Common Makeup Mistakes That Leave You Looking Older

When most of us first learned how to apply makeup, we were in our teens or early 20s, and our skin was youthful and wrinkle-free. We taught ourselves how to cover up acne, create the perfect daytime smoky eye, and make our lips appear bigger. And for many, the makeup routine that helped us look our best when we were younger stuck — and we continued doing it no matter how old we were.

However, with age, our face changes, and so should our makeup products and the way we apply them. "As we get older, our go-to makeup routines and favorite beauty products may not be performing as well as they used to, and there's good reason for that," aesthetician and TikTok beauty expert Elena Duque tells Reader's Digest. "Our skin tone, texture, and elasticity are different than when we were in our 20s and 30s, which means our beauty products and how we apply them need a little tweaking."

Luckily, there are plenty of easy tips and tricks that can help your makeup look its best, no matter what your age is. Say goodbye to makeup that enhances wrinkles and hello to makeup that will give you a dewy, youthful appearance with these tips!

With primer, for a lot of people, it seems to be a love or hate relationship. However, if you hate using primer, you most likely just haven't found one that works for your skin specifically. "Makeup primer is a great way to naturally photoshop your face," beauty pro and aesthetician Michele Spellos tells Reader's Digest. "It creates a smoothing effect that will enhance coverage and keep your foundation in place all day."

It is, in particular, those areas where you have wrinkles or fine lines that will benefit from a primer. A good primer will smooth the skin's surface by filling in those tiny lines; that way, when you apply makeup over it, it will be super smooth. While there are silicone and water-based primers, if you're looking to fill in lines and prevent creasing, a silicone one is the better choice.

Instead of going overboard with a heavy foundation, apply your concealer strategically. Most of us tend to use concealer under our eyes, and with age, the fine lines around them become more prominent. The best tip we can give is to only apply concealer in spots you really need it — which means that you should under no circumstances draw that trendy huge bright triangle under them.

Instead, apply a couple of small dots, mainly focusing on any darker areas. "You can minimize creasing, but since that we are moving, breathing beings, it is not always possible to prevent it altogether," makeup artist Suzy Gerstein tells Byrdie. "Remember to go easy on yourself. As much as a crease annoys you, it's usually nothing a couple of swipes of a damp Beautyblender or a fingertip can't fix."

If your dark circles are very prominent, consider switching to a concealer with pink undertones, as it will help cancel out the darkness even more — and you won't have to use tons of it.

Contouring your face has become such a crucial part of makeup. However, since the face tends to lose fat as we age, contouring can make the face appear even more hollow — aging you in the process. Instead, you'll want to use less product and be strategic with the placement.

"You want to contour your face in a way that gives you a lift. You can do this by placing your contour a little higher and just slightly under your cheekbone," makeup artist Theresa Novicky suggests to SHEfinds. "This will lift your face. Also, slightly above the jawline to lift that area as well. Less is more with mature skin. So start off really light and add more if you need to."

And since a lot of people tend to mix contour with bronzer, let's clarify that the two are separate makeup items. Contour is cool-toned, and it's supposed to mimic the natural shadows of your face, while bronzer is warm-toned, can contain glitter, and is meant to warm up your face by giving you a sun-kissed appearance.

Luckily, the days when we used to cover our faces in highlighter are over, as we nowadays know much better. However, sometimes we can still go a bit overboard with highlighter, especially if it's one that we adore. Placing a little here and there — and next thing you know, your face is glowing like a disco ball, and your fine lines are more visible than ever.

To ensure your highlighter isn't aging you, pick a cream one without glitter chunks in it. You want your skin to look like satin and not have any visible glitter chunks on it. "If you have more textured areas, do not add highlighter to that area, as it can exaggerate and give you the opposite effect of what you want," makeup artist Jessica Sanner tells NewBeauty.

Instead of using an actual highlighter, you can also use your skincare to create a beautiful sheen on your skin. Dab a drop of an oil serum to the high points of your cheeks, and avoid adding any powder products to that area.

When it comes to eyeshadows, using cream ones over powders will help enhance your eyes without accentuating your fine lines. However, do keep in mind that it's best to opt for a long-wearing formula and always use a primer underneath. Apart from switching from powder shadows to cream ones, you should also stick to matte or glowy formulas and avoid glittery ones. "Glittery shadows can be very aging," makeup artist Pati Dubroff tells Good Housekeeping. "Glimmer exaggerates wrinkles and minimizes contours."

If you're having a hard time saying no to glitter, be mindful of its placement. Instead of putting glittery eyeshadow all over your eyelid, put it just in your inner corner for some extra sparkle. For a similar effect, you can also use face jewels, which, if placed alongside your eyeliner or in your inner corner, can make your eyes sparkle and give you a youthful appearance. After all, that is a trend recently popularized by Gen-Z, so why not try it?

One of our best tips that can change how your makeup looks is to swap out your powder products for cream ones. Not only do creams look much more natural, making it seem like you're barely wearing any makeup, but they will also give you a dewy, youthful sheen. "I avoid powders in general and gravitate toward cream blushes, really wanting the skin to look natural, fresh, and hydrated with a healthy glow," makeup artist Beth Follert tells Ipsy.

Of course, this doesn't mean you can't use powder products. Just be aware of how they tend to settle into lines, making you appear older. So, it's best to use them only in areas where you absolutely need them (or in areas you don't have any wrinkles). Luckily, every powder product is available in cream form nowadays, which is why you can find a creamy substitute for your favorite blushes and contour products.

Here's the thing: Pulling off matte lips gets harder with age. Not only does the matte appearance make your lips look dryer and thereby ages you, but the matte finish also enhances all the lines on your lips — and well, with age, there's just more of them. "Heavy, opaque coverage with a strong line makes your lips look thin and age you by 15 years," makeup artist Fiona Stiles explains to Good Housekeeping. "I like sheerer formulas, patted on with your ring finger."

If you want to avoid the dreaded crusty-lipped look, you can use a lip scrub to ensure you remove any dead flakes from them. After that, go in with a thin layer of concealer, after which you should put on a generous amount of lip balm. Once that sets in a bit, go in with your lip liner and lipstick, preferably in a lighter color.

Perhaps the easiest makeup mistake you're making that you can fix is adjusting your makeup throughout the day. "So many women don't maintain their makeup during the day, and runny mascara or liner ends up settling in wrinkles," celebrity makeup artist Stephen Sollitto tells Good Housekeeping. "Toss a few Q-Tips in your bag, and use it to clean up throughout the day. You'll look fresher and, in turn, younger."

After all, it would be crazy to expect your makeup to stay perfectly put all day, no matter what primer or setting powder you use. Luckily, with a small makeup bag of essentials, you can always do a couple of touch-ups every time you go to a bathroom. And keep in mind — the less makeup you wear, the less there is to fix, so if you're having a busy day, keep your makeup as natural as possible.