do that?

Because if we set our liquids/creams right after applying them, we are gonna “set” all the things I just mentioned above. without the chance of fixing those things first before setting.

This tip leaves fresh, beautiful skin and makes the makeup last all day! without creasing, patching, or settling in lines.

Eye Makeup for Mature skin

Now, the eyes.

It’s normal to have the skin on the eyes of a mature woman a little loose (the model on this tutorial has exactly that) plus aging eyes usually are deep-set and hooded.

If this is your case, below I show you exactly how to do eyeshadow if you have loose skin on the eyelids.

Also, I have two very in-depth detailed guides on how to apply makeup if you have hooded eyes and how to apply eyeshadow if you have deep-set eyes.

If you want to check them, click on them and come back here again to continue with this tutorial.

We need to bring those eyes to the front (for my deep-set eyes, my model, in this case, has both deep-set and hooded eyes), and make them look awake, fresh, bigger, and sexier! OH, and of course, LIFTED.

So I’m choosing a neutral eye makeup look, with some shimmer in strategic areas, and I’m doing this makeup with the eye-lifted technique that I’ll show you next.

Best Eyeshadow Colors for Aging Eyes

Before we dive into the tutorial, let’s talk about colors.

A question that I get asked frequently is, what are the best colors for mature eyes? Can I wear a shimmer eyeshadow? what about neon colors?

And my answer is, YES some specific colors and eyeshadows work great for mature eyes looks, like neutrals, browns, and beiges.

BUT THIS IS NOT A RULE. You don’t need ONLY to wear these colors.

A beautiful email subscriber asked me the other day if she was too old for the “sexy” makeup look? She is over 40.

My answer is, Of course not!

And I’ll prove that in this tutorial.

My model (over 50) ended up looking Gorgeous, beautiful, SEXY, and 10 years younger.

Aging eyes, like any other type of eyes, are free to use and combine shades like blue, pink, green, silver, golden, and purple just like any other.

You can choose shades that will enhance your eye based on your eye colors.

For example, if you have brown eyes, a purple or blue color goes terrific.

For my blue eyes, try a copper, bronze, and blue shades to make your blue eyes pop even more.

For more about this, check the theory of color for eyeshadow based on your eye color here.

For this look, my model picked neutrals. Neutrals are my personal favorites! I love the versatility and honestly, it looks absolutely classy, sexy, and attractive.

Should Mature eyes wear Shimmer eyeshadows?

Mature or aging eyes may wear shimmer and even glittery eyeshadows on certain areas.

The most recommended eyeshadow formula for aging eyes is matte eyeshadows.

However, you can apply shimmer eyeshadows to bring brightness to areas like the inner corner of the eye and the center of the eyelid.

Related post: The best MATTE eyeshadow palettes for Mature Eyes!

Eye Makeup for Mature Eyes: Step 1

The eyeshadow technique that I’m doing here is a classy neutral smokey eye with a series of makeup tips and tricks to lift the eye. My model has slightly downturned, hooded eyes. This means I have some extra skin in the brow bone area to work with.

The first Lifted makeup hack is to use an eye pad. I’m using these ones here.

The eye pad’s purpose is to catch the eyeshadow fallout so we don’t mess up the rest of the makeup on the face. But it also serves as a pattern to follow when applying the eyeshadows and eyeliner.

I’m using a warm light brown shade to start, and with a small blending brush, I’m applying it in the outer corner of the eye, in an inverted V motion. Here’s how it looks with the eye pad as well.

The best way to apply an eye pad is by closing the eye and directing the eye pad exactly where you would apply winged eyeliner, following your bottom lashes line towards the eyebrow.

Eye Makeup for Mature Eyes: Step 2

Next, with the same brush, I’m applying a darker shade of brown and simulating a thick winged eyeliner I’m blending the eyeshadow with the previous one I applied.

I’m NOT taking this shade to the crease (like I’d do with a regular smokey eye), and instead, I’m just focusing on creating a thick “eyeshadow eyeliner” that looks super blended.

PRO AGING EYES TIP: My model has loose skin on the eyelids, and the best way to work with it is by making transitions of colors with a blending brush. The transition effect will camouflage the wrinkles on the eyelid and this effect (a well-blended transition effect) is the easiest way to apply eyeshadow on this type of eyelids.

