I see gorgeous women every day who are adding years to their own faces by making these 5 eye makeup mistakes that make you look older. To be honest, it really frustrates me. If you’re trying to create a fresh, more youthful look, these mistakes will sabotage your efforts.
These eye makeup mistakes are EASY to fix!
Which makes them all the more upsetting to me.
1 • Your Moisturizer Isn’t Doing The Job
When you’re over 40, your eye area needs to be thoroughly moisturized. No excuses. No way around it. If you don’t spend some times applying some serious moisture to the area, don’t bother with the makeup.
Concealer on dry skin just makes wrinkles look worse.
Plump those wrinkles with some moisturizer before you apply any concealer. Apply your moisturizer or eye cream, let it soak in, then apply concealer. Sometimes it might need 5 minutes to soak in. Give it that time! Work on your hair or something else while you wait. This is not a step you want to skip. You will be sabotaging your look at its very foundation.
Pro Tip: A little tinted moisturizer or a BB Cream can be a great primer for concealer around the eyes. They add moisture and some color to the area.
2 • You Use Way Too Much Concealer
Look, I know all the YouTubers pile on the concealer, but the fact of the matter is…
Heavy concealer makes wrinkles look worse, NOT better.
Use the least amount of concealer you can get away with using. Concealer will gather in wrinkles and “crease” which actually makes your wrinkles look works.
I never apply concealer around my eyes before I apply foundation. I tend to use less concealer when foundation makes the rest of my face look more even. Also, I look in the mirror and smile to show myself where my wrinkles are, and I try to stay away from those areas as best I can when applying concealer.
3 • Your Eyeliner Ends Up On Your Top Lid
I see this a lot, and it’s happened to me. I apply liner, or even eye shadow, to my eyelid and then my droopy, hooded lids lay on top of my liner and I end up with liner on my upper lid area!
Sometimes this is easily fixed by simply waiting for liquid liner to thoroughly dry. If you’re using a pencil liner, look for waterproof formulas. There are some good ones out there! Using an eye shadow primer can help to keep shadow from ending up on your hooded lids.
4 • Your Mascara Ends Up Under Your Eyes
I’m not talking about mascara that runs if you cry. I’m talking about mascara that just breaks down during the day from sweat and oil. If you have hooded eyes, your lashes likely touch your eyelids, exposing them to sweat and the oils not only from your skin, but from your makeup. This can break down your mascara’s formula.
A waterproof mascara solves this problem. If you don’t like using waterproof mascara every day because the removal is such a pain, try Blinc Mascara. It stands up to all-day wear and never, ever flakes or smudges.
5 • Bottom Lash Mascara Can Be A Bad Idea
Mascara on the bottom lashes of mature eyes can create a shadow under the eye, darkening the area. It can drag the eye down, something my over-40 eyes don’t need any help doing.
Also, unless you’re using waterproof mascara, bottom lash mascara will end up flaking off. It will. And then you’ve got that smudged or flaky look. I have found that just not wearing mascara on my lower lashes is the best practice. If I wear any, I wear clear mascara on my lower lashes.
The goal is a fresh, bright look.
These five eye makeup mistakes will not only defeat your efforts to create a bright-eyed look, they will actually make you look older than you are. They are simple mistakes and easy to avoid, you just have to know if you’re making them.