Beauty Kuel Category Expert: Elise Marquam-Jahns
One of the reasons I launched my YouTube channel slightly over a year ago is because I felt strongly that older women were really underrepresented in the beauty world. After all, on our 40th birthday we don’t automatically lose total interest in fashion, makeup and looking our best.
We don’t automatically wear only black and brown and stop buying makeup! But I know from working with so many older women over the past seven years that we can often start to feel invisible. So l hope on my channel and in my articles we can together celebrate the beauty, intelligence, and wisdom of those of us who have reached that fifth decade. And have some fun in the process.
Testing New Beauty Products:
“see which of the products, I’ll be sharing, works well for mature skin”
Today it’s all about having fun with makeup. We shall see which of the products, I’ll be sharing, works well for mature skin. I purchased seven new products from seven different brands so we could check them out together. This mix of products includes two new face primers that are supposed to help blur pores, a highlighting duo pencil, two lipsticks, a lip gloss and two eye shadow palettes.
Eyeshadow Palettes:
I’d been eyeing the two eyeshadow palettes for a very long time: Violet Voss’ “Eye Donut Care” Fun Sized 10 pan eyeshadow palette which is a mini-palette and Natasha Denona’s 15 pan “Sunrise” palette. Both have gorgeous color stories. The “Sunrise” palette being primarily the beautiful warm reds, oranges, yellows and violets of a sunrise. The Violet Voss palette has a mix of neutral beige and brown mattes, as well as a matte periwinkle, matte pink-coral, matte deeper pink and four lovely shimmers in white, light and dark lavender and turquoise blue. These are smaller pan sizes because it’s a “mini” palette. And the colors aren’t as highly pigmented as I’d hoped. But they are easily buildable and perform well. I recommend both palettes, but I’m especially a fan of the marvelous smooth, buttery texture of Natasha Denona’s shadows.
Be sure to check out Elise’s YouTube channel which specifically focuses on makeup tips, techniques, and product reviews for those of us 50+. Don’t forget to subscribe!
Highlighting Duo Pencil:
Next is the Highlighting Duo Pencil from Anastasia of Beverly Hills. I’m sure many of you know and love Emily Noel’s YouTube channel—as I do—and when I saw her use this pencil I immediately put it on my wish list because of how versatile it is. It’s a matte light nude colored pencil on one end and a highlighting pencil on the other end. I use the matte color on the bottom water line of my eyes and under the arch of my eyebrow and I use the highlighter end to highlight the inner corner of my eyes. It works beautifully and I have a special place in my heart for products like this that are multi-taskers.
Face Primers:
The next products are the face primers. One primer is from Benefit Cosmetics. It’s their Pore-fessional Hydrating Primer. And the other primer is a sample I received – but I’ve been wanting to try it forever. It’s from Smashbox and it’s their Photo Finish Smooth and Blur Primer. Both work very well to hide pores, but I especially love the creamier Benefit product. The Smashbox product has a far more slippery feel. But my preference for the Benefit product really comes down to personal preference for that texture since both do a good job of hiding pores.
Lipsticks:
I also purchased two gorgeous lipsticks. They’re both from Huda Beauty and are metallics. I have to confess, I just have a “thing” about metallic lipsticks. I absolutely love them but I know they’re not for everyone. This time I purchased “Cake Day” which is a fuchsia and “After Party” which is a deep plum. And there’s one other color available on the Huda Beauty website which is called NYE. It’s a deep russet red metallic color. I apply Cake Day first– which is the pink shade–and then apply “After Party” over it. They glide on beautifully and they’re stunning. And since I’m definitely a gloss girl, I also purchased a Sephora gloss in “Regal” which is a darker violet than I thought it might be, but it performs beautifully.
“the stand-outs for me were the Natasha Denona “Sunrise” palette, Benefit’s Pore-fessional Hydrating Primer and the Huda Beauty metallic lipsticks”
My Favorites:
All in all, I’m very satisfied with all of these products, but the stand-outs for me were the Natasha Denona “Sunrise” palette, Benefit’s Pore-fessional Hydrating Primer and the Huda Beauty metallic lipsticks.
I hope you’ll also share any recent makeup or skincare purchases you’ve made which were great “finds”!
About The Author:
Elise Marquam-Jahns is a professional, working makeup-artist who is passionate about helping women 45+ get their glow back. In addition to her work as a makeup artist for a major cosmetics line, she founded Boomer and Beyond Beauty. Be sure to check out Elise’s YouTube channel which specifically focuses on makeup tips, techniques, and product reviews for those of us 45+. Don’t forget to subscribe! Elise is also an author and speaker and hosts Normandale Community College’s monthly Learning Well Edge Talk Radio show where she interviews experts in the field of health and wellness.
