9 beauty mistakes that can make you look older

It’s ever-so-easy to get stuck in a rut when it comes to skincare, makeup and fashion. The worst-case scenario is a look that belongs to the previous decade or the decade before that. Here are some tips about keeping your look up-to-date, so you don’t end up looking older than you feel. 

1. Skinny eyebrows

If your eyebrows aren’t fat and luscious, it’s possible you’ve been over-plucking all your life. Back in the 80s, it was fashionable to have arched skinny brows that made you look permanently surprised. These days, brows are bushy and proud of it. You might be able to encourage extra growth with a lash serum, but the quickest solution is to get handy with a four-prong eyebrow pen. You can literally draw the hairs in. Brow mascara is handy too.

2. Peachy-pink nails

Sheer is youthful; opaque is ageing. This is a guideline that applies to nail polish, as well as foundation. Maybe it’s time to do a serious cull of your nail varnish collection, then try some of the beautiful new see-through shades. A sheet pink brightens skin tone, while a translucent glossy white makes you look cool, creative and interesting. The best contemporary canvas? Medium-length oval or round nails. Ditch the square ends.

3. Once-were-trendy clothes

Living at the bleeding edge of fashion can be fun, but it comes with risks. The greatest risk is continuing to wear trends when they are way past their use-by date. The stylist for Robin Wright, the leading lady in House of Cards, says you need to cull the stuff in your closet that was once very trendy. It’s not trendy now and its ‘was trendy’ status won’t do your self-image any good. For the sake of the planet, consider giving up high fashion to follow a classic path – better quality clothes with almost-timeless styling. It’s still good to salute current silhouettes, but not in a slavish way.

4. Matching accessories

If your brain still wants you to match your shoes to your handbag and lipstick, tell it to take a hike. Matchy-matchy is very yesterday. You’re better to pair a neutral bag with printed or striped shoes (or the other way around) and use the lipstick that best suits your skin tone. Or you can follow a monochromatic theme using varying shades of the same colour family. Your mum and nana could probably use some schooling about this rule.

5. Stripping your skin clean

In days of old when cleansers were bold, everyone stripped their skin super-clean. These days it’s a recipe for dermatological disaster. While it’s important to remove makeup and excess sebum at the end of the day, you don’t need to destroy your skin barrier in the process. Switch to a double-cleansing practice using an all-natural oil-based cleanser first and a natural foaming cleanser second, then finish with toner and moisturiser. Your skin will love you for it.

6. Hiding under a layer of foundation

Dense, matte foundations deliver a geisha girl look that’s really only suitable for fancy dress parties. And they have a nasty habit of melting into your wrinkles, so your face becomes a traffic map of lines by the end of the day. While logic might be telling you wrinkles need covering up and filling, you’ll get a more youthful look with translucent and sheer foundations. Put the heavy-duty filler aside and move to a BB cream – the effect can be miraculous.

7. Blushing in the wrong place

We all know we’re supposed to blush on the ‘apples’ of our cheeks, but what if your apples are heading south? Gravity has that effect. The trick here is to imagine your cheek apples in a higher place, further up your face. Brush colour about 2cm under your eye at the top of your cheekbone. You’ll look instantly perkier.

8. Smile fail

Studies have shown that the quickest way to look younger is to smile. [1] Your wrinkles become laugh lines and your happiness, even if you’re faking the smile, helps you to look positive and upbeat – traits that belong to young people. Trying to look cool by pouting might emphasise your cheekbones, but it can also make you look like a duck (especially if your lips are filled).

9. Going short on sleep

We’ve all got too much to do and not enough time to do it. Lack of sleep is the consequence. However, if you make sleep a priority - like even more important than a Netflix binge - you can claw back some of your lost youth. When your body is asleep, it produces the growth hormone that helps renew your cellular structure. It doesn’t happen any other way; sleep is the only process that supports proper repair work.

[1] https://www.webmd.com/beauty/news/20111111/smiling-makes-you-look-younger