How to wear eye makeup over fifty

As we age, the skin around our eye area can start to sag a little bit and unfortunately, as we start to lose fat in the area, our eyes can look a little droopy. Many women over fifty shy away from eye makeup thinking that it will make them look older. But knowing how to apply makeup when you’re over fifty can bring definition back to your eyes, making you look younger. Because our faces change when we age, we need to mix up our beauty routines. The good news is that you can actually use eyeshadow to lift and brighten the eye area.

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Here are our top five tips and techniques for how to apply eye makeup over fifty.

Prep the eyelid first

Always prep the eyelid with concealer before applying eyeshadow to even out the eye area. This will conceal redness and veins, plus it brightens the area so you look more awake. It will also allow help to bring out the full pigment of the eyeshadow colour that you’re applying.

Use cream eyeshadow

As a base, cream eyeshadow is perfect for older women. It has a silky, smooth texture that leaves a soft, yet modern finish on the eyelids. And you can just use your fingers to apply it – so easy! I always opt for a neutral toned eyeshadow for a base as you can add deeper colours later. For older women I always suggest avoiding shimmer shades and choosing matte shadows, because sometimes shimmer shadows can bring out fine lines.

Add definition to the outer corners

Once you’ve applied your base, you can start to lift the eye area by adding definition to the outer corners of your eyes. By bringing the shadow upwards, you can counteract any droppiness. The biggest thing to remember when you’re doing this is to look straight ahead so that you’re not bringing the shadow down as this will bring your eye down too. I would then grab a coloured shadow that is slightly lighter than the shadow you just used in the outer corners, and softly blend it out in the outer corners of your lower lash line too.

Try shadow eyeliner

So many older women want to know if they should be wearing eyeliner and then answer is, absolutely! But, I love to recommend shadow eyeliner for older women. Shadow eyeliner is simply using an eyeliner brush to apply eyeshadow as eyeliner. This works best when the brush is slightly damp as this will deepen the colour of the shadow. This works best with a dark brown, chocolate shade. And when you’ve got the shadow on the end of the brush, simply push the shadow into the lash line. It’s so hard to go wrong with shadow liner and it’s a much softer, flattering look.

Final touches

If you still feel like you want a touch more definition after you’ve applied your eyeliner, one of my favourite tricks is to grab your eyebrow pencil. Your eyebrow pencil is already a natural colour that works well with your complexion, so it won’t look over the top. You can just use it to go over the shadow that you already have on your lower lash line, and you will instantly enhance your eyes more, without looking over the top.

Here are a few of my favourite eye makeup products for women over fifty: ulta3 Eyebrow Pencil, RMS Beauty Eye Polish in Magnetic ($41, mecca.com.au), Urban Decay Naked2 Basics Eyeshadow Palette ($47, mecca.com.au),

Did you find the tips in this article helpful? What are your favourite eyeshadows to wear?