Eye Makeup for Older Women: How to Avoid the Painted Lady Look

Age has never stopped us from wearing eye makeup. But do we know how to apply it so that it flatters our mature skin? Join us in conversation with professional makeup artist Ariane Poole, who has some exciting new techniques to share. Enjoy the show!

Margaret Manning:

My guest today is Ariane Poole. Ariane is a professional makeup artist, and she has been with Sixty and Me for many years now. She always gives us great advice on makeup and beauty, and how to match your outside looks with how you feel on the inside. Welcome, Ariane.

Ariane Poole:

Hello, Margaret. It’s nice to be here.

Margaret:

You look great. I’ve been following your tweets and pictures about your trip to Australia and your presence on QVC UK.

Ariane:

Thank you. I just got back from Australia two days ago.

Margaret:

It’s great that you’re teaching people to have a different attitude toward beauty and aging. Thank you.

When it comes to makeup, our community has lots of really good questions. One area that keeps our interest as we age is how to use eye makeup in a way that flatters us and makes us look natural without overdoing it. I think making the right adjustments could make a difference. What is your advice?

Ariane:

A lot of women do one of two things: they either continue wearing their makeup the way they’ve worn it since they were in their teens and 20s, or they give up completely. Neither of those scenarios is a good option. What you need to do is adapt a little bit.

If you are still wearing your makeup the way you did in your teens and 20s, you need to soften it up a notch, not give it up altogether. As we get older, we need definition in our eye area not just in our eyebrows, and I suggest to people to use eyeliner. The secret here is not to apply it too heavy.

That really heavy black liner, which looked fabulous in your teens and 20s, doesn’t work anymore. I recently did a makeup lesson with a lady who was in our age group. She really wanted to learn how to do the cat flick, but I told her, “You can’t do that anymore.”

Our eyes start to droop a little bit when we get older, some more than others, and that makes the cat eye look like a sad cat. It just doesn’t have the same effect anymore. If you tried to make the flick go too high, it would be more like a tick rather than a flick.

Margaret:

If you want to look like a sad cat though, that’s OK too, as long as that’s the look you’re going for.

Ariane:

That’s true. But if you use your liner sparingly, without those excessive contours that worked so well when we were young, suddenly people start to notice the change. They think you look rested, your eyes look brighter. So I’m not saying dismiss the eyeliner.

Margaret:

Can we back up a little though and talk about the things that you apply first, before you do the liner? For instance, some people might want to apply cream.

Ariane:

In most cases, you’re not going to just wear liner. Although, if you did want to only wear liner, what I would suggest is putting on some kind of a concealer product. I use my Mineral Illuminating Pen on ladies’ eyes because it doesn’t budge. You don’t want something that’s too creamy because it will go into the crease.

As we get older, our eyelids become more stained. Sometimes they even get more veiny. I know it’s true because I see it happening to me. I also have a couple of pigmentation marks on my brow bone where I haven’t put sunscreen.

So erase all that. If you love to wear your eyeshadow, choose colors that are sheer and you can build up on. Don’t go for really dense shadow.

Margaret:

I think it’s really important to have a foundation so when you do put the liner on, it can layer. You can always layer the eye shadow if you want it a little bit more sparkly or darker.

Ariane:

Yes. And I have a really light, neutral kind of palette. It’s got flattering shades. It isn’t “nothing.” It’s our new Café Chic palette.

Margaret:

It’s really pretty. It reminds me of a Chanel palette that I’ve looked at. I love that purplish-gray one.

Ariane:

It’s a great palette. My recommendation is to forget about putting the lightest color all over the lid, because that makes it much more difficult to get the right color. Instead, use the mid tone color as your first port of call.

The mid tone color, for me, would be either a combination of the pink and brown, or just one of them on their own. Then use a darker shade to define your eye, and, at the end, highlight. The finished look would blend really nicely.

Just remember, no matter which brand of eyeshadow you’re using, whether it be Dior, Estée Lauder, Chanel or whoever, use the mid color first.

If you tend to have oily lids, you can put an eyeshadow primer on first. I always use my Crystal Taupe as my eye base, and I know you’ve got the Cosmic one which is a great base, if you’re using purple shades. There are lots of other eye bases out there, so use whichever one you prefer. Then you need to put the definition.

