Looking Younger - Makeup Do's and Don'ts

Makeup is an everyday routine for many women. It's useful to play up or hide features. It's also very easy to add years to your face, aging your skin and complexion. Even for people who don't wear makeup often, wouldn't you prefer to look your age, or younger, when you do apply makeup? These handy Do's and Don'ts will show you the right and wrong way to apply makeup when you're going for for a youthful look.

Do:

Wear Illuminated Foundation: It's common for aging or tired skin to loose it's luster and radiance. Skin looks dull and even two-dimensional. A dewy, glowing complexion has always been a sign of youth. A quick fix is to use an illuminating foundation, illumination foundations reflect light and add shine, reducing the signs of aging and fatigue. If you're looking for a very luxurious illuminator that still covers imperfections, try Clarins True Radiance foundation, or Stila's illuminating liquid foundation for a glowing bright complexion.

Use Lip liner: When lipsticks bleed around your mouth, it settles into the fine creases around your lips. This looks disastrous and ages you by years. To stop this use a lip liner to prevent lipstick from running. If you don't have a lip liner in your lipstick shade, never wear one lighter or darker because it will look odd. Just use an invisible lip liner, such as Sally Hansen Invisible Lip Liner.

Natural Lipstick Shades And Fuller Lips: Darker lip colors will always give the illusion of smaller lips, and smaller lips mean less collagen, which means older appearance. Natural, nude colors won't make your lips look small and neither will reds. If you really love your dark lipstick, make sure you always use your lip liner (see tip above). To make lips appear fuller, you can also wear lip gloss over lipstick, or dab some shimmer gloss or eyeshadow into your Cupid's bow for the illusion of fuller lips.

Don't:

Wear Powdery or Too Much Foundation: Don't even think about applying layers of foundation, or using too powdery makeup. Or even worse, caked-on powdery makeup. Powdery makeup will settle into all those fine lines and wrinkles, even if you have tiny ones, and they're stand out as clear as day. If your powder makeup is expensive, it might settle into lines slightly less, but they'll still be very noticeable. Also, layers and layers of foundation will cover your face unnaturally and enhance wrinkles. Instead, just let your skin's natural beauty shine through.

Apply Mascara: As I hear your shocked gasps ripple, just think about it: fresh, mascara-less eyes will make your eyes look bright and awake. If you adore your mascara too much to let it go (I hear you!) try clear mascara or brown mascara for a less dramatic effect than black. Unless, of course, you have black eyelashes. Comb out your eyelashes for less clumpy eyelashes, which always age the face. Mascara on the bottom lashes also age as they usually smudge and leave black rimmed eyes.

Wear Too Much Eye Makeup: Like I mentioned in the previous tip, less is more when it comes to eye makeup. Don't cover your eyes with so much makeup it's distracting, just maybe apply a tiny dab of eyeshadow and liner, and that'll be all you need.

These are probably the most common beauty mistakes made (or not made) when applying makeup. No matter what age you are, you can always make yourself look dull and muted if you apply the wrong makeup. And as for aging, don't try to fight it for too long, love the skin you're in!