Embracing your grey hair is a personal thing. We all become silver sisters at different stages in life and certainly become ok with it at different ages too. But our next story features a follower who is well and truly ready to rock her natural greys.
We’ve treated this deserving follower to a luxury hair and makeup consultation with some of the countries most revered hair and makeup artists. Geraldine, 62 survived a major aneurysm late last year, and along with her new lease on life, has recently decided to stop dying her hair. She is allowing her natural grey to come through and we think it’s beautiful. To get the most out of her newly-welcomed colour, we’ve swept Geraldine into Sydney to meet with Pablo at M.A.C and Andrew at Barney Martin Hairdressers to get expert knowledge on the colours and styles that compliment her new ‘do.
First, Geraldine met with Pablo at M.A.C in Paddington. A man with charm and talent in spades, Pablo talked us through the choices he made to suit Geraldine’s skin tone, eye colour and hair. Here are Pablo’s top tips for natural, mature radiance.
PREP
Prepping your skin is essential. It protects your skin and dramatically improves how long your makeup lasts. I like a PREP + PRIME FIX + because you can also use it through the day to refresh the skin.
Geraldine is wearing: M.A.C PREP + PRIME FIX +
PRIMER
Prep + Prime Natural Radiance in yellow is the best for Geraldine’s skin as I am picking up on her olive tones. Remember this doesn’t work better the more you use, one pump is more than enough for the whole face.
Geraldine is wearing: M.A.C Prep + Prime Natural Radiance
EXTRA MOISTURE
If you’re looking for this luminosity like Geraldine than a Strobe Cream will beautifully support the foundation and give it a pearly finish.
Geraldine is wearing: M.A.C Strobe Cream
FOUNDATION
Geraldine considers her skin naturally oily, however, after 45 the skins natural oils begin to deplete. This is why I advise using creamy foundations that leave a smooth finish. Mature clients should avoid dry foundations.
Always try to best match foundation to your skin tone, rather than go darker. If you start too dark with the base layer, then the bronzer and all other product will need to go darker too and it will finish heavy.
And most importantly, don’t use excess foundation. Keep it light and natural and allow your concealer to do the heavy coverage rather than one big flat make up face. If you’re applying too many layers in your foundation it will stick in the creases and wrinkles will actually end up enhanced. I’d say use half the amount of foundation that you’re currently using, most people apply far too much. Remember, you’re perfecting the skin, not masking it.
Geraldine is wearing: M.A.C Mineralize Moisture SPF Foundation (NC25)
CONCEALER
I like to apply a little under the eyes, under the brow to define them and any areas of concern.
BROWS
I use a light pencil brush through the brows. I don’t think heavy brows look good on mature women, you just want to define the shape, not build up the heaviness. Use a colour close to your hair colour and softly flick through the shape of the brow.
CONTOURING
I like to use a cream for contouring, again as its illuminating and blends better with foundation. A powder can look patchy and is more difficult to correct if you make a mistake. Dab along your cheekbone and also on your forehead, just a touch down from your hairline. This helps create depth, rather than a flat mask.
Geraldine is wearing: M.A.C Prep + Prime Highlighter
LIPS
A lip primer will prevent the lipstick bleeding and will help the colour last much longer. Don’t forget, if you now have white-based hair you can be more adventurous with your lips as darker hair can often darken the features of the skin. So deep plums, oranges, purples and reds may not have been colours you could have worn previously, but with grey hair, there are new options.
Geraldine is wearing: M.A.C Prep + Prime Lip and M.A.C Amplified Lipstick and M.A.C Lip Liner
EYES
I like to add a neutral base primer to take out any purple undertone so that when applying the eyeshadow it’s the truest colour. It’s also helpful for setting the makeup and smoothing out creases. Brown or grey liners are often best for mature skin, you just want to softly define rather than heavily darken.
Geraldine is wearing: M.A.C Prep + Prime 24 Hour Extend Eye Base and M.A.C Extended Play Lash
POWDER
Dab with a mineral powder and it’s important that it’s thin, not cakey, this one is called a SkinFinish. It’s really compact and a good one to carry around with you when you’re feeling shiny throughout the day.
Geraldine is wearing: M.A.C Mineralize Skinfinish
BLUSH
This is a powdered blush with a matte finish because I have already used enough glow in the highlighter. This rosy tone sits nicely on mature skin to bring back the soft glow.
Geraldine is wearing: M.A.C Powder Blush
COLOURS
I’ve worked in coppers, browns and warm oranges for Geraldine’s colour to balance her silver hair and make her blue eyes pop. These tones are happiness on the skin! Also, for many women who have silvery grey hair, some blues can look really amazing. Not electric blues but anything with that silver streak through it is lovely, just ensure you blend them.
GERALDINE’S FINISHED LOOK
Ladies, Pablo is a pro and has used a big variety of product to achieve what we believe is wedding-worthy makeup. We appreciate that this is not you’re everyday makeup but there are some very useful tips within each of his applications. That is why we’ve broken them down into features for you to keep in mind if you have an area of concern. Personally, we’ve taken on several tips from Pablo and adapted them to our current routine – especially the tip about cutting the amount of foundation we use in half.
Ultimately, Geraldine looks beautiful. There is a genuine radiance and we feel Pablo has simply enhanced her assets rather than built a mask. We really love this makeup and thank Pablo and Geraldine for allowing us to share these tips with you.
Tomorrow, we share our visit to see Andrew at Barney Martin Hairdressers for the finishing touches on Geraldine’s locks. We think you’re going to love this one!
If you’re interested in mature makeup, you have to read our chat with Priceline Makeup direcitor Sarah Laidlaw –The Ultimate Guide to Mature Makeup.