Last Updated on January 23, 2020 by Kristen
Photo via Fresh Beauty Studio
As we grow older, many of us shy away from make-up—especially bright, shimmery, or shiny makeup—for fear of it settling into and highlighting fine lines and wrinkles.
But that’s a mistake, says Nikol Johnson, a popular YouTube makeup artist and author of Beauty Reinvented. She recently put together a series of makeup tutorials for women from 50 to 80. She’s not recommending neon eye shadow or fuchsia lips necessarily, but little pops of color and shimmer can go a long way towards enlivening your face, even one with mature skin.
Her model for this tutorial is her very own mother. I was shocked when she pulled out a shimmery set of shadows for her eyes, and applied subtly sparkly gloss on her lips.
The effect is anything but aging. Though the makeup is a bit colorful, shimmery and shiny, the hues are understand and it’s applied with a light hand, creating a soft but awake and alive look.
“Being in your seventies you can still wear gloss, you can still wear shadow with a little bit of sheen,” Johnson says. “You want to look alive, you want to bring light to your face. You don’t want to dull everything out and just do everything completely nude.”
Johnson’s mother confesses at the end of the video that she typically sticks to matte makeup for fear of making herself look older with sparklier products. But it’s fair to say that when she sees her daughter’s handiwork, she’s convinced to take her advice.
Watch the video above to see for yourself.
Johnson also uses metallics on her model in her fifties which you can check out above—also don’t miss her surprising blush technique. And below are the tutorials for women in their sixties and eighties.
Lastly, below are some of the products I’m dying to try after hearing Johnson rave about them.
Nikol Cosmetics bottled blond eye shadow palette, $40
Chanel Rouge Coco Gloss in Bourgoisie, $30
Nikol Cosmetics Eye/lip primer, $24
La Mer foundation, $120