We often think of aging as diminishing, and nothing could be further from the truth. Our spirits, hearts, minds, and skin can brighten and become more fabulous as shown in the below video with my vibrant friend Laura.
Her main complaints are a sallow complexion, a weak jawline, and bringing out her best features without looking overly made up. With that in mind, here are my top five inside secrets to brighten a sallow complexion on mature skin and look hot.
I may be a senior, but so what? I’m still hot.
—Betty White
#1 Use Vitamin C Serum
The two top ingredients every woman needs to nourish, hydrate, and brighten her skin are Retinol and Vitamin C serum. If you’re on a budget, spend the most on those two items and less on things like cleansers and moisturizers.
I recommend starting with a low dose of these active ingredients and work your way into tolerating a higher quantity, quality, and cost. With C serum, a good drug store brand for beginners is Vichy LiftActiv Vitamin C Serum 15%. This product uses L-Ascorbic Acid (a water soluble, common, and inexpensive form of topical Vitamin C) and Vitamin E for greater hydration. It is very affordable, so if you have a reaction, you can have a glass of wine and call it good.
If you want to step-up on your skin care, try Image MD Restoring Youth Serum with 20% Tetrahexydecyl Ascorbate, a higher value and less irritating form of Vitamin C than L-Ascorbic Acid. In nearly every instance, the more effective forms of Vitamin C are pricier, and the higher on the ingredient deck the ingredient shows up, the greater the efficacy.
Speaking of quality, if you want the more aggressive anti-aging big daddy of C serum, try Transdermal C Serum with 80% lipophilic (oil soluble) Vitamin C. It’s pricier because it’s a top form of vitamin C, and the quantity is the one of the highest on the market.
#2 Sheer to Medium Foundation
I’ve had on-camera talent walk into the makeup room with foundation the color they want to be, not the color they are, and it’s an absolute pain in the neck to correct it without completely removing all their makeup. Match your foundation to your neck, and then color correct with point number 3, but more on that in a minute.
Using a sheer to medium coverage foundation means that your skin will look like skin, and you won’t have the dreaded settling of foundation in your fine lines. To cover your problem areas like age spots, pigmentation issues, redness, or anything else you don’t like, use a good concealer. That way, your skin looks pretty and with an even texture and not like you hit the wine early.
#3 The Game Changer: Blue Tint
Skin tints are a little-known magical secret to brighten and highlight your skin. For example, to brighten sallow skin, use a blue tint, to diminish red skin like rosacea and sunburn, use a green tint, and to bring out areas like cheekbones, brow bones, and under eyes (as long as your under eye isn’t a browny shade), use a pink tint appropriate for your skin color.
In the video, I applied the Makeup Forever Blue Tint after foundation, but you can just as easily apply it with your fingers before foundation. Makeup Forever is a professional brand, so if you’re interested in checking this item out, look into NYX Blue Tint on Amazon. It’s an easy and noticeable way to brighten sallow skin.
#4 Use Rosy Lipstick and Blush
My friend in the video, Laura, was surprised when I reached for a rosy lipstick and blush, having used warmer tones thinking it blended better with her complexion. The truth is, using more rosy shades can really pop on sallow skin depending on the usage.
For example, I went for a browny-rose blush, as a bright pink blush would be garish. However, on her lipstick, I dove into a lovely raspberry color to bring out her smile, which is her best feature. This is not to say you can’t use warm tones on sallow skin, but in general, a rosy shade will work well and counteract your sallow undertones.
#5 Rosy Highlight
I love highlight, and use it to bring out certain features. What’s the difference between highlight and concealer, you ask? Concealer is made to cover things like dark circles, spots, and discoloration. Highlight is made to bounce the light. For example, once you’ve concealed under your eyes, adding highlight can make that area stand out more, thus enhancing cheekbones, browbones, and inner eye area. On Laura, I added it to all those areas and it’s gorgeous!
I know this is a lot of information about the color theory of makeup, so if you are confused, just have some wine and it will all make sense. Just remember Betty White’s words, that being a senior doesn’t mean your not hot! In fact, we are hotter than ever, even if that includes hot flashes, but then who cares. It’s all in the swagger.
Let’s Have a Conversation:
What do you do about sallow skin? Have you considered using blue tint? What is your favorite technique to conceal sallow skin?
