The 9 Makeup Essentials To Own If You’re 40+ And Very Tired
by The Candidly Team
This very concept is apparently so complex that it took us like 4 hours to find a stock photo to go with this article. See above. She’s so pretty. Stock sites just don’t really seem to get that we need more than JUST 23 year olds with poreless, perfect skin. (Perhaps a great side business?)
Because once we hit 40, our needs change. Shimmer makes skin texture 27 times worse. Too-matte formulas make us look like crypt-keepers. Less. Is. More.
We need simple, hardworking products that perform. Products that don’t crease or cake. Products that make us look like we had 378 hours of sleep even though we haven’t slept since the Reagan administration.
These 9 essentials do that. And more. Let’s go.
1. Ilia Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40 Foundation, $46
If the words “natural” and “glowy” are words you usually use to describe your perfect foundation, welcome to the answer to your dreams. It’s incredibly thick and almost goopy, but once you haphazardly smear it on with your fingers, it becomes almost completely sheer, leaving only plumped-up, intensely hydrated skin, with a realistic skin tint.
And it’s clean, silicone-free, fragrance-free, oil-free, offers 30 shades, and has SPF 40.
Find out more about why we love it here.
2. Tower28 ShineOn Jelly Lip Gloss, $14
A great lip gloss should create a lovely, shiny halo around your lips, so even if they’ve shrunken down over the years, the sheen brings them back to their original glory.
This one is blindingly shiny, but feels soft, almost cushiony. Nourishing and hydrating, but feels slippery, not sticky. Never, ever sticky. Oh, and every color of this gloss is prettier than the last.
Find out more about why we love it here.
3. By Terry Hyaluronic Pressed Face Setting Powder, $52
Typical powder can make every wrinkle look 58% deeper.
This one doesn’t.
Completely colorless and filled with hyaluronic acid, which promotes moist, fat looking skin, this powder doesn’t feel like a powder. It feels like nothing at all. Plus, it knocks back oil without adding dryness, blurs pores like nobody’s business, and banishes shine even if you’re usually someone who can fry an egg on your cheeks come 3 pm.
Find out more about why we love it here.
4. Westman Atelier Blender Brush, $125
If that price just made you gasp, know this— we write about the best thing that actually makes a real difference in our lives. Sometimes those things are $18 or $14 or $10. Right now, that thing is $125.
And it’s the best money you will ever spend on a brush in your natural life. This brush does it all, and does it better. Our makeup no longer looks like it’s sitting on the skin. But rather, like it is our skin.
Find out more about why we love it here.
5. Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch, $39
This little paste really works to “fill in” lines and pocks and pores and gaps on your skin, so that your makeup doesn’t exaggerate texture, but goes on more smoothly for a velvety, even finish. And as if that wasn’t enough, it works beautifully whether you’re a parched dry flake, or a greasy oil slick.
Find out more about why we love it here.
6. Tower 28 Beauty BeachPlease Luminous Tinted Balm, $20
Generally, cream blush is easier to use, looks more natural, and works better for mature skin than powder blush, which can sit on the skin, exacerbate lines, emphasize texture, and just generally look like you’re wearing blush.
And while there are a great number of cream blushes, none are quite as natural and effortless as this one.
A few finger smears into the pot and some taps on the cheeks and nose give you that après-ski glow, with an almost second-skin finish. You sort of can’t mess it up. Even if you try.
Find out more about why we love it here.
7. Surratt Relevée Lash Curler, $34
Is $34 a lot when you can grab some $6 rando brand curler at CVS? Yes, of course. But please also remember that you have never used one that you didn’t want to fling across the room. Until this one.
This curler will never pinch, never crimp, and it keeps your lashes perky and standing at attention all day. Start at the base, move up a little and squeeze, and once more for your last squeeze. You’ll get a rounded curl that looks soft and natural.
Find out more about why we love it here.
8. RMS beauty "Un" Cover-up Concealer, $36
This concealer is like a magic trick product for people who are, shall we say, not concealer pros.
It is both buildable yet sheer. It is opaque yet dewy. It contains soothing coconut and jojoba oils that make it pliable, and never, ever cakey. Dab a dot under your eyes, near your tear ducts, and on the outer corner of your eye, and blend out with more tap tap tapping, et voila. Bright. Blended. Not makeupy.
Find out more about why we love it here.
9. L’Oréal True Match Lumi Glotion Natural Glow Enhancer, $12
Yes to dewy, glazed-donut foreheads, and glossy, light reflecting cheekbones. And double yes when the product that can achieve this glow is waiting for you on Amazon right now.
This “glotion” comes in a few shades so you don’t have to worry that it will lighten or darken your skin like most glow-giving primers can. And one, dime-sized amount is all we need under foundation to shine like the top of the Chrysler building. But in a good way.
Find out more about why we love it here.
Bonus: And here’s 3 more, for the serious makeup aficionados.
Saie Glowy Super Gel Lightweight Dewy Highlighter
What we all want: dewy, fresh, healthy looking skin that gleams with a natural, lit-from-within glow.
What we all usually get: products with shimmer/glitter/sheen that look obviously like makeup, enhance our wrinkles, and make our skin texture look worse.
Friends? Today we say no more.
This feather-light highlighting gel is made with 75% water so it feels almost like nothing on the skin. Smear it all over your face, post moisturizer, for a blinding glow, mix a pump or two into your foundation for extra radiance and potentially eternal youth.
Find out more about why we love it here.
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush
The point of blush is to look as though you’ve completed a vigorous hike, your cheeks flushed from soul-affirming physical activity, while you now sip a hot chai oat milk latte on a chaise lounge, enrobed in various chunky knits.
And nothing, perhaps not even a real hike, achieves that goal more than this hourglass blush.
It glides onto the skin whisper-light to blur pores, texture, signs of aging, any imperfections.
So now, the color. Choosing a blush color often feels like a fools errand.
And luckily, you truly can’t go wrong with almost all their shades. Nearly everything works on a huge variety of skin tones, and even more importantly, they look utterly natural, utterly effortless, utterly après ski.
Find out more about why we love it here.
Tom Ford Cream and Powder Eye Color
What we have always searched for, is a true, one-and-done shadow we can wear with anything, that can be easily blended even if our blending skills are subpar, and that lasts all day with nary a smudge nor crease.
Friends, we found it.
This genius duo contains both a cream and a powder in its unassuming little pot. The verrrry long lasting cream shadow has a sheer, molten quality that creates more of an eye glow rather than calling attention to the color itself. And the powder shadow is there to layer on top to add some extra sparkly sheen if/when you ever go to a fancy event again.
Find out more about why we love it here.
At The Candidly, we try a lot of stuff so you don’t have to. We only recommend things we truly love, and that we think you’ll love, too. All products are chosen independently by our creative team, and all details reflect the price and availability of products at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to, The Candidly may earn a commission.
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