It is true that as we get older, we need to change our styles. We do it with our fashion and clothing choices but we also need to do it with our make-up focus.


Don’t get me wrong, age shouldn’t be a deterrent to wearing the make-up you love — it’s all about wearing it properly. Women, no matter their age, should celebrate their faces and use make-up to focus on certain features. This is my run-down on great make-up focuses for particular age groups.


In your 20s

Now is the time to push the boundaries. Try coloured eye shadow and smoky eyes.

Always use a cream base under your eye shadow to enhance the pigment and longevity of a smoky eye. Using a blending brush, make sure you smudge out the edge of your eye — there should never be a start and finish to a smoky eye, it should just blend (like smoke) upwards into the brow bone. At some point in make-up history, someone decided it was a good idea to highlight the brow bone. But when doing a smoky eye this rule does not apply. Instead, use a taupe tone to blend through the socket and upwards over the brow bone.

In your 20s you can be brave with make-up and have an adventure. Set your creamy base with any colourful loose pigment — something that reflects the light and adds shimmer.


In your 30s

Spread your wings.

A defined, winged eyeliner looks amazing on a woman in her 30s.

Make sure to powder your eyelids with translucent powder before and after your liquid line is applied. The eye area is one of the oiliest areas of the face and this will stop the line from transferring on to your brow bone. Apply mascara first to help create some friction against your eyeliner brush.

Use some tape or a cotton round cut in half as a stencil to ensure your wings are straight, sharp and even. Apply your initial line with a matte black shadow to get your wings symmetrical before you add liquid.


In your 40s

Its all about bringing back the brow.

Big brows are trending at the moment and there is nothing more flattering to the face than a perfect brow. If you’re growing your brows out or are not happy with their shape, use a brow pencil to achieve a shape you love (instead of following the existing brow).

Use short brush strokes, focusing on building your brows, strand by strand. Feather each line to imitate a brow hair. This will result in a natural look rather than blocked chunky brows. Your brows should peak upwards towards the temples. If you were to draw a line from the tip of your nose to the middle of your iris (looking straight ahead), your peak would start on this line.

Remember not to lose the tail of your brow and instead extend it out, rather than closing it down.


In your 50s

Experiment with exciting new lip colours.

If you are aged 50 and above and wearing a beige/nude/soft-pink lip shade — throw it away!

Now is the time to go bright (but classy). Embrace oranges, fuchsias and peachy corals.

I won’t lie, you will hate the look at first, it will take you a good 30 minutes of wearing the brighter lipstick before you can accept it and another 30 minutes before you love it. A bright and well-executed lip will add colour to your entire complexion, resulting in a radiant appearance.

Use lip liner to colour in your whole lip to ensure your lipstick lasts all day. If you have issues with lipstick bleeding out, use concealer to trace around the outside of your lip and blot any excess lipstick off.

When it comes to make-up, most women do tend to stick with what they’ve always done — so take the challenge and get creative. I bet you’ll love the new look.

© The West Australian