How to age beautifully

Going by the past 12 months or so, ageless beauty is in vogue. Youth has long been considered a powerful commodity in the world of beauty, but these days you’re more likely to see a celebrity face over the age of 35 beaming down at you from a billboard.

It all started in February 2014 when at the age of 64 Jessica Lange was unveiled as the new face of Marc Jacobs Beauty. Charlotte Rampling, who turned 69 last month, followed suit by appearing in ads for Nars, and in the last few weeks, Dame Helen Mirren, 69, has just got herself a lucrative campaign with L’Oréal Paris. Far from being invisible, these women are celebrating the faces they have grown into – wrinkles and all. So maybe, just maybe, it’s time to take a leaf out of their books and let the very best version of you shine. Go ahead, make your skin sing every day. Get the hair you’ve always dreamed of and dig out your make-up bag for some turn-back-the-clock tricks.

1 Don’t save lipstick for special occasions

There’s no denying the power of a lipstick – the right shade can elevate your mood and make you feel instantly more glamorous. So don’t keep your lipsticks stashed in a drawer – they pack too great an anti-ageing punch to be worn only on the occasional night out or to a wedding. “Warm corals are universally flattering while a magenta with cooler blue undertones will make eyes brighter and teeth look up to two shades whiter,” says Amy Conway, Bobbi Brown PRO artist, who’s a big fan of the new Limited Edition Bobbi Brown Art Stick in Hot Berry.

Don’t shy away from reds either – they’re known to be the most empowering hues emotionally and psychologically. When applying a bold statement lip, remember that lips are naturally pink and this will affect the colour of the lipstick you apply. To get the truest shade, sweep foundation over your lips first then apply the lipstick on top.

2 Play up the eyes behind those specs

Rather than hiding behind your glasses, make a feature of them. “Wearing glasses already draws attention to your eyes, so you want to make sure your make-up is clean and simple,” says make-up maestro Bobbi Brown. “Stick to neutral shades of eyeshadow – save bold colours for your lips. If your frames are thick, apply eyeliner in a thicker line along the upper lashes so that your eyes stand out.” If you have prescription glasses that make your eyes look small, draw a ring around your whole eye with a kohl pencil that is darker than your natural eye colour. We like Dolce & Gabbana Crayon Intense Eyeliner in Chocolate for creating a soft, smudgy finish.

3 Beef-up those skinny brows

There’s good reason to try out the bushy brow look. Larger brows make a face look instantly groomed and counteract any droopiness around the eyes that comes with age. So put down the tweezers for the next eight to 12 weeks – the natural growth cycle for hair – and fake them until you make them. Choose a brow pencil one or two shades lighter than your brows to stop them looking overdone – Benefit Instant Brow Pencil is one of the best. “Apply it directly above your pupil first,” says Lisa Potter-Dixon, head make-up and trend artist for Benefit. “That’s the area that needs the darkest hit of pigment to enhance the colour of your pupils. By the time you do the start and ends, your freshly sharpened pencil will have softened down to get a more feathery result.” Generally speaking, your brows should begin directly above your tear duct and tail off slightly above the outer corner of your eye. Your arch should line up with the outer side of your iris – hold the brow pencil at an angle for guidance.

4 Spritz on your favourite fragrance

For centuries, fragrance has been used to make us smell better, but perfume is so much more than that. It cleverly triggers a release of hormones in the brain, which in turn affect our mood. The right perfume can change how we feel and even how others respond to us. This was demonstrated by an experiment conducted by the Monell Chemical Senses Centre in Philadelphia, US, to see how scent can influence facial attractiveness. As the testers rated pictures of female faces of various ages, different odours were simultaneously released, ranging from fish oil (unpleasant) to rose oil (pleasant). The study revealed that the more pleasant the fragrance, the more facially beautiful we appear to others.

So what is the right perfume? “If you want to feel your best, look for big, heady, white blooms such as jasmine, gardenia and tuberose,” says fragrance expert and perfumer Roja Dove. “All contain ‘indole’ – a sweet, heavily scented molecule that arouses our animal instincts and makes perfumes containing these blooms more attractive.” For days when you want to feel more youthful, a light sparkling floral perfume such as Love Story by Chloé is your best bet.

5 Fall in love with your hair again

‘Dream hair’ usually implies spending half an hour each morning juggling a bristle brush, blow-dryer and styling products. But if S/S15’s hottest catwalk trends tell us anything, it’s that we’ll be embracing rather than wrestling with our daily hair dilemmas. So what if your hair isn’t naturally poker straight? Looser, undone curls are in. “Finger-comb your hair instead of using brushes and don’t be afraid of a wayward wave – just aim to tame frizz,” says Harry Josh, celebrity hair stylist who has John Frieda Anti-Frizz Primer in his kit for quick fixes. Moreover, having second-day-old hair will give this look even more texture. For pool-side glamour, try the wet-look hair as seen at Alexander Wang. All you need is a hair mask, followed by a serum (Show Beauty Pure Treatment Oil is ideal), applied to clean, dry hair for mirror-like shine. The added benefit is that the heat will encourage the nourishing ingredients to penetrate into your hair, making it stronger and naturally glossy.

6 Take a beauty breather

3 time-saving beauty hacks

Once you’ve tried them, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without them:

1 If you can’t avoid a late night, compensate for it the next morning by treating yourself to a face mask when you wake up. Celebrity make-up artist Liz Pugh says a face mask is ‘balmier and has a higher concentration of active ingredients like brighteners and hyaluronic acid than a night cream to hydrate your skin.”

2 ”Avoid spending ages massaging around your eyes to get rid of early-morning puffiness,” says Nicola Joss, Sanctuary Spa skincare expert and facialist to Gwyneth Paltrow. “Use hydrating eye drops before bed so the skin underneath doesn’t need to accumulate fluid to keep eyes moist.”

3 ”Carry lip balm with you,” says Lisa Potter-Dixon. “Slick your brows in place with it; massage it into cuticles and stroke a little down the brow bone and across the tops of cheekbones in place of highlighter. Plus if your mascara starts to flake, you can dab it on to lashes to restore glossiness.”