Margaret:

You can do eye shadow beautifully if you’re a little bit subtle. If you apply streaks and colors that don’t blend well you get that ‘painted lady’ look. It really makes all the difference.

Ariane:

A great look that I also wear starts with applying my Graphite Eyeshine as an eye base. It is gray and perfect to use as a base for bolder shades.

Margaret:

I don’t know about the Graphite, but the Crystal Taupe is always sold out when you appear on QBC. I use it often, and I highly recommend it because it is a great base that you can build on.

Ariane:

I love the gray one, especially when I’m going for a bolder look.

Margaret:

But you don’t overdo it, so it looks sheer.

Ariane:

Exactly. After I apply my eye base, I use a purple pencil as a liner. I could go with black, but not in the day time because it’s too fierce a color. In the night, black works just fine – it makes you feel sexy and gorgeous.

I apply the pencil as a liner to my top lid. The technique I use is the same as if I were plucking hairs under my chin: I look down at the mirror. The purple looks quite subtle on top of the gray.

Now, I hear from a lot of ladies that they don’t want to use color and go for browns instead. However, browns can make us look tired as we get older. It gives us that sort of invisible look. We should definitely not be invisible, but that doesn’t mean that we have to be painted like crazy.

With a finger, I take a purplish shade and dab it over the outer corner of my lid and add a little underneath the eye. Then I apply a lighter color at my brow bone, under my brow which blends really well.

Margaret:

It’s really pretty. This is the kind of look that I like.

Ariane:

And it would look really gorgeous on you. So, I used gray as a base, the purple pencil as a liner, the purple shade and the lighter shade. To finish the look, I will apply my black mascara.

Now I really want to stress that I stopped the eyeliner just short of the end of the lashes. If you continue it until the end of your lid, your eyes will appear as if they’re drooping down, even if they’re not. That’s just the natural way our faces go as we get older.

So, if you have applied your liner that way by mistake, take a concealer pen and draw a diagonal line from beneath your eye to the end of your brow. Then just blend it with your fingertips, and your eye will get back to its normal upwards appearance.

Margaret:

It’s such a big difference. I think the painted lady look comes from the basic longing to have people notice you and think, “Oh that’s just something very nice and interesting.” We don’t really want to have it shout.

Ariane:

Yes. I’m showing you the heavier look for those ladies who wear heavier makeup, because it’s really hard to reign it back. So, you can still do that if you want to, but stop your liner short of the end of your lashes.

Use the middle color first, then use the darker color and then use a lighter color as a highlight. Don’t do your eye makeup the way you used to do it, but you can still achieve a defined eye with this technique.

Margaret:

You used a pencil for this look, but you also have a felt tip liner which is smoother and is preferred by a lot of women. Do you apply it the same way?

Ariane:

Absolutely. I use the same method. Look down into your mirror and tap with the pen over the edge of your lid. If you try to do a straight line, the pen may get stuck in your lashes, but if you tap, you have a lot more control.

Margaret:

I find pencils a little too rough for me, so I like the liquid liners. When I was in the UK a couple of months ago, I shopped in Boots where I found these Stay Perfect liquid eyeliners. I got a black and a gray, which I really love. It’s pretty and works really well for me. If I make a mistake, I can just smudge it a little bit.

Ariane:

I’m a huge fan of gray liners. There are other companies that also carry gray liners, so you can find one by your favorite brand.

Margaret:

I really like this one because the brush is so thin. It allows you to start off with a thin line, and then build on it for a more solid look.

Ariane:

Absolutely. And the fact that it comes in different colors is great. You can add color to your eyes with a liner. I’ve seen some really lovely navy blue and dark forest green liners. They’re fantastic.

If you’re somebody that doesn’t want to go down that big eye shadow route, but you want to keep it a little bit more neutral around your eyes, a little pop of color with an eyeliner is a great option.

Margaret:

I’m inspired. Thank you for showing your eyeliner trick again, and for making makeup fun and natural. We love you for it. Thank you, Ariane.

Ariane:

Thank you so much. See you soon.

Have you been trying to adapt your makeup technique to your more mature skin? How successful have you been? Please share your observations and any questions you might have in the comments below.