How to Do Eye Makeup Over 40, According to Professional Makeup Artists
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/angelinajoliesocial-7108e23edbbe42ae978e94f80670959f.jpg "How to Do Eye Makeup Over 40, According to Professional Makeup Artists")
As we age and our faces change, doing eye makeup can become a bit tricky. The subcutaneous fat that provides cushion and volume under and around our eyes starts to recede, and the face goes through noticeable changes in shape, like less elastic skin and wrinkles. So your usual techniques may no longer apply.
“After age 40, you’ll see the eye structure start to shift,” explains Joseph Carrillo, a New York City-based celebrity makeup artist. “You may notice your eyes don’t quite ‘open up’ the way they used to.” Celebrity makeup artist Brandy Allen adds: “Hooded eyes can appear as the skin starts to droop over the lid, lashes can become thinner and more sparse, and the outer corners of the eyes can soften and turn downward. The texture of the skin may also become thinner and drier.”
Luckily, a few shifts in how you do your makeup will allow you to better highlight your ever-evolving canvas. “For women over 40, I adjust my approach by using lighter textures and subtle lifting techniques,” says Carrillo. “It’s not about hiding anything, it’s about understanding how to be more intentional when working with these shifts.”
Ahead, professional makeup artists share the best tips and tricks to achieve stunning eye makeup when you’re over 40.
Practice Proper Preparation
Carrillo stresses the importance of using face creams and lightweight primers that sit well and prevent makeup from creasing. “Focus on formulas that move with your skin—creams, balms, and satins are your friends,” he says. Agrees Allen, “It’s all about working with your skin’s evolving needs. Start with a hydrating eye cream to smooth and prep the skin. Then use a primer to even the skin tone and help makeup stay put, especially if you have texture issues or discoloration.”
Keep Application Light
When it comes to concealer, less is more. “Use a lightweight formula containing hydrating ingredients like hyaluronic acid and apply only where needed, usually the inner corners and just below the eye,” says Allen. Blend with a damp sponge or brush, and set with a tiny amount of powder. “Find a powder that’s highly pigmented and matches your skin tone well,” suggests makeup artist Alison Raffaele Tatem.
In the end, it’s about bringing brightness and definition back to the eyes without layering on a ton of product.
20 Stunning Eye Makeup Looks on Celebrities Over 40
Fluffy Brows
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Tracee Ellis Ross highlights her chocolate brown eyes with strong yet fluffy brows. The best way to achieve his look is with the help of a tinted brow gel. Makeup artist Natalie Dresher loves a tinted brow gel for women over 40. “Use soft, hairlike strokes and brush upward, filling in eyebrows from the outer corner of the eye to the very tail and brushing through with a spoolie to distribute the product,” says Dresher. Another bonus of a tinted gel? “Gray hair texture can become wiry and coarse, and a brow gel will help keep hairs in place throughout the day” adds Dresher.
Soft Liner
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Lining the eyes with a creamy pencil or gel in shades like light and dark brown, charcoal, and soft black is key to making eyes pop. As seen on Jessica Chastain, the trick is keeping the liner close to the lash line.
Complementary Shades
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To make her baby blues pop, Reese Witherspoon sported an orangy brown eyeshadow. Wearing complementary shadows will make your eyes stand out.
Subtle Liner
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Even if you’re going for a less-is-more look, a thin pull of liner across your top lash line can add definition. Doing your liner like Angelina Jolie shows above “gives structure and lift to the eyes while making the lashes look thicker,” says Carrillo.
Get Sparkly
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There’s nothing more fun than sparkle. Kerry Washington shows us that a super reflective shimmer placed below the crease looks adds so much whimsy. However, if fine lines on your lids are a pain point for you, you may want to stick with mattes. “Too much sparkle, glitter, or frosty finishes can draw attention to uneven texture and fine lines,” says Allen.
Voluminous Lashes
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Open up your eyes like Jennifer Aniston with voluminous lashes. You can achieve this with falsies or a solid mascara that adds volume, length, lift, and separation. “Start with a lengthening mascara for definition, as it’s usually more inky and wet, then add a touch of volumizing mascara to thicken,” says Carrillo. “Apply two light coats, from root to tip, wiggling the wand to separate before combing through if necessary. You want flutter, not weight.”
