The grown-up approach to beauty includes knowing where to splurge and where to save. So while it is good to nose around the beauty regimes of the older women who are plastered across billboards and front covers – Jennifer Aniston, J-Lo, Yasmin Le Bon, and the gleesome threesome that now constitute Sex and the City, for example – I take the tips that often accompany these pictures with a good dollop of Himalayan salts.
What I do surmise is that there is something for everyone. These days, there is no single way to look 50, 70 – or any age.
These celebrities, who just keep on going, are changing the way beauty brands look at older women. Consequently, there’s a new batch of hero products that, while they work for everyone, are beautifully compatible with mature skins.
Jones Road, Bobbi Brown’s line of make-up, is a case in point. In the ’90s, Brown revolutionised the beauty landscape with her irresistible, easy-to-use nudes. Thirty years on, she’s done it again with Jones Road, a line of ‘clean’, mostly sheer, foolproof make-up and balms. For the 64-year-old, beauty is about enhancing, not masking, healthy skin and maximising radiance. I love all of it, but my desert-island product is Miracle Balm, a sheer tint in a huge pot, which comes in six shades and can be used all over the face – layered on the cheeks as a blusher, on the eyes, with or without powder, and on the lips. And, truly, it’s not drying.
For days when you want a more dramatic hit, Armani Beauty’s Lip Power, in a vibrant shade such as Romanza, is a good choice – long-lasting but silky.
Getting older doesn’t mean abandoning drama, but hard edges have to go. Swap out black kohl or eyeliner for plum, khaki brown or bronze – Chanel’s Stylo Yeux in Khaki Métal is versatile enough to create clean or smudgy lines. Don’t forget to tend to nails. Bobbi Brown’s trademark shade is Essie’s Geranium, a red that works because she doesn’t wear much colour on her face. But if you’re looking for a neutral, OPI’s Put It In Neutral is a perfect pale pink.
Less is more is a slippery concept as we age. It’s not actually about doing less, but looking as though we do. That’s true of exercise, which shouldn’t be too cardio-focused, and definitely not punishing. And it’s true of skincare. Those who go in for constant peels and lasers and overuse acids will rue the day. However, a judicious speck of retinol and vitamin C twice a week will boost the skin. Invest in the best you can afford. Medik8’s Reinoate is not cheap, but will last a year, while Garden of Wisdom’s Vitamin C Serum with Ferulic Acid is extremely good value at £10. With those potent actives in your cabinet, you can go basic with your moisturiser. CeraVe’s Moisturising Cream, developed by dermatologists, with hyaluronic acid, is a savvy option.
Or go DIY. A bottle of coldpressed organic avocado oil from say, Hunter & Gather, is less than £12. Mix in your favourite essential oils (assuming you’re not allergic) from Neal’s Yard, and use it for a daily skin exfoliation and massage with Alexandra Soveral’s mitts, £30 (that can be used on the face and the body, and machine-washed) and you’ve got yourself a fine body treatment for pennies.
