Anti-aging makeup for TV presenters: everything you need to know

Alla Yakimova-Maklyuk, makeup artist, special effects specialist and expert in the field of facial asymmetry correction, has extensive experience in the field of media, theater and show business

About anti-aging makeup for TV presenters

Let's dwell in more detail on the topic of anti-aging makeup after 40 and talk about its features. Today, there are many special lifting tools to solve anti-aging problems. (Lifting tools are special elements of anti-aging makeup, which are based on a clear knowledge of the anatomy of the human face. The principle of operation is the technical development of all descending lines that determine age, replacing their direction with an ascending one. - Ed.). The use of such tools is a kind of newfangled trend. However, in my work, I prefer professional artistic makeup to this fashionable and purely technical method of rejuvenation, which is time-tested and works for all ages and to achieve any goals. As a rule, the task of rejuvenation faces a television makeup artist when he works with a presenter 40 years old or older. This age can approximately be considered the beginning of the processes of weakening turgor and skin tone, disturbances in the subcutaneous fatty tissue of the middle part of the face, which leads to sagging tissue and a change in the natural oval of the face. Swollen cheeks and jowls weigh down the lower part of the face, are visually unattractive and add extra years. So, before you begin the process of correcting age-related changes, you should first assess the degree of loss of skin tone. The correct choice of corrective and concealing products depends on this. To successfully solve the problem of rejuvenation, it is especially important to have a keen sense of color. If there is an error of just a half-tone or if the wrong corrective tonal product is chosen, as well as if all boundaries are not sufficiently adjusted, the make-up artist will not be able to achieve the desired effect, and “rejuvenation” will not occur.

About the features of age-related makeup

When performing age-related makeup for TV presenters, for the main part of the face, I would recommend using shades a tone lighter than the natural skin color of the person you are working with. In addition, I would under no circumstances recommend using foundations with a yellowish undertone, since such a shade goes against the goal of rejuvenation. Having selected the desired tones, you need to carefully work on the T-zone area (the center of the forehead, nose, nostrils, the area under the eyes, around the mouth and chin) using highlighters. All lines applied to the face in such makeup should be directed upward, as opposed to their natural tendency to fall down over the years. As we said above, you should start working with the eyebrows. By pointing the ends of the eyebrows upward, we create a more open look. Our task is to use makeup and lines applied to the face to open the eyes and, as it were, “smooth out” the face. With age, eyebrows can acquire a very rigid, established shape, with sharp bends and wrinkles that fall into the eyes. Eyebrow hairs become coarser over time, which can create a completely distorted, irregular shape. Using softening gels and fixative gels for eyebrows, it is necessary to lay each individual hair along lines directed upward and to the side, trying to open the eyes as much as possible. If the eyebrow is naturally short and, as a result of age-related changes, is already drooping, I advise using a light corrector, applying it to the entire sub-brow area and filling in the missing section of the eyebrow. This technique also allows you to open your eyes; it is the simplest method of visual tightening. If you perform this step skillfully, as a result you can rejuvenate the presenter’s face by 5-7 years. After completing the stage of working with the eyebrows, you need to turn your attention to the wrinkles on the forehead, between the eyebrows, and sometimes at the base of the eyebrows. I recommend lightening wrinkles with highlighters. Next comes my special trick - be sure to connect ready-made eyebrows with correction of the bridge of the nose. This is done by drawing the clearest possible lines to align the eyebrow area. The stage of such correction ends at the tip of the nose. I should note that not everyone needs correction on the bridge of the nose. When performing classic, age-appropriate makeup, working with the correct shape of the nose, you can get by with a light shadow of blush applied on the sides of the wings of the nose. This allows you to harmonize the entire makeup as a whole. Another very important element of anti-aging makeup is the correction of sagging cheeks, chin and neck. It requires the use of the densest and darkest corrective products. There are a huge number of them, so again it is very important, based on the natural tone and color of the TV presenter’s skin, to choose the right color shade. Having decided on the materials, you need to apply dark correctors to the sagging areas of the cheeks and neck, carefully shading them and trying not to leave any borders. At the moment of shading, the master must literally physically feel the edge where he needs to stop or, conversely, add a dark element. From the area of the cheeks and chin, you should very smoothly move down to the décolleté area, without leaving any stains or streaks. As a result of eliminating age-related changes in the area of the lower jaw and neck with the help of dark correctors (fixing your work with transparent fixing powder), you can visually make the presenter several years younger. With age, as a rule, the outer corners of the eyes also droop, so you need to start makeup again, armed with the principle of lifting lines. However, this must be done in such a way as not to disturb the naturalness, and to the extent that facial features allow. I recommend first correcting folds, drooping parts of the eyelids and other unevenness with shadows of dusty shades, and only then gradually introducing color into the eye makeup. Inner corners should always be brightened with matte shadows. As for the lower eyelid, you need to work with it extremely carefully. Even the thinnest, incorrectly placed line of eyeshadow, pencil or eyeliner can ruin the entire effect of anti-aging makeup. One wrong movement along the lower eyelid can cancel out all the work on rejuvenation and achieve a completely opposite result, not removing, but, on the contrary, emphasizing age-related changes. The intensity of the shadows, in my opinion, should be kept to a minimum, since the lack of measure makes the face look older, not younger. I prefer delicate shades of light pink, translucent blush, mostly cool tones. It is extremely rare to paint over the lower lashes in lifting eye makeup to avoid downward lines. As the years pass, wrinkles also appear in the mouth area. Lines appear at the corners of the lips, and if they look down, the face takes on a sad expression. This is important to consider when working on your lips. In order to correct the defect of drooping corners, you can use a light corrector, masking as much as possible the downward lines and creases of the skin. Unfortunately, as we age, our lips become thinner and lose their youthful plumpness. Therefore, in anti-aging makeup, makeup with an element of increasing the contour of the upper lip is allowed. In addition, I recommend raising the lines in the corners of the mouth by 1-2 mm, creating the effect of a smile. When working in a television studio, in addition to applying contour, I prefer to fill in the lips of TV presenters with a pencil. You need to choose a long-lasting pencil, maybe even waterproof, one that can hold its shape for a long time and prevent lipstick and gloss from going beyond the lip contour. The color of your lip makeup should also be in harmony with your overall makeup. It should not contain two opposite, “arguing” colors, such as warm and cold...

The final stage

In the final stage of the work, if required, you can add additional touches, for example, attaching a couple of tufts of perforated eyelashes to further open up the look. Sometimes it makes sense to place them on the outer edge of the upper eyelid, placing the outer lash above the natural line of the lash line - this technique will lift the outer corner of the eye. Every smallest step in a make-up artist’s work requires utmost thoughtfulness and precision in execution; only then is the desired effect achieved and a truly amazing transformation is possible. We live in an amazing time when there is a huge selection of makeup tools and paints on the market. You just need to know how to apply them correctly! In my profession, everything is always unique, and no two jobs are the same. I think that's why makeup is an art. And let's not forget that the TV presenter or TV presenter who captivated us is sometimes attractive and young precisely thanks to a professional, a makeup artist, who remained behind the scenes.

The article was first published in Makeup&YOU Professional magazine.