Next with a small flat eyeshadow brush, I’m applying a matte beige (similar to the model’s skin tone) in the inner corner of the eye and blending it towards the previous shades.

I’m also applying more of the browns to blend the shades and make a transition effect.

and it looks like this.

I recommend gently pulling some of the eyelid skin up to access every area on the eyelid with your blending brush.

Remember to release the eye and see the makeup from the front with open eyes to ensure that all the strokes we make are in the desired area.

Next, I’m applying some shimmer in the inner corner area, but this is optional.

After that, I’m moving to the next trick.

Grab a dark brown or black eyeshadow and with an eyeliner brush, draft the outer corner eyeliner.

I’m ignoring the natural eye shape of my model and instead, I’m following the design I did with the eye pad. That way the eye will look lifted even when my model has hooded eyelids.

Tools I recommend:

• Eyeliner brush for the precise lines we need to make to lift the eye.

• blending brush. A good blending brush is a tool that will make the eye makeup look STUNNING. Even if you are not good at eyeshadows, the right blending brush literally does all the JOB for you.

Now, It’s time to pick a CLEAN blending brush and blend everything we just did for a smooth, beautiful color transition effect.

Don’t forget to blend towards the fake “thick eyeliner” with an eyeshadow line we did, to enhance the lifted look.

Once we finished, I removed the eye pad, and It looks like this.

✅ You can see that even when my model has fine lines and wrinkles that make the eye look downturned, with the design we did with the eye pad and the eyeshadow technique, the eye looks lifted!

The final result below is impressive.

Eye makeup for mature eyes: Step 3 Eyelashes

Optional: You can use eyeliner on top of the eyeshadow.

but I won’t be applying more eyeliner besides the effect we did with the eyeshadow.

Next, It’s time for eyelashes.

Should mature women wear false eyelashes?

Of course, older women may wear false eyelashes, and the best type of false eyelashes for aging eyes is a natural, thin band pair of eyelashes that are medium size long.

Best Eyelashes for Aging Eyes

We don’t want to wear those super thick and heavy false eyelashes because those can make the eye look fallen.

Avoid eyelashes with a thick, black band. Pick eyelashes that have a transparent, thin band instead.

My absolute favorite false eyelashes for aging eyes (and the ones that I’m using today) are the ones by Ardell.

See how she has the common crow’s feet on the outer corner of the eye, and we combat it with eye makeup.

Best Concealer for mature skin

The next step is concealer.

Now that we removed the eye pad and finished the eyeshadows, it’s time to apply concealer under the eyes.

The reason I applied the face makeup before eye makeup was to get to this point. Now we have the eye makeup done and the makeup has settled on the skin.

So it’s the right moment to apply concealer.

First, I get back with my makeup sponge and tap smoothly through the face, trying to absorb any excess makeup, especially around the under-eye area, blending makeup that settles on fine lines, and then I’m applying concealer to get a fresh final coat to brighten the under eyes.

My favorite concealer for mature aging under the eyes is the shape tape ultra creamy concealer, I love how you can get FLAWLESS under the eyes with only 1-2 drops of product. I’m confident that you’ll fall in love with this concealer as well.

It has the perfect hydrating and creamy formula that WON’T dry out your under-eye area with also the right full coverage to cover dark circles.

How to apply concealer for Mature Aging eyes

The right way to apply concealer for aging under the eyes is by using a hydrating full coverage liquid concealer and applying it with a brush placing one drop in the inner corner and one drop in the outer corner. After that, take a makeup sponge and blend the concealer with tapping motions until you get the desired results.

Check this post where I explain step-by-step the way to apply concealer for a lifting effect!

After Concealer, I’m using a pencil eyeshadow brush, and I’m applying the medium brown on the bottom lashes as well as a thin coat of mascara on the bottom lashes.

Here’s how it looks

And here’s the before and after of the eye makeup.

lip makeup for mature women

A super important step for a mature woman’s makeup is the lips!

My model has a permanent lip liner tattoo, which like the rest of the permanent makeup she has I’m completely ignoring.

