The best of 2016: Eyeliner and mascara you should use in your 60s

Our eyes are sometimes described as the windows to our soul. They are our dominant facial feature, so it is time to say “hello” to age appropriate eye makeup and beautiful windows into our soul. Eye makeup can present a challenge to the mature age lady as she copes with awkward fingers and using small makeup tools, wrinkles in which eye makeup can settle, poor eyesight – how hard it is to put on makeup whilst wearing glasses? Don’t shy away from the challenge because appropriate eye makeup can provide a flattering and glamorous boost to your appearance.

ESSENTIAL EQUIPMENT:

● Magnifying mirror to help you see the details.

● Flexible lamp to light up the details.

● Good quality tweezers

● Cotton buds for adjustment, definition and cleansing.

● Brow brush and comb usually combined.

● Pack of disposable lash brushes.

● A brow template if desired you might need to shop around, or try online.

● Eyeshadow applicators.

● Sharp pointed scissors.

● Eyelash curler.

ESSENTIAL PRODUCTS:

● An eyeshadow palette of matte beige, brown and/or grey shades, plus a matte white highlighting eyeshadow.

● A compact of very pale ivory pressed powder.

● Small stiff brush.

● Eyebrow pencil to suit your colouring.

● Brow Extending Silky Fibres available from pharmacies.

● Mascara wand black.

● Brow gel.

● Soft eyelining pencil to suit your colouring. Estee Lauder’s Stay In Place Pencil suits over 60’s perfectly.

EYEBROWS

Our eyebrows coarsen, change to grey and may grow erratically in length as we age. New hairs do not seem to form and we don’t need to pluck so often. Beware of plucking overlong brow hairs; new ones won’t necessarily grow. It’s better to trim with sharp pointed scissors.

TIP: Pluck stray brows growing outside the eyebrow line whilst sitting in broad daylight. 

I cannot emphasise enough the importance of prominent eyebrows – the brows frame the face and give definition to our features. Have your hairdresser dye them as dark as you can go during your regular appointments to create a shape to follow when doing your eyebrow makeup.

If prominent eyebrows are a first for you, don’t be nervous; experiment and stand back to view the overall effect because that is what is seen by others.

SEVEN TIPS FOR PERFECT EYEBROWS:

1. Clean any powder or foundation out of the brows with a cotton bud dipped in makeup remover. Wipe over with the other end of the cotton bud. Brush into shape.

2. Shape the inner ends of your brows with your freshly sharpened eyebrow pencil (one turn in the sharpener will take away old makeup residue).

3. Either using a brow template or working freehand, fill and shape each brow with Brow Extending Silky Fibres.

4. Touchup with the eyebrow pencil, if necessary.

5. Brush on brow gel.

EYESHADOW

Because our eyes become deeper set as we age, matte eyeshadow in pale colours looks best.

Use a beige and smoky grey or brown palette, plus a matte white highlighter.

How to Use Eyeshadow to Bring The Eyes Forward:

● Don’t apply any moisturiser or makeup to the eye area between lashes and brows.

● Dustup the ivory pressed powder with a small stiff brush. Apply all over the eye area from lash to brow with the eyeshadow applicator. Extend into the corners, beside the nose, evenout shadows and cover dark areas.

● A dash of matte white highlighter under the brows.

● If you like, a sweep of beige, brown or grey eye shadow in the lid crease.

● Finish by blending with your fingertips or the eyeshadow applicator, paying attention to edges and creases.

MASCARA AND EYELINER

Carefully draw the soft eyeliner pencil as close as you can to the lashes. The idea is to work the liner into the crease of the lashes, giving the illusion of longer eyelashes after the mascara is applied.

Bend lashes with an eyelash curler to position them up, up, up and counteract the down, down, down effect of gravity.

Coat lashes with black mascara, then spend time at your magnifying mirror brushing and separating those lashes using a sideways movement. Remove any excess mascara or clumps with a cotton bud.

At around 60, say goodbye to mascara and eyeliner on the bottom lashes it nearly always clumps and collects in the creases under the eyes.

This complete eye makeup routine is lovely during the years around 60, but as time passes and we are in our 70s, the complete works may look overdone. You will need to lighten and soften the colours used lighter greys and lighter browns. Perhaps miss some of the eye makeup altogether. Say, miss the eyeliner and brown eyeshadow in the lid creases and maybe the matte white highlighter. I have reduced the amount of eye makeup I wear, but have lash extensions applied regularly. Wonderful! No need for eyeliner or mascara at all and my eyes are still beautifully enhanced.

LASH EXTENSIONS

This is not an overly expensive procedure. I pay $50 to have the lashes renewed every six weeks. You can have infills done to fill any gaps as the extensions gradually fall out, but I find it more convenient to boost my lashes with mascara when the lash extensions are coming to an end.

The advice is to not wet the lash extensions for the first 24 hours after application, but after that, they seem to cope extraordinarily well with face cleansing, showering and hair shampooing.

Gently brush and position the lashes every morning you can use mascara if you want more drama. Trim any out-of-place extensions with sharp scissors. Ask your beautician to keep it age appropriate, but don’t be too timid; make them noticeable.

It is even more important for ladies who wear glasses to carefully make up their eyes because glasses often have a magnifying effect. Build on that and dazzle with beautiful eyes.

I hear that 60 is the new 50, so I presume that 70 is the new 60 and 80 will be the new 70 and whilst we may not want to be remembered for our eye makeup like Elizabeth Taylor in the movie Cleopatra, let’s pay attention to beautiful eyes for our next 30 or so years and allow that beauty to continue right into our very soul.

For other great Health & Beauty Tips For Women Aged Between 60 & 80, Margaret Woodberry’s book is available for $24.95 here.

<h4>This piece was originally published on Starts at 60 as ‘Eye makeup and eyebrow tips for every over-60 woman’. It was one of our most popular contributions by the Starts at 60 community in 2016.</h4>

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