Beauty: Making Eyes

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This post is part of the Gorgeous 50’s series inspired by a book given to me by one of my sisters on my 50th birthday – ‘Grown up and Gorgeous in your 50’s’ by Pamela Robson.  I will be sharing some of Pamela’s words and my own thoughts along the way.  To see all posts published as part of this series, go here.

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Under BEAUTY we’ve already discussed the subject of beauty in our 50’s generally, and we’ve looked at The Three S’s, Skin Care, Make-Up, and Back to Base.  In this post we’re focussing our attention on our eyes!

Pamela says:

Once the skin on your eyelids starts to become crepey (or if the skin on the upper lids has started to droop, or if your eyes are losing that definition they used to have), there is a whole new set of make-up rules to learn.  For example, multi-tiered colours of eyeshadow are too complicated for older lids.  Instead, use two neutral shades and blend them so they look natural.

EXPERT TIP:  A dab of concealer at the inner eye corners, blended well, will really make you look bright, fresh and awake.

THE EYE ISSUES:

Crepey Lids – Resist the temptation of shimmery or bright colours.  They magnify imperfections.  Stay away from dry, powdery products that can exaggerate crepey skin; likewise, be careful of greasy creams that can ‘pond’ in folds. Pick a soft, matte cream in natural shades – and lightly press face powder over your lids with a puff before you apply shadow, to create a smoother-looking surface.

Loss of definition – Smudge a soft wisp of eye pencil along your upper lashline, in flattering natural shades.  Try to get it as close to the lashes as possible, starting from the inner eye and working out.  A couple of coats of very black mascara will also work wonders.

Droopy lids  – ‘Bedroom’ eyes can be very sexy – just look at actresses Ellen Barkin and Charlotte Rampling!  But if the droop has gone beyond sexy and entered the realm of plain old tired, don’t resort to surgery just yet – have your eyebrows shaped by a professional (more on this when we discuss eyebrows) and define your upper lashes with mascara.

Dark circles – The correct concealer will really help with this common problem, as will avoiding liner and mascara on the lower lashes.  A dusting of pastel pink blush on the apples of your cheeks is a clever way to distract attention from the dark circles.

My thoughts:

LESS IS MORE

Well I’m no expert in the make-up department but the older we get, the more I believe that ‘LESS IS MORE’, and yes this applies to makeup in general but most definitely to eye make-up.  

I think we can apply a little more eye make-up when it comes to evening outings or more fancy occasions, but stick to a simple natural routine for a general casual day look.

I also believe that what makeup you apply depends on the individual and their eye ‘situation’.  I personally don’t have a large eyelid area for fancy eyeshadow effects (completely wasted on me) so I stick to mascara and eye pencil/eyeliner (for when I dress up a bit) and nowadays I also use an eyebrow pencil (never used to have to in my younger days).

MASCARA

I adore mascara.  It brings my eyes to life.  It takes me from looking tired and exhausted – to alive and vibrant.  It also makes my eyes look bigger and brighter.  But for many years I have failed to find a mascara that I’ve been happy with.  My current mascara was on its last legs and I was determined to not buy another dud, so I put a request out on social media for names/brands of favourite mascaras as I wanted to buy a good one – that was waterproof, that added volume and length, and that wasn’t blobby and yuk!  I ended up buying Too Faced – Better Than Sex Waterproof mascara from Mecca and let me tell you – so far I think that it’s fabulous!  It also arrived all boxed up and packaged beautifully – such a treat!  

EYE LINER

I adore eye liner too!  I reserve this for when I’m ‘dressing up’.  I have green eyes so I like a green shade of eye liner or a silver/grey/charcoal or a brown.  I never use black – it’s too hard and harsh for me.  I always make sure to smudge and blend my eye liner so it doesn’t look ‘drawn on’. 

EYE SHADOW

As I said above (under less is more) I don’t bother using eye shadow but I do agree with Pamela that if you do use it, stick to natural shades and avoid shimmery, glittery, bright ones that exaggerate and draw attention to flaws!

DARK CIRCLES

Concealer for dark circles under the eyes:  I don’t do this, but perhaps I should.  I must investigate appropriate concealers.  If you can recommend one, please let me know in the comments!

EYEBROW PENCIL

As we get older our eyebrows get thinner (less thickness of hair) and we get grey ones.  I know – harsh isn’t it?!  SO … we need to apply some eyebrow pencil to give the illusion of darker and thicker brows.  It makes an enormous difference to the framing of the eyes and our face in general.  Just don’t go crazy and have fake drawn on looking eyebrows …  that is SO not a good look!  Keep it natural looking.

What are your tips and tricks for making our eyes pop and look great?  Do you use concealer to reduce those dark circles?  Got loads of eyelid for eyeshadow, unlike me?  Any eye make-up products you want to recommend?  

Ciao for now,

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