The Daily Telegraph - Features
My secret to great make-up in your 60s? Keep it simple
The queen of beauty Bobbi Brown shares her top tips with Sonia Haria
painted Tuscan landscape has been digitally created. For chic Italian polish, I would add buttery tan leather flats and refined straw millinery.”
Other brands, meanwhile, have gone in different directions. Kitri’s new range features vine leaf prints, as well as a quirky trattoria plate pattern – the graphic design includes nods to olives and lemons, tomatoes and mozzarella; all the ingredients for a delicious caprese, on your dress.
Dolce & Gabbana’s new Flower Power Collection is rendered in lemon yellow roses – the matching accessories include signature Sicily bags in yellow and green, espadrille wedges with floral ribbon ties, and twill silk scarves.
For those who prefer to avoid loud prints, the label Mondo Corsini will help you to channel the mood. Founder Susan Corsini was inspired this summer by trips with her Italian family to Costa Smeralda, “a playground for high-living Europeans in the 1960s”.
“An Italian garden party is such a wonderful excuse to ramp up the drama,” Corsini says. “I always lean towards exaggerated silhouettes – dresses with billowing sleeves and skirts at lawn-sweeping lengths.”
Corsini says that the styling trick to note is a balancing act; either go for a maximalist print with minimalist accessories, or a block-colour dress and statement earrings. Her linen dresses come in pastel clay colours to match your villa, as well as in bolder hibiscus flower prints.
“I love the idea of elevating a floor-length linen kaftan or column dress for evening with swept-back hair and statement jewellery,” she says. “When not wearing my own brand, I’ll opt for a classic print from La Double J or Borgo de Nor and keep the accessories simple.”
Dressing for a dream holiday destination (even if you’re still very much at home in the UK) is a guaranteed mood lifter. Go for garden party glam, whatever the occasion – and pop open the prosecco.
You’ll know the make-up artist Bobbi Brown from her namesake beauty range, launched in 1991. The original master of the “no make-up make-up look”, in 2016, aged 59, Brown left what became a billiondollar enterprise and returned to our make-up bags in 2021 with her new venture, Jones Road.
Now 66, Brown is the queen of easy, effortless make-up that takes the guesswork out of a highly saturated industry, which can be challenging for many women – especially if over 60 – to navigate.
Brown has felt some of the same issues. “What I find now in my 60s is that it is about accepting you are fine the way you are, and it’s just about confidence,” she says. “I’m not saying ‘OK let’s all stop shaving and go wild.’ The reason I wear make-up in my 60s is just to feel good, and if you feel good your confidence is stronger.”
There’s also an assumption that to be good with make-up, you need to have a bag brimming full of products and lots of time. This is not the case for Brown, whose philosophy around make-up is that it should be quick, easy and leave you feeling better. “I like to make things simple. I am lazy,” she says.
If you’re also low-maintenance, Brown has just launched the I Am Me kits, curated beauty sets for women not sure what to order. Otherwise, work with what you have with Bobbi’s tips on how to improve your make-up in your 60s – advice she uses herself.
NAIL A PERFECT FOUNDATION Foundations divide opinion: pick the wrong texture and it can look cakey on the skin. For Brown, that signals ageing. “If you have a traditional foundation, try ‘thinning’ it out with your moisturiser to make it look more natural,” she suggests. The shade matters too. “Foundation has to be the exact colour of your forehead and your cheeks, otherwise you’ll need a bronzer to warm it up.” Fortunately there are some excellent modern formulas that even out the complexion without the obvious look of make-up. The What The Foundation, £42, by Jones Road can be applied like a moisturiser. Shiseido’s Revitalessence Glow Foundation, £49, is also brilliant for 60-plus skin if you prefer a traditional liquid foundation, as it adds lots of hydration as well as coverage. Julianne Moore, 63, strikes the perfect balance of even skintone with lots of luminosity. If you’d rather skip foundation altogether, you can use a concealer – the Concealer by Cle De Peau, £55, is an excellent all-rounder.
CORRECTORS ARE YOUR SECRET WEAPON “If you have really dark circles you need to get a corrector,” explains Brown, who refers to correctors as neutralising pencils because the aim is to neutralise shadow and darkness under the eye first, before applying concealer. “Not everyone needs one. But if you do – they can make everything look so much better.” Brown reaches for a corrector whenever she needs to look more “awake”.
Correctors often have a more orange or peach-based tone to them and give a more balanced, even skin tone. The Neutralizer Pencil, £24, by Jones Road is easy to use and light enough to layer under a concealer (Brooke Shields is a fan). The Radiant Creamy Color Corrector by Nars, £26.50, is a very good option, too. Gently pat it under your eye wherever you see darkness and correctors will immediately brighten. FRAME YOUR FACE WITH GOOD BROWS “Once you start doing your brows and you see what it does to your face, you just can’t not do it,” explains Brown. The first step is to use an eyebrow brush with no colour and just brush them out to groom them, then you can see where you need to fill. “Your eyebrows should start in line with your tear duct,” she adds. As for the arch, it should be three quarters of the way along your brow. “As we get older, it is even more important because it gives you the illusion of a facelift,” says Brown. Finally, place a pencil from the corner of your nose to the outer corner of your eye, and where that line hits your brows is where they should end.
Grey hair and brows? Brown has developed an eyebrow pencil in a grey shade because, working with grey models, she found that even light, ashy brow pencil colours can look a little warm. The Brow Pencil, £22, by Jones Road has no warmth in it, so it works really well if you’ve got grey or silver hair, or if you’re a cool blonde. If you prefer a brow gel, try the Tinted Eyebrow Sculpting Gel by Beauty Pie, £9.
COLOURS TO SUIT GREY HAIR If your hair is grey or white, you should change the colours of make-up you wear to help the grey “pop”. Andie MacDowell, 65, masters bright, flattering make-up with grey hair. “White or grey hair can make a complexion look dull, so find your ‘nude’ colours in lipstick and blush that aren’t just browns and beiges,” says Brown. Her advice is to opt for a rosy pink or peach colour on cheeks and lips to add vibrancy. But don’t shy away from bright lipstick. “If you love red lipstick, that’s fantastic – I love the look of white hair, blue eyes and a red lip,” she adds. The Soft Pinch Luminous Powder Blush, £26 by Rare Beauty is a hybrid blusher and highlighter that adds a real glow to the skin. If you love the look of red lipstick but find it tricky to wear, the Lip Tint in Ruby, £26 by Jones Road is a beautiful formula: creamy, wearable with just the right punch of colour.