My Top 10 Beauty Tips for Women Over 50

I love a good beauty tip! Don’t you? Today, we’re talking beauty tips for women over 50! Let’s face it, girls, we women over 50 don’t expect to look like our fresh-faced daughters, but I think most of us want to age gracefully and make the most of what we’ve got. There are some basics: if you smoke, stop; wear sunscreen religiously; wear sunglasses to protect your eye area; get your beauty sleep; drink plenty of water; and eat a healthy diet.

But beyond that, what do we need to enhance our natural beauty? Today, I’m sharing ten beauty tips for women over 50 that I’ve culled from various experts, beauty bloggers, and other sources. These practical tips are real-world, easy to implement, and can really make a difference!

Beauty Tips for Women Over 50

As we age, our skin tends to get drier. So moisturizing products are always a good choice for skin over 50.

1. Good Skincare is More Important Than Good Makeup

The bad news: No amount of makeup can cover up bad skin.
The good news: There is so much you can do to improve your skin!

My skincare routine is one I’ve developed over time through consultations with my dermatologist, aesthetician, and (probably like you) my friends! I’m writing a post about my daytime and nighttime skincare routines that will be out next week! I don’t want you to miss it, so if you’re not an Empty Nest Blessed subscriber, you need to sign up! I notify ENB subscribers every time I publish a new post, and they get lots of inside scoop on my favorite things, exclusive deals with brands I love, and more! For encouragement, inspiration, and blessings sent right to your inbox, click HERE!

Take care of your skin by cleansing, moisturizing, and exfoliating regularly. Everything you do to your face, do to your neck as well!

2. Plump Your Lips

Just like the skin on your neck and the backs of your hands, the lips and the area right around the lips can be one of the first places to show signs of aging. I wrote an entire post about it! To learn more about why lips age faster than the rest of your skin and what you can do about it, you can check out that post HERE.

I use City Beauty’s City Lips Clear Plumping Lip Gloss as a serum to plump my lips in preparation for lipstick. It’s full of Hyaluronic Acid, Oligopeptides, and moisturizers to diminish the look of fine lines and lip wrinkles. I usually use the City Lips Plumping Lip Glosses instead of lipstick in the summers. My favorite shade is “Sun Diego.” I really like that the colors specify whether they’re meant for warm-toned or cool-toned skin, making it almost foolproof to purchase! But if you make a wrong choice, City Beauty has a 60-day money-back guarantee! You can take 15% off your purchase at City Beauty with the code ENB.

3. Use an Eyelash Serum and Eyebrow Serum to Enhance Growth

I am a BIG believer in eyelash serums and eyebrow serums to increase volume! I’ve used several over the years, but in the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale last year, I bought a bundle set of products from Skin Research Labs. I researched them before buying and was impressed with the ingredients and the before-and-after photos I saw on their website. I used the Lash and Brow Enhancing Serums and saw a big difference within four weeks! Right now, the lash-enhancing Serum and the brow-enhancing Serum are on sale in a bundle pack at Nordstrom!

I will say after using all of these products, I wouldn’t recommend the lash-enhancing mascara, and I wouldn’t recommend the brow pomade. The mascara didn’t have staying power, and the brow pomade was too thick and gooey.

4. Use Makeup Primer

Trust me on this one. You must use a primer to prepare your skin before using makeup. It smooths your skin, providing an even surface for your makeup to sit on and helping to reduce the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and pores. With a primer, you’ll notice that it’s easier to blend your foundation into your skin, and it extends the wear time of your makeup, so it lasts longer throughout the day.

Years ago, when I took a makeup lesson with well-known Dallas makeup artist Bebe Tran, she told me that Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer was the only primer she used on her clients.

I adore it! I especially love that it’s mineral-based and contains SPF 15, offering additional sun protection on top of my Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40. It’s not cheap, but it lasts forever! I buy it in the value size, and I’ve even purchased the mini size for travel (which is easy to refill)!

5. Foundation: Less is More

Opt for a lightweight foundation with light to medium coverage and a natural finish. Avoid heavy or full coverage foundations, which can settle into wrinkles and fine lines. I used to be a fan of It Cosmetics CC Cream Foundation SPF 50+. While I like that it has sunscreen in it, it’s too thick, and I found it was visible on top of my skin.

Now I use Makeup Forever’s HD Skin Undetectable Longwear Foundation. I learned about it while doing a TV appearance. I started talking about makeup with the news anchors, and they told me that, since the advent of HDTV, this is the foundation everyone in their industry wears. (Including the men!) That was good enough for me, and I’ve never looked back.

6. Use Highlighter & Contour (Blend WELL!)

No list of beauty tips for women over 50 would be complete without talking about using highlighter and contour! Utilizing these two sculpting tools can help to enhance your natural features, create definition, and add dimension to your features.

