How to Make Eyes Look Younger: Hooded Eye Makeup Tips

Jul 31, 2023

Some women find makeup for the lower lashes and under-eye area a problem. They say that concealer looks heavy or cakey, and eyeliner used on the inner rim or under the lashes smudges and smears. The texture of the concealer and placement matter, so does the precision of the liner and treatment of the area right beneath the lower lashes. “The one problem I see on almost everyone over 50 is darkness at the inner corner of the eye,” Linter says. “A pen highlighter like the Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat All-Over Brightening Concealer Pen ($40, macys.com) brightens this area without a buildup of excess cover-up. Sometimes I even apply it all the way up to the brow. However, for more substantial coverage, a fluid wand type concealer, like Make Up For Ever Smooth & Blue HD Skin Concealer ($29, makeupforever.com), stands up to the warmth of under-eye skin without accentuating puffy bags and shadows. It’s never a good idea to line the inner rims on eyes that are extremely watery. For everyone else, waterproof pencils like the Hourglass 1.5MM Mechanical Gel Eyeliner in Obsidian Black ($21, hourglasscosmetics.com) and Chanel Stylo Yeux Waterproof Long-Lasting Eyeliner in 10 Ebene or 20 Espresso ($34, nordstrom.com) are gentle but precise and great for lining the waterline. The trick is to keep the pencil closer to where lashes grow on the outer edge of the rim instead of trying to get the line next to the eyeball. Brushing a thin coat of translucent powder, like the Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder Ultra-Blur ($48, lauramercier.com), beneath the eyes keeps all neat.” Want some other options? Try the L’Oréal Paris True Match Eye Cream in a Concealer ($16, ulta.com), which offers undetectable coverage that melts into skin, and the Wet n Wild Breakup Proof Retractable Eyeliner in Black or Black Brown ($4, wetnwildbeauty.com), which helps prevent smudges when blinking and in hot humid weather.

Brow makeup can seem complicated in how-to videos on social media, especially when your brows are thin, misshapen, wiry and graying. Clarify your brow situation with a snip. “First, brush brows up and trim long, unruly hair with a tiny manicure scissors,” Linter says. “This helps establish the real shape without interference from excess hair. The goal is to fill gaps and sparse areas and to elongate the brow tails while keeping the shape as horizontal as possible — not curving down around the eye. I like a mechanical pencil with a refined or slanted tip, like the Tom Ford Brow Sculptor in Taupe, Blonde, Chestnut ($56, nordstrom.com), which creates believable hairlike strokes. For recreating a realistic brow from scratch, a brow powder, like the RMS Back2Brow Powder in Light, Medium or Dark ($27, rmsbeauty.com) and the RMS Back2Brow Brush ($24, rmsbeauty.com), fills bald spots and missing tails effectively without a lot of effort. Avoid going too dark. Taupe and blonde shades work for blondes and highlighted brunettes. True dark brunettes should soften up brows with brown (not black), and those with gray hair should make up their brows in their original shade — never gray!” Another brand to try: Maybelline Express Brow 2-in-1 Pencil and Powder Eyebrow Makeup in Light Blonde, Blonde, Soft Brown or Medium Brown ($12, walgreens.com).

Lois Joy Johnson is a beauty and style editor who focuses on women 50 and older. She was the beauty and style editor at Ladies’ Home Journal and a founding editor of More magazine. She has written three books: The Makeup Wakeup, The Wardrobe Wakeup and The Woman's Wakeup.

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