Foundation Over 40
Foundation over 40; what should you use? Liquid, mousse, powder or mineral? And how should you apply it so that it looks best? We’ll talk about all these things for make up over 40.
My Face, No Foundation, Plenty of Redness and Capillaries
Skin Over 40
Let’s first talk about your skin. It’s not as taut as it used to be, and the tone is more uneven. You might have age spots or sun damage. Then there are the lines and possibly wrinkles. Not to mention the occasional adult acne breakout!
Add in rosacea and the appearance of capillaries and there’s more to hide when it comes to skin over 40.
Your skin may be dry, normal (lucky you), combination or oily. But for each skin type, you need moisture; it just depends on your skin what kind of moisturizer you need to use.
So the very first step is finding — and using — a moisturizer appropriate for your skin type. And yes, oily skin needs moisturizer as well. Apply the moisturizer before you apply your foundation!
Foundation Types
There are loads of different foundation types these days. Liquid you’re likely quite familiar with; possibly cream foundation as well. But newer on the scene are mousses and minerals.
My Face a Minute Later, After Putting on Mineral Foundation
Each type of foundation has its pros and cons. And while all of them work well in general, not all of them may work well on you. Yes, you’ll need to experiment a bit.
One thing to keep in mind as you’re choosing your facial foundation is your coverage. If you’ve been using a foundation with sheer coverage for a long time, you probably want to think about bumping that up to medium or full coverage. Like I mentioned before, after 40, we have more to hide (unfortunate but true).
In these photos, you see the foundation makeup I am using. The before photo is kind of scary; I didn’t know I had that many capillaries showing! But as you can see from the after photo, it’s pretty much been covered up. (Makeup used: Bare Escentuals Bare Minerals foundation, medium beige.)
(Here’s a post with more info about mineral makeup over 40.)
Foundation Over 40
Naturally minerals are the only kind of foundation. Liquids, mousses and creams are also good. I’d stay away from a cream-to-powder type, though, unless you are pleased with one you are already using.
Something relatively new out on the market are anti-aging and/or skin firming foundations. I personally haven’t tried any yet (I like my minerals), but I am considering LORAC’s Breakthrough Performance, which looks interesting and seems to get good reviews.
A couple more to intrigue are Laura Geller’s Phenomenal (liquid) and the Elizabeth Arden Mousse. (I’d really like to try the mousse, but alas, it’s not for those with very oily skin.)
What about drugstore brands? I can’t offer much in the way of advice (as I quit using drug store brand foundations about 10 years ago), but if I had to choose, I’d try something from Clinique or L’Oreal. Of course, these are my own opinions, so take it for what it’s worth.
If you’d like to browse and read reviews, here are some foundations to take a peek at.
What it all comes down to is this; when you’ve reached a certain age, your skin needs help. Days of little to no makeup when going out in public are gone. Foundation over 40 is something you need to wear. Choose the right one (the right one for you, that is) and it can even help your skin.
One More Thing…
This will be another post, but before you put on that foundation makeup, you might want to put on a facial primer, first. Yes, they too are fairly new on the scene. I’ve tried some and have to say that so far they are awesome. Post and review coming soon, so stay tuned!