I applied a thin layer of concealer on her lips to conceal that color, and now I’m using a nude lip liner outlining her lips, and next, I’m applying a pink nude lipstick.

Thin lips on Mature Woman

This is not the case on my model but if you have thin lips I have some good tips for you to make them look bigger NATURALLY.

• Do a soft lip contour. Apply some contour above your natural lips and the bottom. This has to be subtle and don’t forget to blend it with a makeup sponge so it looks natural.

• Use a lip liner on a similar shade to your natural lips. Take a lip liner that matches your natural lip color (or lipstick color if you are not using nudes) this way we can play with the lip liner to design our lips and it will look natural.

• Overline your lips. with the lip liner, overline your lips only on the center of the upper and bottom lips. Do not overline the corners, this will make look like your lips are thicker and juicer yet natural.

IMPORTANT: Be careful to not overline your lips too much, apply your lip liner right up your natural lip line. Otherwise, it will look so notorious and we don’t want that.

Check the full step-by-step thin lips tutorial with pictures here.

Highlighter for Mature skin

Now it’s time for my favorite part! HIGHLIGHTER.

Highlighter is essential for mature skin because it makes the skin look fresh and youthful. I like to apply a highlighter on the upper area of the checks, tips of the nose, inner corner of the eyes, and some on the chin.

I’m using this super affordable powder highlighter here but I also love to use cream highlighters for mature skins. It brings juiciness to the final look.

Setting powder for Mature skin

This is a big one.

Makeup powders are not the best when it comes to mature aging skin. It can take away the natural glow the skin has and dry out, even more, the skin.

However, we still need powder to set the makeup so here’s what we do:

Avoid makeup powders as much as you can and only use powders when they have HYDRATING ingredients.

There are several powder foundations and makeup powders in general with jojoba oil, and other hydrating ingredients that are beneficial for mature skin.

This translucent powder by it cosmetics has anti-aging peptides, antioxidants, and hydrolyzed collagen. Which makes it just what we want when it comes to powder for aging skin!

What I love to do is utilize a translucent setting powder and only apply it to the areas where it’s needed instead of all over the face.

These are typical, the T-zone (chin, nose, and forehead) and under the eyes. Forget about the “baking” powder technique, I don’t recommend that for mature skin.

We are applying it with a powder brush only on the areas where the model tends to get oily and with a sponge, I’m setting the under eyes area as well.

PRO TIP: Wait at least 10-15 minutes after you applied your concealer to get the concealer settle in the wrinkles there, and then take a clean sponge (without more product added) and blend again the same concealer. After that, apply your setting powder. This is the most effective way to prevent concealer from creasing.

As a final touch apply a setting spray. The setting spray that I’m using and my absolute favorite one is the all-nighter by Urban decay. It leaves a fresh finish on the makeup and also makes it last literally (like the name says) all night.

Mature Skin: Makeup Transformation Before and after

And here’s the final result with natural light:

Final thoughts on Makeup for Mature skin

If you are a beginner, let me tell you it’s never too late to break the daily routine and start to focus more time on your makeup and appearance in general.

Yes, the “natural” look is great, but there’s no such a thing as an age limit to wearing bright colors, glitter, false eyelashes, and even neon shades.

I focused this mature skin makeup guide on the essential tips and tricks to make mature skin and aging eyes look younger, juicier, sexier, and beautiful.

Now it’s your turn to play with the different techniques and shades and customize these tips on you!

Hey! If you’d like to have this information and so much more about makeup for mature skin and anti-aging makeup tips, get our NEW Mature skin Makeup Guide here. (and you’ll also get unlimited access to updates in the future as makeup trends change for FREE)

Let me know in the comments below; what are your current makeup struggles? Your age and if you have implemented these tips before? I’d love to hear from you and know you more!

Bye-bye

Valeria H.

What’s Next? Related Mature Skin Posts:

• The Best 7 Face powders for Mature Skin!
• Retinol vs Hyaluronic Acid: Which is the best for anti-aging and How to use them both
• A simple Bronzer, Concealer, and Blush routine that will instantly lift your face!
• This is the Best Mascara for Hooded Droppy Eyelids!
• 10 Makeup tips every Over 35 woman should know!

How to Apply Makeup for Mature Skin: Step by Step (with Pictures)