10 Holiday Makeup Tips for Women 50+

2. Switch to a black eyeliner pencil

 There's nothing like an ebony pencil for firming and defining lids that are crepey, droopy, deep-set or looking tired. Start at the very outer eye and work inwards, using tiny back and forth strokes. Keeping definition close to the lash roots gives your eyes a firm, sculpted shape. If you draw the line too wide or it squiggles, just go back over it with a Q-tip to soften or correct. Then sharpen the pencil and redo the line to keep the intensity strong. Sketch beneath the eyes, too, but this time use a light touch — unless you're rimming the inner eye, which brings out deep-set eyes.

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Salma Hayek, Revlon ColorStay Créme Eye Shadow, RMS Beauty Eye Polish, Julia Roberts

Eric Fougere/Corbis via Getty Images, Ulta, Sephora, Taylor Hill/Getty Images

3. Use a cream eye shadow as a primer

 When applying makeup, save your eyes for last. Layering products is the secret to eye makeup that won't budge. A cream shadow like Revlon ColorStay Creme Eye Shadow ($8, ulta.com) or RMS Beauty Eye Polish ($28, sephora.com) makes liner application easier and gives powder shadow something to cling to for zero creasing, fading or flake-out. Choose a shade close to the skin on your lids (it'll disguise redness and any shadow will work over it), match cream shadow to powder shadow for a more intense easy smoky look, or choose a shimmery shade to add sparkle to fatigued eyes.

Angela Bassett, Julianne Moore, Cynthia Bailey

Granitz/WireImage, ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images, Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

4. Stick with brown or gray shadows

Blue eye shadow is trendy for mature celebs, but the color is hard to pull off for mere mortals. Opt instead for warmer shades for cool eyes, such as blue, gray or green, and cooler shades for warm brown or hazel eyes. The contrast works to bring out your eye color, and no matter how much you smoke up the lids or frame the eyes, they never look overdone. Choose palettes with a mix of light to dark shades and a variety of textures, including matte, satin and shimmery. Mix, blend and layer to build color and create an endless shade range, and for the ability to do a crisp clean look or a smoky eye in several ways.

5. Do your eyes for your glasses

 It is no secret: Prescription lenses distort eye size. Nearsighted? Your lenses are concave and make eyes appear smaller. Compensate by using liner and shadows to contour a bigger shape. Do a pale shade on lids, a taupe or medium shadow in the crease, and a very dark liner at the lash line. Farsighted? Your lenses are convex, so eyes appear bigger behind your glasses — but any lines, crepey texture on lids or messy makeup are also magnified. Do a clean, crisp liner and skip the smoky dark shadows when wearing your glasses.

Laura Dern, Kris Jenner, Elizabeth Hurley, Brooke Shields

Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for BFI, Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage, David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for The Estee Lauder Companies, Craig Barritt/Getty Images for MoMA

6. Create a modern brow

 No matter how cool and trendy your clothes (and the rest of your makeup), if your brows say “retro,” you'll look out of date. Use brow pencil in short feathery strokes to extend the length and fill in the shape, which will unhook and correct tadpole shaped brows, fatten skinnies, complete brows with missing heads or tails, and give your face a “groomed” look. Keep the arch stretched way at the end. Don't try to match sets of brows and eyes exactly. The imperfection — one brow higher or thicker — adds personality and character. And who can resist that?

Tracee Ellis Ross, Jessica Lange, Sharon Stone

Getty Images (3): ABC/Image Group LA, Taylor Hill/FilmMagic, Britta Pedersen/picture alliance

7. Let your skin look like skin

Keep face makeup glowy and radiant. Choose a foundation, color-correcting (CC )cream or tinted moisturizer that gives you fresher, healthier-looking skin. Going a little sheerer and more luminous looks more appealing than a full coverage foundation and powder, which can also look theatrical and masklike with stronger eyes and lips. For the dewiest look, wash your face and prep skin with a facial mask for 10 minutes prior to applying makeup. Gently massage on the moisturizer, let it sink in a few minutes and then start your makeup. If you are going out for the evening and want to redo one item from your morning makeup application, make it the foundation. You can retouch the eyes and lips easily.

Jennifer Lopez, Cate Blanchett, Jane Seymour

James Devaney/GC Images, Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images, Gabriel Olsen/Getty Images

8. Lash up to look awake

Curl your lashes to open your eyes and to counteract sag. Use a curler with good spring-cushioned pads and a wide shape to prevent crimping, and curl before you add mascara. To apply, front-load your mascara — depositing more at the roots of the lashes, not the tips, in a black shade to really make your eyes look bigger and stronger. And start at the very roots so there are no gaps between mascara and the upper inner rims. Roll the brush up in a wiggling back-and-forth movement to saturate lashes. For a real pop: Learn to do a strip of natural-looking fake lashes. “Any 50-plus woman can carry off false lashes now,” Linter says. “Just be sure to keep your hair soft and natural so they look newsy.” Celebs always wear them to amplify eyes, day or night. They work like fluttery awnings.

Christie Brinkley, Julianne Moore, Vanessa Williams, Nars Blush in Orgasm, Stila Convertible Color in Lillium

Eric McCandless via Getty Images, Gary Gershoff/WireImage, John Lamparski/Getty Images, Sephora, Ulta

9. Never skip blush

 While even a face cream takes weeks to see real change, blush's power is instantaneous. “I use Stila Convertible Color in lillium (a cream blush), and brush Nars Blush in Orgasm on top, blending both at the high point of the cheeks. That combo gives every skin tone a believable glow,” Linter says. And know that cream blushes that look bright or deep in the compact case do calm down on application to a wash of color.

Isabelle Huppert, Isabella Rossellini, Jennifer Tilly, MAC PowderKiss Lipstick in Fall in Love, Professional Makeup Suede Matte Lipstick in Cannes

Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images, Michael Tran/FilmMagic, Paul Archuleta/Getty Images, Ulta

10. Lipstick makes any smile more appealing

 For some women, wearing a bright lip is basic as a bra. For others, a mauve-tinted lip balm is as far as they will go. While neutrals are always great, upgrading to an even slightly more pinky, rosy, peachy color can add energy to your skin and make you look instantly more dressed up. “I love the new mattes for mature women. But add a dab of gloss to the center of the lips to keep it fresh,” Linter advises. Whether your lips are thin or full, high-pigment mattes like MAC PowderKiss Lipstick in Fall in Love ($19, ulta.com) and NYX Professional Makeup Suede Matte Lipstick in Cannes ($8,ulta.com) will last through hours of eating, air kisses and eggnogging, and they won't dry out, flake or fade away.

For more beauty and style tips for women age 50-plus, check out The Makeup Wakeup: Revitalizing Your Look at Any Age by Lois Joy Johnson and Sandy Linter.