#AskEllie: Should I Change My Makeup at 30?

Q: I’m in my mid 30’s but I’m still wearing the same make-up I wore in my early 20’s. Should I be aware of certain ways to upgrade my?beauty?routine to avoid the ‘mutton dressed as lamb’ effect?

EB: In a word – yes! Every decade should herald a new beauty regime, for both skincare and makeup. You skincare regime is essential to help with how your skin processes the ageing factors that are present in the environment around us, as well as its? genetic makeup (more on that in another #AskEllie!). Today, let’s talk makeup?

In my view, there is nothing more aging than makeup. Well, makeup done badly or applied too heavily. And in order to look truly chic, you need to wear less as you get older. There is a trend in Ireland to load it on- foundation particularly, and all this serves to do is make people look much older. It settles in lines and exaggerates them as well as making skin look too matte – which therefore looks dull.

Here’s six points you should bear in mind?

Add A Glow

In your 30’s, you need to focus on adding radiance to your skin to offset aging. This is best achieved by using a BB cream or a full foundation that has a more dewy or light reflective finish. I personally rate the L?Oreal True Match BB creams or the YSL Le Teint Touche Eclat foundation as it adds a soft sheen that never becomes oily.

Reduce The Contour

Actually, why not ditch the contour entirely! In my view, contour is a photography technique that is best used in studio with a static model, under strong lighting! Can we agree to leave it there?

If you’re still unsure – contour serves to add lines to the face as well as unnatural shading where there is none – most people look like tigers with it – are we still cool? Great.

Switch back to semi-matte shadows

Step away from the glitter and heavy shimmers. You are a grown up now.

And as well as that, they only add to lines around eyes. Look for soft, sheen shadows with an almost creamy texture. The Satin range in MAC should be your happy place.

Go Easy on Eyeliner

Line the top of your eyelid to your heart’s content – this will open up your eyes, and, when done well, can give a lovely feline uplift to the eye. Be extremely wary of heavily lining below your eyes as this can cause the appearance of your eyes drooping downwards – never desirable!

The best approach when using a liquid or kohl liner on the top lid is to softly line beneath the outer third of your lower lashes too, with the shadow you have used on your eyelid so that it looks complete and finished. At night, some black kohl liner in the waterline is a glam addition, but not in the daytime ?if used then it looks too much and weirdly ageing.

Make Friends With Peach

Another trick to add glow to the skin is to find a cream blush in a peachy tone. Peach is one of makeup’s magic colours – put simply, it transforms the skin tone to look fresher – guaranteed! If you work a similar peachy/champagne tone over your eyes and a peachy gloss on to your lips, your entire look will be fresh and super-youthful. That’s what we want, right!

Find The One

Mascara that is. You need a product that works wonders on your lashes. And all lashes (and mascaras) are not created equal, so a lot of this is unfortunately a process of trial and error. The thing is, that much like love, when you know, you know. I found my true mascara love in the YSL False Lash Effect – it adds unparalleled volume to my fairly sparse lashes and serves to open up my eyes no end. I know I’ll never stray from its’ voluminous ways.