30 Makeup Choices Making You Look Older - Best Life

If you won’t walk out the door before you’ve put your makeup on, you’re not alone. Beauty is now a $445 billion industry, with $62 billion in cosmetics sales transactions taking place in the United States alone each year. In fact, according to a report from SkinStore, the average American woman will spend more than $200,000 over the course of her lifetime on cosmetics.

However, while research suggests that makeup can actually affect others’ opinions, including boosting a person’s perceived competence in the workplace, many makeup-wearers are making major mistakes when it comes to applying those cosmetics that can cost them in the long run, adding years to their face with every brushstroke. So, before you spend more of your hard-earned money on makeup products that just aren’t working, discover the common makeup mistakes that make you look older.

1 Using shimmer on your eyes

Though you often hear that highlighting your cheekbones with a little color can accent your bone structure, putting your blush too high can actually add years to your face.

“Sweeping stripes of blush all the way up the cheekbone to the temple is a sure way to show your age. Instead, try tapping cream blush on the apples of the cheeks, and blend with a brush or fingertips out to cheekbones. This will bring some natural looking warmth, which is flattering at any age,” says Jones.

3 Using eyeliner on your bottom lid

There’s no denying that the days of pencil-thin brows have come and gone and that full, lush eyebrows are in. That said, adding too much pencil to your brows may give you the opposite of the youthful, Brooke Shields-esque effect you may have been aiming for.

“It is certainly okay to use an eyebrow pencil, but it must be applied properly,” says Jones. “Avoid drawing two lines in the shape of eyebrows, as this is a very outdated look. Instead, use a sharpened brow pencil to lightly draw hair-like strokes along the brow’s natural shape to fill in sparse areas and to coat grey or white follicles.” And if you’re worried about overdoing it with a pencil product, there are other options out there: “Powder and a flat angled brush could also be used,” says Jones. “Finish by brushing through with a clean spoolie brush.”

5 Not moisturizing your lips

While you might imagine that bold liners can brighten your eyes and make you look more youthful, they might actually draw unwanted attention to aging skin.

“Whether worn on top or on bottom, bold liner is not the best choice for mature eyes. As we age, our eyes will start to droop and wrinkle, causing liner to go on jagged and uneven,” says Jones. The solution? “A smudge of eyeliner into the lash line will still define eyes without the boldness of a solid line.”

7 Applying dark-colored lipstick

While you might turn to foundation and other heavy makeup to conceal some of those fine lines and wrinkles, doing so can actually have the opposite effect, highlighting them as you cake on your products. “When skin begins to show signs of aging, our first instinct is to cover it up. However, less is more when it comes to a youthful complexion,” says Jones.

“Avoid piling on layers of coverage, as it will eventually settle into lines and begin to crease and look caked. Instead, apply a small amount of a full coverage foundation where needed and blend. This will make skin look fresh faced and natural.”

9 Avoiding lip liner