How to look ten years younger sunless tan, hair color and makeup shades that compliment and flatter your natural skin tone
Your hair, makeup and skin coloring are very important and choosing the right combination of the three (hair, makeup, skintone) colors can make you look as much as ten years younger than you are. First of all I have to say that I see nothing wrong with blond hair and I do actually like it. However what I am pointing out in this beauty Dos and Donts example is that an older woman can get carried away with trying to achieve the beautiful blond look and in fact could end up making herself look older.
If you are processing every which way – bleach, tan, makeup, straighten hair, etc, you start to look, quite frankly, processed! And this is not a good thing for an older woman. Light blond haircolor combined with a deep dark suntan is a look that can actually be aging! Hair that is too light can really wash out your skin and on older women platinum blonde hair is really not a whole lot better than gray hair in terms of anti aging.
Barbie Blonde Hair Envy
I see many women with naturally darker hair bleach it up way too high and then it starts to get damaged and break. You can see the ends being split. Sometimes ladies end up breaking their hair off and really having a problem from over processing. Their hair becomes white, frizzy and broken. I think it is very important to really look at what is going to enhance your particular looks the most, as opposed to what you want to look like. So many women get into radically bleaching their hair and they don’t consider what would actually look best on their skin tone and coloring.
The look of Christina Aguilera and Gwen Steffani with the platinum blonde tresses is nearly impossible to pull off as an older women, yet women over bleach their hair like this all the time. The only woman I can think of with bleach blond hair and tanned skin that actually looks pretty is Heidi Klum. She does manage to pull this look off to a certain extent but she does keep a more gold tone to her hair and her tan is not that outrageously dark.
Women tend to get the idea that if they flat iron their wavy hair pin straight that it looks good because it is smooth. In reality however, leaving some hair volume around the face (as seen on the right) is actually enhancing to a woman’s looks. This is a common beauty pit fall. Wavy hair women try to go pin straight and it just looks like they are trying too hard. Women that look good in pin straight hair are usually the women that already have pin straight hair. Then it looks silky and good. If you have frizzy hair and try to make it pin straight you can use all the product you want but it is never going to look as good as a naturally flaxen haired woman. So to a certain extent it hurts you to go totally against the grain of your hair so much. If you don’t know what looks best the thing to do is try different looks and photograph them so you can go back and compare.
I should mention that a long blond hair, tan woman can be more of a head turner, at least from a distance. I’ve had my hair colored both ways obviously and I do admit that I got more head-turning type of attention in the street as a blond. But I take photographs and the photos don’t lie. Too blond and too tan has an aging effect on the face when it is photographed up close. So ladies pick your weapon of choice – do you want to turn heads from a distance or do you want to look younger up close and personal? It is a hard decision for sure! The best solution is to keep at least some low tone gold in your hair and keep the tan on the light golden side. Then you would be getting the best of both worlds! Think of supermodel Gisele Bundchen. She is the perfect example of dark golden hair, light golden tan, natural wave … perfection!
Sun Tan Caution. Too dark of a suntan will draw attention to wrinkles and can age you by decades
A too dark fake tan on an older woman is going into danger territory. I would keep the tan to golden because if you go overboard it can make your skin look older and leathery and it will literally accentuate your wrinkles and flaws. Have you ever seen an older women with really blonde hair and a deep dark brown tan and she looks younger from behind, then she turns around and you see the face of an old woman? Let me tell you that sun worship is the absolute worst damage that you can humanly do to your skin! Not only does it age your skin prematurely, it gives the face a horrible leather like look. Sun tanning and tanning beds cause your skin to wrinkle, sag, get splotchy, causes age spots, not to mention skin cancer.
If you are going to tan at all I would use the self tanner creams, lotions and sprays. That way you at least avoid the sun damage. I have to say that a fake tan can look really pretty however I would keep the color in the golden tan range and never get too bronzed dark. The Victorias Secret Models are the perfect example of good fake tans. They get spray tanned to a golden perfection for their shows and in the catalogs. That level of tan can look really great on a women and give them a sun kissed glow. I would experiment with the fake tanners and you can even splurge and get one of those instant spray-on Mystic Tans if you are going on a special vacation or romantic weekend.
Makeup in Moderation. Don’t cake on the make up because caked on makeup will make you look older
Lastly, sometimes less is more in the way of makeup. The blond version on the left has too much makeup around the eyes and on the lips and it looks like an old lady in tons of makeup trying to look young. The photograph on the right has a more natural look and feel to it and the woman looks younger, even though she is three years older! Keep your makeup as natural looking as possible for the best anti-aging effect. Go for neutral and natural looking colors like beige, tan and brown. You want the makeup to enhance your features (so you need to wear makeup for sure) but not so much of it that all you notice is makeup.
