Step 1: Rub a dab skin cream on to your face before applying makeup

Women forget to put moisturizing skin cream on prior to applying makeup, and often use night cream but not morning cream. A little beauty trick is to apply a dab of thick moisturizer onto your hands and cover entire face thoroughly with a very light coat of the cream. A thick cream works best because it adheres well and your makeup won’t slide off it. If you apply a light coat of thick in consistency moisture cream before makeup your makeup will go on smoother and more uniform. Dry skin flakes and patches will be invisible. You’ll have that hint of glow coming out from the moisturizer layer and the effect is a glowing radiant face.

Step 2: Use a flaw concealer one small shade lighter than your skin tone

I’ve read so many tips about using colored concealers (called light correctors) for cutting down unwanted skin redness, yellowed sallow skin, gray under eye circles and blueish skin. The most popular one is to use a yellow color concealer which I’ve tried and don’t recommend. I really don’t like the idea of trying to use color corrector concealers to overlay on skin in order to effect a color change. I’ve tried the colored concealers for this and never had any luck with them.

What I recommend is to use a simple flesh tone concealer in one or two shades lighter than your skin color. The lighter color gives better flaw coverage and it’s really all that you need. I generally don’t buy expensive makeup but good concealer is the exception and I like Mac NW 15 or NW20. I apply it with a makeup sponge. Remember you have to follow the first step (moisterize) so that your skin is supple for the concealer to go on. The supple skin is a prerequisite and will save you from having the caked on look. Mac NW concealer has a really thick consistency and great flaw coverage (which is what you want) but if you skip the moisterize step it will look too pancake like. Moisterize, then follow with a thick in consistency concealer. I use a makeup sponge to apply it.

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Step 3: Use a liquid foundation one small shade darker than your skin tone

Most women will match their foundation to their skin tone exactly. Then, if they are too pale, they try to add some blush. I don’t like this approach. Powder blush and bronzer tends to look lousy when you have to apply a lot of it to change your skin color to add more life into it. Better to add some life with the liquid foundation color (and not leave it all up to bronzer) in my opinion.

I actually think you will get a more perfect flawless skin look by choosing a liquid foundation color one shade darker than your skin tone. Rub it in well over the light concealer. You will see it gives a great effect because the light concealer hid the flaws and now you are adding a glowing sun kissed foundation tone over it. The combination of a little lighter conceler plus a little darker foundation gives my skin the best sun kissed glow (much better than matching both to my exact skin color). I use my fingers to rub in liquid foundation.

Now that your skin has an overall glow to it with the moisturizer, concealer and liquid foundation steps, you will only need to apply a little bit of bronzer around the outer circle of your face, if any is needed at all. Less bronzer always looks better than more bronzer which leads to tan blotches.

As I’ve aged I adapt my makeup tricks to techniques to suit my skin best

Beauty experts normally recommend that your foundation match your skin tone perfectly. The problem is that for women over forty they lose some of the natural color vibrancy of their skin and the color is more dulled and washed out. If you do an exact match to your mature dull skin tone, it’s not going to do you a whole lot of good. I find the combination of a little lighter concealer (which gives better flaw coverage) followed by a little darker color foundation (gives a healthy skin kissed glow) to be the magic one-two secret for mature skin.

The best way to gauge your result is to take a picture of your face using your old routine and then take a picture of your face using this method. Looking at a photo should make it obvious if there is an improvement. Give it a try and let me know what you think.