MAKE-UP TRICKS FOR OLDER EYES AND LIPS

How To Disguise Ageing Eye Shapes
Good eye make-up is all about creating an optical illusion, using dark colours to recede and light colours to accentuate. Here's how:

Deep-set eyes
You want to bring your eyes out, so use a light shade over your lids. Lining the top lash line from the centre to the outer corner will also make your eyelashes look thicker, accentuating the eye rather than the recessive lid.

Droopy eyes
This is where clever shading come in. To see the whole eye area, hold your mirror at a 45-degree angle below eye level and tilt your head back so the crease disappears. Now brush a light-coloured eyeshadow over the lids and brow bone, and then apply amid-tone shade in an arc over the entire crease area. Avoid eyeliner and brush two coats of mascara through top and bottom lashes.

All eyes
A dot of cream shadow on the brow bone opens eyes up instantly, and another at the inside corner of the eyes next to the nose brightens the whites of your eyes. You can also use a white kohl pencil along the inside rim, but avoid brilliant whites (they look great in pictures, but not so good in real life). Cream or a slightly bluey white looks more natural.

Make-up rules for glasses
Glasses do one of two things: they minimize your eyes, which means you need to enhance them (use eyeliner and curl your lashes before applying two coats of mascara); or they maximize everything behind the lens, which means make-up mistakes are on show (mascara clumps are particularly ugly, so avoid 'body-building' types and go for a lengthening formula, which will have fewer fibres).

If your glasses are a bold colour, do not try to compete with make-up. Instead, balance the effect with a well-defined, mid-toned mouth. Coloured-glass frames also work if your eyes are sensitive and run at the first sign of make-up. You can ditch the eyeliner and let your glasses do the talking.

Glasses and sunglasses will rub of foundation, especially around your nose. There is no way to avoid this, so spot-check occasionally and smooth things out with a quick blend.

Your brows (rather than the top rim of your glasses) should frame your face. Make them well defined by filling in with an eyeshadow one shade lighter than your brow hairs. Brush through with a clear mascara or an old toothbrush.

Making up when you don't see well
Do not avoid make-up for fear of making a mistake. Invest in a magnifying mirror, and carry a small one in your bag for on-the-spot checks. Make-up can be simple but still make a huge difference to your appearance. A compact cream-to-powder foundation is easy to use - just stroke the sponge over areas that need coverage - and cream eyeshadow and blusher are quick and simple to apply with fingers.

Consider having your eyelashes dyed professionally (with results lasting up to three months - the life of an eyelash), so all you need is a slick of clear mascara to define them. Strong shades of lipstick show up the slightest blip, so stick to more natural tones, and if lining your lips is tricky choose a two step (one coloured, one clear), long-lasting lip product, which sets on your lips, eliminating the risk of 'bleeding' into fine lines. The easiest option? Mistake-proof coloured lip gloss -just apply to your bottom lip and smack lips together.

Lips: Plumping and Painting

Young lips are plump and rosy, but age causes a loss of volume and colour, plus fullness around the outline, which is why lipstick can 'bleed' into fine lines around your mouth.

Plumping
One way to deal with the deflation is a cosmetic filler, but do not overdo it - celebrity magazines are full of mouths that do not fit the face they belong to! Luckily there are plenty of other ways to make your lips look larger without resorting to needles.

Lip-plumping products work in one of two ways. All will moisturize deeply while providing a very flattering high gloss. Some contain light-reflective pigments to literally bounce light away and create the illusion of a fuller mouth. Others contain a mildly irritating ingredient like chilli, clove oil or cinnamon extract which, when applied to the lips, causes them to tingle.

This irritation also makes the tissues swell slightly and, hey presto, you have lips that fuller instantly. Once you get used to the sensation, the second typed gives more significant results. Another way to irritate your lips mildly so they swell slightly is to buff them gently using an old toothbrush, followed by a generous slick of lip balm.

Painting

• The right lipstick can do wonders for less-than-luscious lips, and can also take years off you. If you do not fancy trying the testers in your local store to see what suits you (and who does?), hold them up to your lips and you will see straight away which ones brighten up your skin tone.
• Dark colours make lips recede, while lighter ones make them stand out. This means avoiding matte, opaque darker lipstick, which will make your lips look thinner, and choosing light to medium colours in moisturizing formulas (but avoid frosted shades, which just draw attention to fine lines).
• Loss of a strong outline around your lips means you need to add it in yourself. To make lips stand out and strengthen a weak lip line, use a fine brush to draw a line of concealer around your whole lip area before blending the edges away. Or use a lip pencil in a neutral shade use just outside your natural lip line, but make sure it meets your own lip line perfectly at the corners of your mouth. And always choose a neutral shade for when your lipstick fades, as you do not want to be left with an unnatural line around your mouth (very ageing Hollywood star).
• Make-up artists apply foundation over the lips before painting on colour to ensure lasting-power. Another way to create an undercoat is to fill in your lips with lipliner, which gives lipstick something to grab hold of. This is also a good idea if you are wearing gloss, as it provides a base to stop the gloss from sliding off too quickly.
• Lip gloss reflects light, making lips look fuller, but go easy on the application as gloss will 'bleed' easier than lipstick. A better idea is to apply your usual lipstick and then highlight the centre of your lips with a dab of gloss to catch the light and magnify your mouth.
• Make your upper lip stand out by applying a dab of highlighter just above your Cupid's bow. Alternatively, use a white eye pencil drawn lightly above the Cupid's bow, but apply it very sparingly and blend away any hard edges.