Highlighter will bring attention to the parts of the face where you apply it. (I suggest you use it on the cheekbones, brow bones, and the bridge of the nose.) It creates the illusion of a brighter, more lifted complexion and adds radiance to your skin, giving it a healthy, youthful glow. I use Clinique’s Chubby Stick Sculpting Highlighter. It’s a universal color, not too white and shimmery, and it goes on like a crayon!

Contour helps you create shadows and depth on the face, helping to sculpt and define your features. Apply it to the hollows of your cheeks, the sides of your nose, and just below the jawline for definition. I use Clinique’s Chubby Stick Sculpting Contour. It’s creamy and easy to blend.

7. Use an Eyelid Primer

An eyelid primer smooths the delicate eyelid skin and evens out the skin tone, preparing it for eyeshadow and preventing your eyeshadow from creasing. I use Perricone MD’s No Makeup Eyeshadow. There are lots of days I even use it without any eyeshadow on top! I like the way it makes my lashes pop. (Lancome Lash Idôle Lash-Lifting & Volumizing Mascara is my favorite right now, BTW.)

8. Curl Your Lashes

Curling your lashes helps open up your eyes and lifts your entire face!

No more crimping for me! It’s uncomfortable, doesn’t last, and it pulls out your lashes! So instead, I use a heated lash curler because it curls without pulling out lashes, and my lashes stay curled all day!

The one I use, and love is frequently out of stock. 😬 It’s wonderful and affordable, so be sure to click HERE to see if it’s in stock right now. If not, know that after researching alternatives, I recommend the Lash Star Heated Lash Curler (free shipping/returns). You could also opt for the TOUCHBeauty Heated Eyelashes Curler on Amazon, but I have less faith in it because it’s so cheap, and the reviews are only so-so.

9. Watch Your Blush Placement

When you were younger, you may have heard that you should smile and place your blush on the apple 🍎 of your cheeks. That beauty tip probably worked great when you were younger with perky, full cheekbones, but, unfortunately, cheekbones lose volume with age. If you follow that advice now, you’ll realize that once you stop smiling, your blush is somewhere near your nasolabial folds or the corners of your mouth. 😂😬😲 (If you don’t believe me, try it in the mirror!)

Instead, for the correct placement, use the “L method.” Line up your thumb with the bottom of your nose and form your fingers into an L shape. Then apply your blush in the space on the inside of the L.

I’ve tried lots of blushes over the years! Most of them fade out over time. My favorite blush is Chanel Joues Contraste Blush. It’s not cheap, but it’s highly pigmented, so a little goes a long way, and it doesn’t fade out over the course of the day. It comes in multiple shades. I’ve had the same two compacts (one shade called Rose Petale – pinker – and one shade called Malice – coral) for nearly five years!

10. Spread Out Your Lips When Applying Lipstick

As we age, we tend to develop lines and wrinkles both around our lips and within our lips themselves. So how do you ensure a smooth lipstick application? First, you’ll want to wipe off any lip plumper you were using in order to ensure a smooth application that lasts. Next, spread out your lips until they’re flat with no wrinkles. (See photo⬇.) Apply your lip product. If you’re using a lip stain, let it dry before relaxing your lips.

Some people swear by lip liner and the trick of outlining your lips beyond your lipline. I’m not a fan. I think it’s too obvious! I’ve also had too many instances when my lipstick comes off, and I’m just left with lined lips beyond my lipline! It’s embarrassing! 😳 So I don’t use a separate lip liner. (But I do define the edge of my lips using the pointy edge of my lip stain applicator.)

When I want more staying power than I get with City Lips Plumping Lip Glosses, I typically use Covergirl’s Outlast All-Day Lip Color lip stains. They’re affordable, and they last!

Lately, I’ve also been getting into matte lip colors! Have you tried out that trend? Finding one that doesn’t make your lips dry can be challenging, but I’ve found a good one: Dose of Colors – Liquid Matte Lipstick from Amazon. My beauty blogger friend, Sally (follow her on Instagram @candidlysally), recommended it! Sometimes friend recs are the BEST! Right? (Especially if your friends are beauty bloggers, just sayin’!) Sally recommended the shade called “Lazy Daisy,” and I love it!

BONUS TIP: Use a good makeup mirror! I love my RikiLovesRiki LED mirror! It comes with a 10x magnifying mirror that sticks on top of the larger mirror magnetically. I bought the stand to put it at just the right height for me. Warning: It is expensive!

A best-selling dupe on Amazon might be all you need. This Tri-Fold Lighted Vanity Mirror is the highest-rated on Amazon, and I’ve heard great things! It’s rotatable 180°, can be fixed at any position, and it has a tri-fold design for wide-angle viewing. The side-view mirror panels feature 3X/2X/1X magnification.  

I’ll bet you’ve got some great beauty tips for women over 50 too! Would you drop them in the comments and share them with me and with our little empty nester community? Everyone loves a good beauty tip, and I want to hear yours!

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