Skin-smoothing base: Laura Geller Spackle Skin Perfecting Primer: Hydrate
This primer can help any makeup that comes next look smoother and last longer. Granted, you’re adding a step to your routine, but the payoff is noticeable.
When you start speaking to pros about mature-skin prep, the house-painting analogy is inevitable. Just as you’d avoid applying color directly to walls that have “little crevices and cracks,” said makeup artist Stephen Sollitto, “it’s the same premise for your face.” A primer can smooth everything over with flexible, film-forming polymers, which also serve as an adhesive layer for whatever comes next.
Of several primers our testers tried, Spackle Skin Perfecting Primer: Hydrate — from the proudly mature makeup artist Laura Geller — was the most moisturizing and beloved, perhaps because of its jojoba seed oil and squalane. “Hydration is key to keep the canvas supple and ready to receive makeup,” noted makeup artist Nicky Posley.
Lightweight camouflage: Dior Backstage Flash Perfector Concealer
This formulation blends effortlessly, camouflages effectively, and reflects subtly. But a little goes a longer way than you’d think, so expect some trial and error as you get the dosing just right.
Of the dozens of products that we tested for our guide to the best concealers, the Dior Backstage Flash Perfector Concealer performed the best under eyes, especially among testers over 40. For something that conceals as well as this one does, it’s surprisingly thin — and a wee dab disperses a good amount of pigment, so the odds of creasing and caking are diminished. Plus, “there’s a pretty finish,” said makeup artist Rebecca Restrepo. The subtle reflectiveness helps soften shadows and brighten you up — so much so, said one tester, that “my colleague DMed me during a video call to tell me my skin looked amazing.”
A creamy foundation: Jones Road What the Foundation
Packed with oils and emollients, this light- to medium-coverage foundation evens out skin tone while delivering a dewy glow. But the occasional imperfection may still peek through, which is naturally beautiful to some and disappointing to others.
When the 51-year-old staff writer Rose Maura Lorre set out to understand the buzz around the cosmetics brand Jones Road, she wound up falling for What the Foundation. One thin layer “added warmth, evenness, and brightness to my pale, dull complexion,” she said. Created by veteran makeup artist Bobbi Brown, this glycerin- and natural-oil-rich formulation forgoes the full coverage that can age even a Sephora tween in favor of a lighter look and a creamier feel.
While testing for this story, I pitted What the Foundation (aka WTF) against the silkiest pick from our guide to the best foundations — the Dior Backstage Face & Body Foundation — and WTF won over the 33-and-up set. (Yes, a 30-something snuck into the testing mix for this one. She considers the extra-dry skin around her eyes “prematurely mature,” and she loved this product’s emollience.) At the other end of the age spectrum, a delighted 87-year-old bubbe reported that WTF glossed over her wrinkles, rather than sinking in and accentuating them. (And her 90-year-old husband wanted to note for the record that “she looked beautiful.”)
A luminous tinted moisturizer with SPF: Saie Slip Tint
This sheer tinted moisturizer saves you time and effort by hitting three daytime skin basics — moisture, complexion-tuning, and some sun protection. However subtle though, the tint may look better on textured areas if you buff them out a bit with a sponge.
If you can’t be bothered with multiple layers — and, as the We Do Not Care Club for peri- and postmenopausal women has amply demonstrated, that’s a real possibility — tinted moisturizer is the simplest way to go. After evaluating dozens of candidates, we tested five, and we loved the glide and dewiness of the Saie Slip Tint. It contains “a modified form of hyaluronic acid that can swell and form a microscopic film,” said cosmetic chemist Kelly Dobos. “That helps retain surface moisture and plump the skin, which also helps prevent zinc oxide and pigment particles from settling into fine lines.” Even so, two testers with extra-dry skin noted minor creasing when they applied this product with fingers, but it was nothing that a soft, dry makeup sponge couldn’t buff out quickly.
One more caveat: When it’s applied as intended for sheer coverage, Slip Tint doesn’t provide the same protection as a regular sunscreen. So if your agenda includes anything beyond incidental UV exposure, this tinted moisturizer should not be your only coverage, according to dermatologists.
