There are many moments around this time of year when you might crave a bold and dramatic makeup look. However, for many of us, a minimalist approach — like just a hint of blush and lip gloss — is preferred in the days after the wild New Year’s Eve parties and exhaustion of the holiday season.
On those days when you feel unenergized, lackluster and want to appear more alert, achieving a fresh and lifted look may seem daunting. Thankfully, this task is not as challenging as it seems, and you do not require expert makeup application skills or an extravagant budget to accomplish it.
With that said, we checked in with professional makeup artists who shared three simple tricks to instantly lift and rejuvenate your face with just concealer, mascara and blush, especially for beauties over 50. Read on for tips, suggestions and insight from Margina Dennis, celebrity makeup artist, Mandie Brice, professional makeup artist and beauty expert, Natasha Moor, professional makeup artist and founder of Natasha Moor Cosmetics and Vivi Mintara, professional makeup artist and CEO of Eye Makeup Lab.
3 Go-To Face-Lifting Makeup Tips to Try in the New Year
1. The 3-Dot Concealer Trick
Concealer continues to be an effective and well-established cosmetic tool as it provides a way to give your face a makeover without having to go through any surgery. To prove this point, celebrity makeup artist Mary Phillips just shared an instructional Instagram video for her sizable 2.2 million following. The video goes over the technique of putting three well-placed spots of concealer to attain a facelift-like or eye-lifting result.
Phillips explains that the first dot should be applied beside your nose and blended with a beauty blender, then the second one should go to the inner corner of the eye and the third should go to the outer corner. These steps, as Phillips points out, can quickly bring life to your skin if it looks worn out or saggy.
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In her July 6th video, Phillips (who often creates epic makeup looks for A-listers like Kendall Jenner and Jennifer Lopez) tells viewers how to get an “instant” eye lift. “First, I put a dot [of concealer] at the corner of my nose and one under the inner corner of my eye and another under the outer corner of my eye. Then, I go in and blend.”
She continues: “Starting at the nose and working my way up out towards the temple. It’s a full coverage concealer and doesn’t crease and that’s it. You don’t need a ton of product. All it takes is three dots.” In the clip, Phillips uses the L’Oreal Paris Infallible Concealer in the shade, Cashmere 360.
2. Contouring with a Shimmer-Free Liquid Blush
The best kind of blush for aging, wrinkled or textured skin, Dennis says, is one with a "cream or liquid formula" that does not have an "added shimmer" or glittery element in it. Powder and shimmer formulas, she stresses, can "draw more attention to texture and wrinkles."
"I would also shy away from the creme to powder formulas because these can sometimes highlight texture in the skin," she warns. Instead, she says to "choose colors that invoke a youthfulness" like "rose, cool peach, coral, terracotta and soft reds." To give the illusion of lifting the face, she recommends "blending up and back, towards the ears on your cheekbones."
Brice agrees, and says that a liquid or cream blush will "glide onto skin much more easily," as opposed to a powdery one. "Powder makeup can dry the skin and make texture or wrinkles stand out a bit more," she echoes. "Cream tends to be a little easier to blend and work with for beginners than liquid."
"The reason I recommend to use one that doesn't have shimmer or sparkle is because often that exacerbates the look of wrinkles as well," she continues. As for how to find the best blush color when selecting the liquid or cream blush of your dreams, Brice has a nifty hack for that as well.
When choosing a color, Brice says to "try a few and see what works best, but a good guideline is understanding undertones." If you look better in gold jewelry, you're "likely a warm undertone," she notes, and explains that colors with more of a red base will be best, like "corals, bronze-toned pinks, and even a muted red."
If you're cool toned, silver jewelry looks best on you, she points out, and you can do blushes with a "hint of blue, like more purple-ish pinks." Those with a neutral undertone can wear "any color for the most part," she says, and you can base it off "what you're wearing on the rest of your face, like your eyeshadow or lipstick."
3. The 'Wiggle & Lift' Mascara Technique
As it turns out, creating the illusion of an eye lift using just your mascara is as simple as nailing Moor’s go-to technique. She explains that after you’ve curled your lashes, you should "look down and apply mascara as close to your waterline as possible" for your top and bottom lashes. "Wiggle the wand and lift. Repeat," she adds. It’s important to note that you should also ensure you’re choosing a mascara with the right kind of wand, as Moor suggests a slightly tapered one.
Using this wand, she says you should "lift the lashes on the inner and outer corners of your eyes to give the illusion of a lifted face," as this "helps your face to look more chiseled as it lifts the eye." The "worst thing" when it comes to mascara for mature beauties is when it starts "running onto your eyelids and into wrinkles," Mintara acknowledges. To avoid this, she suggests always "making an effort to use waterproof mascara," and also "heating your eyelash curlers before using them."
This step, she says, will "hold your lashes in place for much longer," and it will reduce the risk of transference from your lashes to your skin. She also points out that "you should wait for the eyelashes to cool a bit before applying the mascara," or you will heat up the product and "cause it to have a runnier consistency."
Another trick to make your eyes look bigger and more lifted is to "apply a liner on your lower lash line with a soft pencil at the base of your lashes, keeping your inner water line clear, meaning no dark liner there," Moor concludes. "When your eyes appear more open, the effect is anti-aging." (The more you know!)