Strong Brows
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Filled-in brows like Gabrielle Union’s provide strength and structure. Allen likes to start by using a creamy, lightweight concealer under the arch to soften any discoloration, lift the eye, and create a clean backdrop for the brows to shine. Then, go in with a brow product that you love. “Powder, pencil, gel—it doesn’t matter,” says Tatem. “Try them all and use what works best for you. Match brows to the darkest part of your hair, usually the roots. If you’re missing brows, you may need to go one shade darker where you’re lacking hair to make everything blend and look uniform.”
Curly Lashes
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Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, has the friendliest eyes, thanks in part to her sweet, curly lashes. To mimic the effect, Carrillo suggests using a lash curler before applying mascara. Start by heating the lash curler slightly for a few seconds with a blow dryer. “Then curl at the base and hold for a few seconds before giving lashes a second curl mid-length,” he advises. “If they’re sparse, do so in smaller sections but be gentle—the goal is to lift, not break.”
Upward Drama
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This dark and dramatic eyeshadow look on Salma Hayek is otherworldly. What makes it work is that the shadow pulls up toward the tip of her brow, lifting her eyes instead of dragging them down.
Friendly Eyebrows
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“Don’t square off the front of the brow or over-darken its shape, warns Carrillo. “Squaring looks drawn on and never flattering, while over-dark brows compete with the face instead of framing it.” Here, Halle Berry kept the front of her brows rounded.
Soft Mascara
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For those with lighter skin and hair, black mascara can sometimes read a bit severe. Using a brown or charcoal mascara offers a softer look. “These colors help define without looking harsh,” says Carrillo.
Neutral Lid Contour
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Mindy Kaling’s eyeshadow is a perfect example of how you can use shadow to contour your lids. Replicate the look using matte taupe, grey, or brown shadow, depending on your skin tone. “These are often the most boring colors to look at, but the truth is they’re the workhorses of every professional makeup artist,” says Tatem, who suggests a bit of color-correcting highlighter alone or under shadow to even out lids.
Muted Shadows
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Keep your look simple with a soft, neutral shade swept across the lids. “Colors such as nudes, taupe, browns, and cream-colored shadows sculpt and catch the soft light,” says Dresher. To smooth texture and prevent crepey lids, Carrillo says to reach for a cream, satin, or cream-to-powder formula that blends into the skin and is more forgiving. “Powders can cling and exaggerate wrinkles,” says Carrillo.
Top and Bottom Liner
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If you want to line the bottom lashes like Brooke Shields, “keep it soft and focus on the outer third of the eye,” says Carrillo. “Anything more than that can make the eye appear smaller or dragged down.”
Shadow Sculpt
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For a softer approach to lining your top and bottom lashes, follow Cate Blanchett’s lead and instead use a soft brown eyeshadow to define and sculpt the eyse.
Defined and Fluffy Brows
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For a brow look like Jennifer Lopez, you’ll want to fill the brows for a bit of depth before fluffing them with gel. Carrillo recommends using a micro-tip pencil to sketch in hair-like strokes where needed, before brushing in a tinted brow gel in the opposite direction of growth to coat the hairs, then in their natural direction to set. “Doing so gives that fluffy, full-but-natural look,” he says.
Fresh Eyes
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For this fresh-faced look, Kate Winslet kept her eyes simple, letting her lashes do all the talking with a few swipes of mascara. If your lashes are fine or short, you can start with a lash primer, “but mascara usually has a buildable formula that doesn’t require a primer,” says Allen. “However, with lengthening mascaras, primers can add more fullness and thickness to the lash underneath.”
Cat-Eye Lashes
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Instead of wearing cat-eye liner, Sarah Paulson opted for fluffy lashes that gain a bit of heft as they reach the outer corners of the eyes. This creates the same lifting effect as a cat eye.
Shimmer All Around
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Sarah Jessica Parker isn’t one to shy away from making a statement, which is exactly what this shimmer shadow look does. The shimmery shadow is both on her top lid and swept along her bottom lash line for an eye-popping effect.
Smokey Smudge
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For a soft take on a smoky eye, use pencil eyeliner and smudge it out. Start by drawing your line, and then diffuse it with a dense pencil brush or your fingertip. “After smudging, use a clean brush to gently sweep the pigment upward, aiming for the tail of your brow,” notes Carrillo. “It’s a subtle move that gives the whole eye area a natural lift.” Dresher likes to smudge the liner with a similarly colored eyeshadow. “Smoothing it out can diffuse the line making it softer and more flattering,” she says.
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