Why is it that the only women that get praised by the media for looking great in their 60s are a predictable group of about 10 celebrities? Maybe these women are blessed with amazing genes. More likely, their polished looks can be attributed to an army of makeup artists, hair stylists, plastic surgeons and personal trainers. Older women are under no illusions. We know that the great majority of us don't have the resources to look like a celebrity all the time. Nor would we want to for that matter! But, we do still want to look and feel our best, with a minimum of effort and expense.
The good news is that, while we can't imitate the celebrity lifestyle, we can steal a few tricks from their beauty book. To illustrate this point, I teamed up with celebrity makeup artist, Ariane Poole to create a series of free makeup videos, designed just for us older women. What I learned from Ariane is that many of the tricks that celebrities use are not complicated or expensive. Nor do they require us to buy into the anti-aging rhetoric. As Ariane mentioned, "There's only one way to stop aging... and that's not a direction that we want to go."
If you look past the photoshopping and makeup, celebrities have the same concerns about their skin as the rest of us do. So, let's look at the lives of celebrities and how we can apply their tricks to get the look that we want.
A Simple Celebrity Eye Makeup Trick
Celebrities read scripts. We watch screens. In both cases, our eyes get puffy and dark circles appear. One secret is to apply your concealer low, on top of the cheeks, not right under the eyes. In other words, don't try to cover the dark circle itself but let the light reflect upwards. This is a secret of many celebrities. Don't take my word for it. Give it a try. The effect is magical.
Keep Your Makeup in Place Like a Pro
Celebrities perform. We work. Both ordinary women and celebrities work long hours, so, eye shadow and foundation have to stay put. The secret is primer. New light weight formulations give luminescence to the face but they need primer to stay in place. Eye primer is great for preserving a long lasting smoky eye. If celebrities are short of time, they throw away the cream foundations and go for tinted primers.
Explore this Highlighting Tip that Celebrities Use
Celebrities walk the red carpet. We walk to parties. Celebrities have to shine real time on the red and their secret weapon is highlighting. To achieve the same look, use all a wonderful illuminating pen on the top of your cheeks, just at the edge of the eyes. It makes the eyes sparkle. Many famous women use a highlighter just above the lips to plump them up naturally.
Glow Like a Star with this One Technique
Celebrities pose for magazine articles. We star in family pictures. We all look for opportunities to capture a moment of beauty. This is the time to focus on bringing the inner glow to the surface. Older celebrities use a cream rather than powder blush to brighten their cheeks. The effect is natural and vibrant. Don't forget contouring with a gentle bronzer to make the cheek bones jump, accenting the face.
Give Your Eyes that Celebrity Look
Celebrities seduce their audience. We just want to shine. Eyes are the window to our soul and can communicate intrigue, passion and love. Older celebrities go for lush, thick mascara and stay away from curling or lengthening formulas. Many use a black glitter eye pencil for a special sparkle. Yes a little glitter is perfectly ok for women over 60.
Now, you can be your own professional makeup up artist and shatter that stereotype that older women don't want to look the best they can possibly be -- naturally, playfully and without ever trying to look younger.
Do you think that positive aging is a better way to describe the process of getting older? Do you think makeup is one way to bring out your inner confidence and glow? Please leave your comments and feedback below. If you want to dig deeper into the fabulous world of makeup for older women, please take a look at our step-by-step video series.
Earlier on Huff/Post50:
