Eye Makeup for Older Women: How to Enhance Your Eyes While Wearing Makeup

There are tons of eye makeup products that we can choose from to enhance our looks. But do we know how and where to apply them? Celebrity makeup artist Ariane Poole is here today to discuss the best techniques and products she has encountered. Enjoy the show!

Margaret Manning:

We have a wonderful guest today—Ariane Poole. Ariane is a celebrity makeup artist, and she’s been working with Sixty and Me for three years plus now. She’s always offering great advice on positive aging and things we can do with makeup and beauty products that are going to make us feel good about ourselves. Welcome, Ariane. I’m always glad to talk to you because you are one of us.

Ariane:

Yes, I am definitely part of the Sixty and Me community.

Margaret:

And you are just so natural and beautiful. The advice you offer is from your heart, and I really appreciate that.

Ariane:

It’s in part because I work with ladies of our age group, and also, I’ll be 60 in June. So even though I started off when I wasn’t quite 60, I am now in the Sixty and Me group.

Honestly, I am really thrilled. It’s a celebration of our age and aging, which I am totally in agreement with. It’s important to me to show women that as we age, we need to tweak and change things around a little bit to make ourselves look and feel the best we can for whatever age we are.

Margaret:

Absolutely. The one thing we need to keep in mind about aging is that, of course, things change. There are those amazing things called wrinkles, and we get the jowls—things happen to our face. You can put on all the concealer in the world, but it’s not going to hide the area beneath your eyes.

But the eyes are a really seductive and beautiful pallet. You can do stuff with your eyes that can really make you feel that you are connecting with people. That’s why I would love for you to share with us some of the tips you’ve got for how to really make the best of our eyes as we get a little older.

Ariane:

First of all, eyeliner is really important. There are so many women of our age group saying, “Oh no, I don’t wear eyeliner anymore.” I understand, and it’s because they cannot do that flick anymore. Trust me, even the 35-year-olds can’t do it, so let’s forget about that.

Instead, what eyeliner does do is, it draws attention and gives our eyes a little bit more of a structured shape, which we actually lose as we get older. The eyeliner is a really tricky product to apply. Most people think they have to pull on their lid and become a contortionist, but you don’t have to do that.

In the past, I’ve always guided women to look down their nose into a mirror and tilt their head back. That technique has worked really well, but I accidentally discovered this really great new way of doing it. I was looking down in my Tweezer Man 30 times magnified mirror, plucking a hair off my chin, and I saw that I needed a little definition on my eyes.

I took my eyeliner—the one I’m using for this demonstration is a double ended Estée Lauder—and I thought, “Oh, my eyes are at a good angle, so I’m just going to try this.” I went for it and realized this was the easiest way to apply an eyeliner. It was very precise, and it got right to the base of my lashes.

Margaret:

Does this work only with a felt tip pen?

Ariane:

No. I’ve done it with a pencil, I’ve done it with a felt tip, I’ve done it with gel. I’ve done it with every single
type of outliner that is out there, because I wanted to make sure that this was not a one off thing.

Margaret:

That’s very cool. You made that look really easy.

Ariane:

I should have done it without my mascara being done, but if you can do it with mascara on, you can really do it without it, too. If you can’t twist your arm to apply the eyeliner to the other eye, you don’t really have to. You can just go in the same direction for both eyes. Either way works.

Margaret:

This technique that you just shared is so similar to my experimentation with eyeliners. I used to always wear liners when I was younger, then I just stopped. I couldn’t hold my hand still, and it looked phony. The point is to get really, really close to your lash line.

Ariane:

This is why I use this super magnifier mirror. Normally, if I was doing someone’s makeup I would wear my glasses. In this occasion though, you wouldn’t see my eyes if I had my glasses on. So I always apply my makeup with a magnified mirror—it gives me the precision and blending and everything. And this technique worked so well.

Margaret:

If you’re using a colored pencil, this technique would still work well.

Ariane:

Yes, it does. And you should slant the pencil instead of holding it with the tip pointing towards the eye.

Margaret:

So would you suggest to go with something black and very thin first, and then apply a bit of color? Or can we start with color from the beginning?

Ariane:

You can do both; you can do whichever you want. Experiment around—it’s so easy. I was so happy, because previously I was struggling with the liquid kind of liners. I could do pencil fine, but the liquid liners were just not 100%. I wasn’t getting it close enough to the base of the lashes, and I couldn’t figure out why.

Margaret:

The old saying goes, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” That’s how great inventions happen, right? I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I must have bought 30 eyeliners in my life. I’ve tried everything to get that perfect line. The one that worked best was Doctor Hauschka.

Ariane:

I know Doctor Hauschka.

Margaret:

It isn’t sold everywhere, but they had it at our grocery store, which is an organic shop. If you go to Trader Joe’s or Wholefoods or the places like that, they would probably have it. What I like about it is, it’s got a super thin line. I found that if I use it without even thinking about it, I go really close to my lash line, and it turns out really well.

Ariane:

You can just press it into your lash line as well. It’s so easy and it opens up and frames the eye. What I would also suggest is not going further than the center part of the eye. If you bring the line to the outer edge, it would make you look tired. Instead, just stop shy of the end of the eyelashes, and it will give your eyes a much better lift.

Margaret:

That’s great advice. What other things can you do with your eyes to make them pop?

Ariane:

Heated eyelash curlers are, to me, the best thing.

Margaret:

When we introduced these the last time people said, “Oh my God, I’m going to burn my eyes!” But it does not.

Ariane:

It doesn’t burn anything.

Margaret:

I think people were associating it with the hair iron or something.

Ariane:

It’s not as hot as that. And also, remember you do your mascara first, so your mascara is acting like your setting lotion, like your protection from the heat. Then you just hold it underneath the lash and curl upward.

Margaret:

I think they are really cool. I use mine all the time.

Ariane:

People who have tried the hot eyelash curler are not worried about pinching that little bit of skin that droops as we age. Another thing I can suggest is to put a little bit of highlighter underneath the outer end of the brow.

It’s not good for every shape of eye—for instance, very deep set eye would look even deeper—but if you’ve got more of a flat eye, the highlighter will have a nice effect. But I would still use an ivory and make sure it’s a match shade.

Also, I don’t recommend you use a glossy highlighter because the shimmer will make the brow bone appear too prominent. Your eyes will look sunken, and we want to avoid that.

Margaret:

Would your mineral pen work?

Ariane:

Yes, the mineral pen would work fine. I just use a plain ivory one.

Margaret:

What about the Touche Éclat? It’s the one that I use.

Ariane:

Yes, it would do the same thing. You are just going to apply it right underneath the brow arch. Use a soft ivory color, nothing too shimmery or too light. It should be almost like a second skin, so it evens out.

This area gets a little bit reddish sometimes, and I don’t know if it’s an ageing thing or a skin. Sometimes it could get a little bit sore. But the shimmer will pop the eyes open a little bit more and will make them look more vibrant. The other thing I do is I use an eye cream, but not a conventional one.

Margaret:

Yes. Tell us about this product. It’s a new one to you, isn’t it? I saw a video where you were showing it.

Ariane:

I use two different ones. One is an Ariane Poole, which is eye firming. The other one is an Estée Lauder from their Edit range, and it’s called Late Night Eraser. It’s a brightening eye bomb with pink peony. I really like both of these products.

Normally, I would never use an eye cream during the daytime, because it makes the makeup disintegrate. I choose one or the other, depending on what I want to go for. o it, I’ll do it with this one here. The Estée Lauder one has got a little wand kind of thing.

Margaret:

Do they both have the same effect of tightening the skin?

Ariane:

Yes. Mine comes with a little nozzle. But the idea is the same with both products. I love our one, because I know it works really well. I’ve also tried the Estée Edit one, and I really like that one, too. It mostly depends on which one you can get a hold of. The way to apply it is simply patting it onto the area right above the cheek bone.

Margaret:

Over makeup?

Ariane:

I would do it underneath makeup. But you can actually put it over as well. So if you’ve done your makeup and you think that it looks a little bit dry and dehydrated, you can apply it over.

Margaret:

It’s meant to be done at the time before you put on your foundation.

Ariane:

Yes. I’m patting it rather than spreading it, because I want to push it into the skin. If I rub it, it breaks up too much. The same goes for my one as well. I also love applying them above my upper lip. If you have fine lines there, this cream helps soften them. It’s not going to get rid of them, though.

The other place I apply it is at my frown lines. It softens the frown lines, because it’s a little bit more intense and a little bit richer than the normal face creams we put on.

Margaret:

Would you mix that with concealer and pat it together? Or would you put the concealer on afterwards?

Ariane:

When you get up in the morning, and finish your cleansing procedures, you can put on a little bit of cream and follow up with your concealer straight afterwards. Neither one of these two products have a drawn out down time you have to wait for, while with some creams you have to wait until they absorb into the skin.

Margaret:

That’s great, especially because as you get older it’s a losing battle to erase any wrinkles. So, having a cream that softens the wrinkles sounds like a really good idea.

Ariane:

Softening is all we could ever do. It gives a kind of blurring effect, which is really nice, and I think it works splendid. It’s great to use above the lip area as well as any other place you’ve got fine lines—or not so fine lines—that are appearing.

Margaret:

How does this product appear on Skype calls or pictures? Would it have a shiny effect where applied? Would you need to put powder over it?

Ariane:

No, you keep it like it is. What this cream does is, it makes your cheekbones look higher and lifted, so it has a double effect. The sides of your face around your cheek bone and eyes are allowed to be shiny, and this is where I use this product.

When you do Skype calls or similar things, you don’t want your T-zone (forehead and nose) to look shiny. What I would do is, I would put either the under eye face brightener or my favorite powder just on that T-zone area and a little bit on the chin because those are the areas that tend to get really shiny.

Margaret:

That makes sense. What is that powder that you put under your eyes called?

Ariane:

The under eye face brightener. I like this one because it’s not too heavy.

Margaret:

And it is a powder, but it doesn’t feel like a powder at all.

Ariane:

Exactly. It’s been milled to be fine, but not too fine that it gravitates and migrate into the fine lines and make them look big. The production process of this particular product is very interesting, and we’ve had it in our range for many years now.

It’s got a really nice consistency that is not too soft, because the products which feel live velvet to the touch tend to go into all those fine lines, and that doesn’t look so good.

Margaret:

I’m glad that you introduced us to this product. Actually, in those three years that we’ve collaborated, we have never mentioned eye creams. As a coincidence, it so happened that I’ve started using an eye cream in these past few months. I’ve completely given up worrying about concealer, and I’m glad that you shared this product with us.

Ariane:

We’ve never talked about eye creams because I would never normally use it during the daytime. First of all, it’s at night that we absorb all the things we’re supposed to absorb—we are resting and our bodies are repairing and rejuvenating.

Also, I’ve found that if you put too much stuff on your eyes during the daytime, the products tend to counteract with each other. They don’t blend very well, and when you take a look in the mirror you would notice patchy spots around the eyes, or your mascara would’ve run down. There are different kinds of issues.

Margaret:

We’ve covered two really important points in making your eyes look great: one is to use a liner, and the other is to make sure you use a little bit of highlighter under the brow if you want to raise your eyes—but not if you’ve got overly deep set eyes.

Ariane:

Yes. If you’ve got really deep set eyes, where the brow bone is already prominent, you don’t need to add a product there; you’ve already got the highlight.

Margaret:

Thank you so much, Ariane. As always, it’s wonderful to talk to you. Thank you for those tips.

What technique do you use for applying eyeliner? Is there any particular type of product that you have given up on – or one you would like to try? Please join the conversation!