Makeup Tricks That Make You Look Younger

Taking care of your skin, body, and mind is important, and a PMA (aka "positive mental attitude") can make all the difference. Doing all of those things can help you look and feel younger, but there are also plenty of makeup tips and tricks that can assist with this process. 

In addition to drinking lots of water and avoiding greasy, fried foods, you can use products to your advantage. A generally healthy lifestyle and knowledge of how to effectively use both skincare and color products are the most critical elements of a youthful beauty regimen, regardless of age. Tie it all together and you will retain a young, fresh look. Try these basic suggestions from the experts.

If you want to look younger, you don't need to resort to drastic, expensive, or painful surgical procedures as a way to locate the fountain of youth. Dr. Michelle Yagoda, a facial plastic surgeon, recommends less invasive, non-surgical skin treatments. 

She told me, "Often, you can achieve a younger look and complexion through less drastic but also more temporary non-surgical means, such as facial peels, injectables, or laser treatments." These treatments may not be permanent, but they are more affordable and offer a more natural way to achieve a younger appearance. So it's a worthwhile trade off. 

It may be a cliche, but your eyes are the window to your soul and are often a sign of youth. Therefore, it is wise to spotlight your lashes. Kelsey Deenihan, Avon celebrity makeup artist, told me, "A few coats of a lengthening mascara should do the trick" when it comes to making your lashes a central focus. She continued, "Making your lashes the main attraction of your look makes your eyes appear bigger and more youthful without needing to use liner or shadow, which can make the eye look heavy."

It's important to focus on your eyelashes, rather than your eyelids, because our lashes get thinner as we age, which can make us look older. Play up your lashes, rather than smothering lids in dark shadow, by curling them and coating them in a few layers of black mascara. You'll get 10 years back on your look.

Natalie Dekermendjian, the lead makeup artist at Complexions Spa for Beauty and Wellness located in Albany and Saratoga Springs, New York, suggests using cream formulas rather than powders, which can settle into lines and accentuate them. However, if it's powder your prefer, utilize it sparingly. 

"Use a light hand to avoid emphasizing fine lines and wrinkles," she explained. "A simple trick is to tap off excess powder from the brush before applying to your face." Just make sure the fallout lands back in the jar wherever able in order to minimize waste.

Highlighter is often terrifying since it requires a deft hand to properly distribute product for the right amount of glow. Plus, highlighter is hardly subtle and it also calls attention to fine lines. But Deenihan says fear not! You just have to apply it properly and then you can enjoy all the youthful benefits of highlighter. 

"Young skin has a natural radiant glow to it," she explained. "You can fake it with a bit of highlighter by dabbing it onto your cheekbones and the inner corners of your eyelids with your fingers."

Avoid trends, according to NYC-based celeb makeup artist Min Min Ma. That's because fads are favored by the fickle youth who can get away with it and chasing trends will make you look like you are trying too hard. Instead, keep things classic with your makeup and you'll never go wrong. 

"Any fads or trends, such as colored eyeliner or extreme contouring, will result in looking outdated," she told me. "For daytime makeup, stick to a bronzy look or a natural complexion, with a simple eyeliner flick. For dramatic looks, go with a classic red lips or smoky eye." 

Look to classic beauty icons like Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Diana Ross, or Iman for inspiration.

Good skin is always in! Investing time, effort, and some cash in quality, top notch skincare is critical. Pampering your skin and following a routine should never be viewed as a chore, but rather as something that will keep it looking beautiful for years. Ma noted there are plenty of ways to do skincare now, saying, "It could be getting facials regularly, using quality skincare products, or eating a healthy balanced diet. When the skin is glowing and youthful looking, anything goes."

Chicago-based Esthetician Theodora Koutsougeras, owner of Reishi Beauty, also recommends getting into the habit of using oils on your skin. "It's a simple regimen to implement, and there is a variety of oils that can be used for different skin types," she told me. "We have a skin barrier and we must allow for it to do it's job, so anything that will help protect and encourage it to do its job is great." There's nothing wrong with accepting a little help along the way.

Exfoliation is also an important ritual for keep skin looking young. Berenice S. Rothenberg, the owner of Berenice Electrolysis and Personal Beauty Center, a health and wellness spa in New York City, is a big advocate of exfoliating. She recommends doing so "one to two times a week, to break up the keratinized protein that accumulates on the skin, which accelerates during the colder winter months."

If you are a little apprehensive about using harsh exfoliants on aging skin, be it your facial or body skin, don't be! Rothenberg explained that "removing unhealthy surface cells with exfoliation allows your skin care products to work more effectively." So you are doing your skin and your wallet a service by regularly sloughing off old cells.

Never go to sleep angry and never go to sleep with your makeup on, since "dirt and particles in the air get trapped in your skin," according to Rothenberg. "Remove your makeup before settling in for the night to allow your skin to breathe." 

No matter how tired you are, you don't want to crash out with product on your face, since it can exacerbate any skin issues you may be battling. Your skin rejuvenates while you sleep, so allow it the luxury of doing so unencumbered by the dirt and debris of the day. 

Lip primers and lip liners work in concert to create a full, soft, and youthful pout. Using masks or balms keeps the surface of lips moist and supple, which is another sign of youth. And since lipstick or gloss can bleed into the fine lines around the mouth, using a liner before applying further product will keep lipstick in place and precise. 

Dekermendjian encourages lip hydration via masks, which need not be time consuming or add another step to your routine. "Apply a lip mask before starting your makeup application," she said. "By the time the rest of the makeup is applied, the lips will be hydrated and ready to take on whatever lip liner and lipstick you choose."

Pesky dark circles under your eyes can make you look tired and add a few years to your face, but don't immediately reach for the concealer. Lauren Serra of Blushington Makeup & Beauty Lounge said that you can "color correct under eyes instead of using concealer." 

There are plenty of green and yellow color correcting products and palettes on the market that neutralize dark circles and that address a variety of issues, from redness to dullness. You will just need to choose the right tones and brand. 

As we age, our skin can become dull and lose elasticity. Glittery makeup is trendy and therefore counterintuitive. A solution to shaving a few years off is to seek additional glow through a dewy look. 

Kasey Adam Spickard, a professional makeup artist in New York City, told me that a glow "will give the skin the appearance of being fresher and younger." He suggests using a dewy foundation, topped with an all-over glow product on the high points on the face. This trick "makes the skin look years younger and dewy without being glittery or metallic."

Don't skip blush, since the flush of color on cheeks projects youth. Just use a cream formula, since it won't settle into fine lines. Spickard says that powder products, like blush, "tend to dry out the skin and can look flat." If you still want that rosy pigment on your cheeks, you can go with "a cream blush to create freshness and dewiness on the skin." Sticking to peaches or pinks is also recommended, since those hues further that youthful vibe.

Sebastien Tardif, makeup artist and founder of Veil Cosmetics, agrees that pinks and corals are the best bets for blush hues, noting that "youthful beauty stays away from bronzer and uses instead soft, pure colors of blusher in bright coral or pink." Cheeks will appear full of life when dusted with these colors. "Key areas to brighten are under and above the eyebrows, top of the cheek bones, mid-chin, and forehead," according to Tardif.

You can still use eyeshadow and create definition, according to Spickard, who offered specific tips on how to do so. "Create definition and lift in the outer eye by using a drop shadow on the lower lash line," he explained. Spickard recommends using a small scallop eyeshadow brush and blending a dark brown or black shadow along the bottom outer corner of the eye. "This will give the illusion of a larger, more uplifted eye," he said.