I’m a 49-Year-Old Beauty Editor And This is What I Use to Look Pretty

11+ Makeup favourites, some of which you can find at the Sephora sale today

by Carlene Higgins on April 10, 2025

Now that I’m 49, my makeup sits differently. My pores gape, fine lines have started to bunch, my neck hangs like a soft pillow, and rosacea has made its home, a beacon signalling the perimenopausal flames that burn within. This is not self-flogging, it’s fact.

Thankfully, 20 combined years of testing product after product, first as a magazine beauty editor and now as a beauty podcaster, and I finally know the exact products that I can always rely on to bring back the pretty. (And if you act fast, some of them are on sale now at Sephora.)

Make it glide

Texture is the most universal complaint amongst the mid-yeared, which is why I tend to prefer base products that can glide overtop of the peaks and valleys, without breaking up or settling in. And since I have a lot of redness, I also need something with medium, buildable coverage. Hence, why watery skin tints belong to the young, while FOUNDATIONS with a capital “F” tend to cake and accentuate fine lines.

The solution, for me, is good ol’ fashioned tinted moisturizers. They’re the perfect middle ground. My all-time favourite is It Cosmetics CC+ Nude Glow Lightweight Foundation + Glow Serum with SPF 40. If you have oilier skin or want more coverage, the O.G. CC+ Cream Full Coverage Color Correcting Foundation with SPF 50+ is still the best for glide that I’ve found.

Still, some redness is going to peek through. So in high-emoting areas that crinkle, like around the eyes, I adore Haus Labs Triclone Skin Tech Concealer. This one has a good amount of stretch so it’s malleable while maintaining camouflage. The iconic, higher coverage Cle de Peau Concealer is my big gun, and lasts through my chronic chin touching.

The holy trinity: bronze, blush, highlight

A bazillion bronzing drops have launched over the past year. You can ignore them all and go straight to the source: Saie Glowy Super Gel in Sun Glow. Some people use it all over, I prefer to use it to contour the hollows of my cheeks. I then dab the glide-y (key word!) gloop along my hairline and blend downward with a brush, tracing my ill-defined jawline with what’s left on the brush. The result is instant and noticeable. I then use Saie’s pearly Star Glow on the tops of my cheekbones, brow bone and cupid’s bow and I could seriously walk around just like this for a ‘no-makeup’ makeup day, with the illusory bone structure of a 90s Linda Evangelista.

The third element to a 3-step glowy complexion is a poppy, give-me-life blush, for which there are tons. So instead, let’s discuss the one palette I will own until the end. The limited edition Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked Face Palette has the perfect NARS Orgasmesque pink (along with a deeper bordeaux), but the best part is, all of the colours can be used all over your face. (You can buy the Hourglass Ambient blush and Lighting Palette ie. contour kit separately when out of stock.)

All of Hourglass’ highlighters, bronzers and blushes magically double as eyeshadows, giving me a beautiful harmony that never fails. I use a smaller fluffy brush to get more depth on the lids, and a fine angled brush with the darkest brown to line my lashes. The swirls of colour and highlight built into the powders are pretty much ™’d, and nobody has managed to successfully duplicate the beautifying effect, although many have tried.

Lashes and a final eye touch

I have small eyes, so to make them look wowier, I use Sweed’s Satin Kohl Eye Pencil in Bright along my lower waterline. To add more definition along the upper and lower lashes, I like Victoria Beckham’s Satin Kajal Liner in Cocoa. I flip it over and use the built-in sponge to gently rub it in for a softer effect, and i use a very light hand for a whisper of tint along my lower lashes.

And as someone who once had to deal with mega mascara transfer for most of my life (pre-blepharoplasty in 2024,) I’m hooked on washable, tubing mascaras that coat the lashes and seriously don’t move even though they’re not the war paint of waterproof formulas. Most tubing formulas are fairly interchangeable, but I quite like the length and lift I get from Thrive Liquid Lash Extensions Mascara, and I prefer the shade Crystal Brown over a stark black.

Brows,lost but not forgotten

Let’s not forget about the brows that keep getting sparser by the year. It was only recently that I switched from powder formulas to liquid liner. At first I was scared they’d look costume-y, but these particular brow formulas give a softer effect than the liquid liner you put on eyelids. Try Maybelline’s Build-A-Brow 2-in-1 Brow Pen and Sealing Gel Eye Makeup and you’ll see what I mean. I like that they have an ash brown shade that matches the coolness of my real hairs. Finish with the clear gel mascara side to set, though Kulfi Free The Brow Volumizing & Laminating Brow Gel is amazing for making hairs stand up without turning gluey, unlike those of so many louder brands.

Posh, pillowy lips

Most days simply aren’t lipstick days, in my life anyway. I prefer a tinted lip something, with the added polish of a lip liner. Plus, the fact that you can overdraw your lips just so along the cupid's bow and beneath the lower lip helps those of us whose lips are shrinking with age. My current favourite is Merit Tinted Lip Oil in Twinset. It’s a 90’s-style mauve with just a hint of flattering pearlescent. I love it with Merit’s new Signature Lip Liner in Tabac, a sheer, neutral brown that gives you a soft-focus effect, but if you want something longer-lasting and more defining, you could sub in Make Up For Ever’s Artist Color Pencil Longwear Lip Liner in Endless Cocoa, or any other of their on-point browns.

Set it so you can forget it

Finally, whenever I’m dressing to impress, I will go against my usual lazy-slash-busy disposition and set my makeup so it doesn’t transfer or get eaten by my face oil. I like the control that I get with Huda Beauty’s Easy Bake and Snatch Pressed Talc-Free Brightening and Setting Powder. I pat it under my eyes and in my t-zone and I find that it doesn’t dull my makeup underneath like some loose powders can. I also use the flat, angled sponge applicator to apply it from the outer corner of my eye up to my outer brow corner to clean up/sharpen any shoddy eyeshadow application, which gives a slight lifting effect.

Otherwise, I’ll use a lightweight setting spray like Milk Makeup’s Pore Eclipse Setting Spray, which does work, even if the atomizer is bunk and doesn’t spritz that evenly.

That’s it! What are your no-fail makeup staples that you’ve been using for many years?