A Guide to Ageless Makeup for Women Over 50, According to an Industry Veteran

In her 70 years, Sandy Linter has lived many lives as a makeup artist. In 1969, the Staten Island-born visionary started her career operating for famed movie star hairdresser Mr. Kenneth in New York City, his customers Jackie Onassis and Barbara Walters serendipitously ending up in her makeup chair. In the ’70s, she struck out on her own, touchdown profile editorial paintings with photographers such as Irving Penn, Helmut Newton, and Arthur Elgort while embodying the technology’s work-tough-play-difficult mentality and turning into a fantastic fixture at Studio 54. And via the ’80s, she often portrays the faces of supermodels Iman, Cindy Crawford, and Patti Hansen for principal campaigns and within the pages of Vogue. And because then, Linter hasn’t bogged down. With age, her skill set has grown, as she’s endured paintings with a laundry list of well-known faces along with Christie Brinkley, Debbie Harry, and Rita Wilson.

“I can recollect being younger, Sandy, the makeup artist, after which middle-aged and the similarly on then center elderly…” she laughs about her private evolution over her long time-lengthy profession. While the style industry is, at long closing, embracing ladies above a positive age, Linter believes there is no time just like the present for older women to now not simply embody makeup—but have fun with it. “There are no policies!” she insists, with just one supplement: “Wear the makeup, don’t have it put on you. Instead of seeking to cover flaws, decorate what you have got.” From herbal-looking coverage to subtle tricks that make the eyes pop, here’s Linter’s manual to ageless beauty.

Create a Glowing Base

Following a dedicated skin-care routine—cleaning, moisturizing, and exfoliating—is essential for attaining a wholesome complexion, particularly over the years. Before using makeup, spread a hydrating but weightless moisturizer veil on clean skin. “Heavy moisturizers are just now not like-minded with makeup,” says Linter. According to the pro, La Mer’s Crème de la Mer Moisturizing Cream moves the right stability between nourishing the pores and skin for a dewy end without compromising the following layers. After the moisturizer sinks in, you can target areas with satisfactory strains or dry patches with a brief-absorbing primer, like Dermablend’s Insta-Grip Jelly Face Primer with its smoothing gel texture, as favored.

Cover Up Conservatively

“You can not cover wrinkles, so don’t try to because you’re simplest going to draw greater attention to them,” says Linter. To even out skin tone, she indicates the usage of a wet sponge or basic brush to use a sheer, hydrating foundation, like Kevyn Auction’s The Ethereal formula, so that it “does not look plastered to the face.” Then, use a robust yet lightweight creamy concealer that blends without problems—Giorgio Armani’s High Precision Retouch Concealer is her go-to—at the more ruddy or hyperpigmented areas. For the eyes, concentrate on the below eyes and tear ducts to counteract dark circles correctly. “Most girls get darkest at the inner nook of their eye instead of the outer corners where you smile and have the chortle strains,” she explains.

Warm Up the Skin

When selecting a basis or concealer coloration, one is probably willing to find a genuine shape; however, Linter suggests going a shade or two warmer to ensure you do not appear washed out. “If it’s too matchy-matchy, it can age you,” she says. In that case, it is crucial to increase coverage beyond the visage. “After the face, take a basic brush and mix very barely across the neck, so it does not require to appear obvious,” instructs Linter. Then comes bronzer—and not only for the cheeks. “I use it on anybody over 50 as it warms up the pores and skin in an herbal manner,” she explains, including that she’ll sweep Serge Lutens’s Complexion Perfector below the cheekbone, down the perimeters of the nostril, across the forehead, and under the jawline for a chiseled glow.

Sculpt and Lift Subtly

Smiling while you follow blush has long been referred to as a usual, tried-and-real approach; however, it is one that truly is not as effective as you age, says Linter. “Instead of on the apples of the cheeks, I like to use blush at the top of the cheekbone and combine inward. You want to factor the eye as much as beautify.” As for sunglasses, she prefers muted, rosy sun shades like MAC’s Powder Blush in Prism. “I’ve been using it for the reason that ’90s!” she says. For extra effect, Linter will first layer with a cream system, like Kevyn Aucoin’s The Creamy Glow, and then finish it with a powder. “Sometimes simply the cream is sufficient,” she says. Placing powder is a step Linter typically skips but looks to Dermablend Banana Powder if necessary.

Play Up the Eyes

“You need to open up the eyes and make them look as large as viable as it’s greater younger,” explains Linter. The first step? Curl the lashes with an eyelash roller, beginning right at the foundation. Next, you must pick the right mascara, which calls for trial and mistakes. “There is a very thickening formulation that does not include paintings on older girls whose lashes have turned out to be thinner and more brittle,” she explains. “When they do not work, the lashes start to clump, and there is nothing greater getting old than clumpy lashes on a girl over 50.” Currently, Chanel’s lengthy-carrying Inimitable Mascara boasts a flexible pronged brush and provitamin B5-laced jet-black method that nourishes the hair while offering a natural definition and is her preferred while working with older clients. As for liner, Linter makes a point of debunking a protracted-held fantasy.

“In the antique days, they used to mention simplest use brown, but it is false that girls over 50 cannot use black,” she insists. “You need to create a contrast between the attention coloration and liner. Brown could make you appear tired if it’s not the right brown.” Shade-clever, no girl can go incorrect with Lancôme’s Le Crayon Khôl in Black Coffee. “All of us can use it!” While mascara and eyeliner skew towards basic steps, eyeshadow is more of an accent that performs up to your private fashion if you want it to. But continue thoughtfully. “Don’t take a shadow and simply plop it on the center of the lid,” she instructs. “Using a small eye brush, start from the outer corner of the eyes and paintings inwards so that the coloration gets gradually lighter. It’ll give you a larger, extensive-eyed appearance.”

Take It Easy at the Brows

First, consciousness on keeping the brows completely clear. “You want to store each eyebrow hair you’ve got, so as opposed to tweezing, trim them,” says Linter, adding that Revitabrow and Revitalash are excellent increase formulas she uses on herself. Linter is keen on featherlight hair-like strokes of Troy Surratt’s Expressionist Brow Pencil to fill in arches. “It’s skinny enough for drawing on a hair here and there without searching too synthetic,” she says. “[The shades] are so natural-looking.”

Balance Out the Lips” As you age, the lips can emerge as asymmetrical, and it can grow old,” says Linter. You can use stability out the mouth using a lip pencil in your lips-but-higher color, but the components must have the proper amount of slip. “You need it to be so smooth that the minute it touches the skin, it glides on,” she explains, adding that NARS’s Velvet Matte Lip Pencils are high-quality in this regard. Linter recommends drawing on a pencil in four separate strokes to create symmetry, constantly starting from each of the four outer corners and drawing closer to the cupid’s bow or the middle of the bottom lips.

“That manner, your lip will be better balanced,” she says. Identically apply lipstick, then use a lip brush to diffuse the rims for a slightlyfter look. After painting on a matte lip, Linter will occasionally add a gloss on top to add shine and definition, but by no means is this too heavy or sticky. This part of the method is up to the wearer; Linter emphasizes, “the finish is the only flavor.”