Makeup can be the greatest ally you have in your efforts to look and feel fresh — or it can be your worst enemy. A lovely placement of eyeshadow or the thinnest brush of liner by your lashes can make your eyes pop. Well-placed blush can lift your cheeks and give your skin a healthy glow. And a quality foundation in a shade that works for you will make you look like your skin is evenly toned and flawless.
But if you make even a few mistakes with your concealer, foundation, blush, or eyeliner, it can backfire and make your features look small and harsh or draw attention to your skin texture, and not in the way you’d like. Makeup experts know all too well that we’re all making the same mistakes with our makeup — and it’s showing:
Here are four makeup mistakes that are “aging” and can make our skin look patchy and harsh.
1. Applying Too Much Concealer
Applying too much concealer can feel like the best step you can take to minimize dark circles and conceal crow’s feet. But more isn’t better with this makeup item — and in fact, too much concealer can settle into your lines and accentuate them even more. The better way to apply concealer is sparingly, a dot on the inside corner of the eye (which can look discolored) and anywhere else you have dark shadows, and then careful and abundant blending.
2. Dark Brown Shadow on Eye Crease
Whether you have hooded eyes or not (but especially if you have hooded eyes) applying dark brown eyeshadow on the crease of your eye can make your eyes look smaller and more closed. For an open-eye look, it’s always better to go lighter with your shadows and use neutral tones. Apply shadow above the crease and blend it upward and outward.
3. Thick Black Eyeliner
After a certain age, black eyeliner goes from being dramatic and bold to looking harsh and too intense for your skin tone. Applying thick black eyeliner to your top lid is the fastest way to make your eye look smaller. If you also add black liner to your waterline you run the risk of really making your eyes look narrow and drawing attention to fine lines around the eyes.
You can use a softer eyeliner color like brown or gray and focus on creating a line on the outside of your outer eye to give eyes a lift.
4. Too Much Blush
It’s natural to want to go a little haywire with blush in an effort to bring a rosy glow to your face. But piling on blush on the apples of your cheeks doesn’t help give your face the lift you’re after. Instead, apply blush to the top of your hand and lift it from there with a blush to avoid picking up too much product. Then apply the blush diagonally to your cheekbones.
