How to conceal aging blemishes (age spots, pimples, scars, dark circles, broken blood vessels, splotchy skin, acne) makeup
|
|
|
|
Four steps to flawless skin over forty, fifty, sixty: apply concealer with sponge, foundation with fingers, touchup pressed powder with fine brush, mineral powder with large brush last
How to emulate the flawless skin makeup look on older women like Mary Steenburgen: clean, moisturize, conceal, light foundation, touchup, then mineral powder. Here are the four makeup tips and tricks to give you that flawless celebrity look
Conceal blemishes
As you get older blemishes and aging skin flaws, from sun and liver spots to red broken capillaries, are going to make your face look uneven, ruddy and full of problems. Never fear though, with the proper concealing steps, you can get your skin looking totally flawless and pure again. These flaw concealing tips should help you look years younger in a jiffy. With the right steps and tools you can get the job done, without looking as though you are wearing tons of makeup!
Make sure your face and hands are clean first
First things first, wash your hands and face before doing the makeup. Any kind of dirt or oils on your hands and facial skin would only aggravate the blemishes. Go through your daily facial cleansing routine. Hopefully you cleanse, tone, and then lightly moisturize. Your skin should be clean and smooth. Daily facial moisturizer applied a few moments prior to doing your makeup application does wonders for the makeup to come and acts as the perfect pre-makeup primer/fixative. After your facial cleansing your lightly moisturized clean face and hands are primed and ready for a flawless, age-defying makeup application.
Choose a cream concealer and apply with a makeup sponge
Concealer is key. You have to choose a concealer in the appropriate color to hide the type of blemish you wish to cover. You may have read about how a yellow-tinted concealer can hide red blemishes and how a concealer lighter than your blemishes can hide the darker marks. I’ve tried a variety of concealers and I conclude that you really don’t need to worry about special yellow tints or high tech special color concealer shades. A good quality, light beige concealer that is lighter than your skin color will do an adequate job of hiding just about any flaw you have.
What you do need to worry about it the quality and consistency of the concealer. I find a creamy liquid concealer (such as those that come in lipgloss like tubes) to be too runny. A totally hard concealer (such as solid sticks that come in lipstick like or push up applicator tubes) is way too dry. A good middle of the road is a crème concealer that comes in a makeup pot. An example of one that I love is NW by Mac. It comes in different shades and you’ll want one a few shades lighter than your natural skin color. Concealer is your most important anti-aging makeup weapon, so don’t be afraid to spend money on it.
Apply the crème concealer over the blemished areas with a makeup sponge. I really like a makeup sponge for this. The classic wedge sponge from the drugstore can work just fine for this purpose, however I tend to like a large round sponge for applying my concealer. The bigger sponges are hard to find because you want it to be made out of the same sponge material as the classic cosmetic makeup wedge. Sometimes you see the classic makeup wedges in a variety pack of different sizes. If there are a few big ones in there I’d buy the package just to get my hands on those bigger ones.
Once you are hooked on concealer you might find yourself lightly concealing more than just a spot on your face. A light pass over of concealer can cover most skin blemishes and on a woman of fifty that tends to be more than just one tiny spot on the face. Concealer works great on age spots, dark gray hues, and broken capillaries. You can cover dark sallow skin on the eye lids for example. So a large makeup sponge can apply it nicely, not too thick or thin.
Focus on the blemished areas and give them a light cover, apply a little bit more where there are serious problems. You are going to apply lightly with the sponge and then pat gently the areas for best coverage. If you are using a good quality concealer with a nice pigment, it won’t take much concealer to get the coverage. You don’t want a pancake caked on look and if you have a good pigment concealer you won’t need to cake it on. If it looks or feels too caked on, you might want to change concealer brands.
Apply foundation makeup (try a light weight squeeze tube style sheer foundation) to your face to match your skin tone
Now you can apply your regular foundation. I like a light liquid foundation that comes in a tube. It’s a little thicker than a jar, but thinner than a hard crème. The foundation should be a close match to your skin tone, or one teensy shade darker. Use a light coat and rub in gently with your fingers. After you apply a light amount of liquid foundation the lighter concealer underneath won’t look so pale, even though it’s still there doing a fantastic job of hiding the flaws. Your skin tone is going to look totally natural.
Touch up any remaining blemishes again with a precision makeup brush and light color pressed powder compact
Now you are going to take a good look at your face. If you see any blemishes peering out from your concealer and light foundation pass, you are going to get them gone now with a touch up trick. Buy a pressed powder compact from the drugstore in a light beige shade. Now you are going to need a professional makeup brush. Dab the brush into the light beige pressed powder and gently cover only the blemishes that still show through. This should get any remaining pesky flaws totally gone. This touchup step is the beauty secret. You’ll need a pressed powder compact in a light color and the makeup brush to cover any little thing that was missed in the crème concealer, liquid foundation step.
In the example I show the size brush for this step at top, the one shown is a medium sized precision MAC makeup brush but you can find similar dupes for less. The compact I used is Cover girl true blend pressed powder– it’s really great for this step if you get it in a light color and it costs about six dollars. The key is to get the lighter shade powder and use the makeup brush for the spot check touch up to get anything missed or showing though after the creme concealer and light foundation step.
Add the last touch of color with a mineral powder applied using a large makeup brush
Check your face and if you need a bit of color then use a large makeup brush and a little bit of color powder or bronzing mineral powder. Mineral makeup powder is great for this. You can try something like Bare Mineral makeup or a discount drugstore version of mineral makeup powder. With the brush go over any areas that need blending and remember the make up motto to blend, blend, blend for a natural makeup finish. if you despise powder because of the mess it makes, then you can always use the large makeup brush on a pressed powder in a bronzing color. The one that I like as a powder alternative is Maybelline purestay powder foundation in a darker beige color.
To review, your steps should be to get a clean, lightly moisturized face. Conceal blemishes with a makeup sponge and quality crème concealer. Apply a light coat of liquid foundation which you can blend gently with clean fingers. Hit any flaws peering through with a light color pressed powder applied with a precision makeup brush, and finish off with a mineral powder using a jumbo sized makeup brush to add sun kiss. Your flaws should be long gone and the years wiped away for the day and well into the evening. I hope you enjoyed reading this free makeup tip for turned aging skin into flawless perfection!
