Today: our makeup advice for mature skin. Plus …
Our brand-new guide to makeup for mature skin |
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| Marki Williams/NYT Wirecutter |
By Abbie Kozolchyk Abbie is the senior staff writer for beauty and personal care. |
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The year was 1993 in the reign of Naomi, Cindy, Linda, Christy, Claudia, and Kate.
I’d recently entered the world of magazine beauty reportage, and the first big feature I contributed to was a classic of the genre: “Makeup at 20, 30, 40” — as if we couldn’t even contemplate what lay beyond.
More than thirty years later, I don’t have to contemplate. My algorithm and mirror offer daily reminders that I’ve landed squarely in the land of the “mature.”
We all age differently, of course. But after chatting — and testing 57 products — with dozens of peers and elders, I’ve created a bookend of sorts to that early-career piece: Wirecutter’s new guide to the best makeup for mature skin.
The main takeaway, which was also informed by several interviews with dermatologists, cosmetic chemists, and makeup artists, is this: The products that tend to work best at this stage of life navigate dry and textured skin with moisture and slip, forgive imperfection with blendability and translucence, and nudge the dimmer switch back up with just enough glow.
A few tips have come out of these conversations, too:
- Don’t skip primer: It helps fill in your skin’s little lines and crevices, creating a smooth, adhesive base for foundation or tinted moisturizer. We like this one — the most moisturizing version we tested.
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- Keep any sparkle subtle, especially on crepey eyelids: A taut and lineless lid may be one of the earliest casualties of midlife — and that newfound crepiness tends to be highlighted by glittery shadows. The understatedly shimmery shades in this collection (which also includes mattes) strike the right balance, with an emollient base that skims easily over texture.
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- Try eyeliners made to glide: Lash lines also get more textured with age, causing dry, old-school pencils to drag and skip. Instead, try this creamy liner — or if you’re a liquid loyalist, this one, which flows so smoothly, the color looks unbroken, regardless of any underlying texture.
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- Redefine sparse brows: Hair loss and graying can make brows seemingly fade away. To reclaim your arches with natural-looking results, try this shockingly precise pencil. It was the simplest solution we found, and it comes in 12 colors — including a hard-to-find gray option.
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- Consider an ultra-thin mascara wand: At a certain point in life, lashes may be so short, sparse, or tucked away that they’re hard to find with an ordinary wand. This super-thin brush can sneak in closer to lash lines and provide better root-to-tip coverage.
- Reconstruct lip contours with a liner: With age, the natural borders of your mouth tend to soften. A lip liner, like this creamy, long-lasting one, can help redefine those edges: Use a shade that matches your lips to trace their natural outline; then go over your cupid’s bow — or the stretch where your cupid’s bow would be — with a slightly darker shade to create a lifted effect.
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Plus: The 6 best lipsticks |
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| Ruthie Darling/NYT Wirecutter |
The pop of color that a great lipstick provides can go a long way in boosting your complexion. We swiped on over 30 different sticks to find these six favorites, which include a creamy drugstore standout, a luxe and refillable splurge, and a tube of sheer and shiny lipstick that all of our testers loved.
Long-lasting, smudge-free, and beautiful on a variety of skin tones→
One last thing: “I hired a lab to counterfeit-test suspicious beauty products I bought online” |
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| Michael Murtaugh/NYT Wirecutter and Dana Davis/NYT Wirecutter |
Writer Rose Maura Lorre spent six months investigating the shockingly pervasive world of counterfeit beauty products from third-party sellers. Spoiler: All of the products she sent off for lab testing turned out to be counterfeit, expired, used, or otherwise problematic.
How to shop online for beauty products and not get scammed→
Thanks for reading.
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