Many women apply dark blush or bronzer beneath their cheekbones in the hopes of slimming their faces. However, this attempt at contouring often ends up looking dull, muddy, and unnatural. Instead, your blush should match your natural flush, and you should apply it in places where it would naturally appear—not in a line down your cheekbone or highly concentrated onto the apples of your cheeks. “Women blush when they’re happy, so place your blush where you naturally get color when you’re having a good time,” Joseph says. “That would be where the capillaries are close to the surface, meaning your lips, cheeks, outer eye crease, upper forehead, and neck.”

To choose the right shade of blush, pinch your cheeks and pay attention to the color that emerges—that’s what you’re trying to match. Nars Pressed Powder Blushes offer healthy-looking colors that flatter every skin tone. Make sure you also stock up on these waterproof mascaras.

“Contouring [with powder] often mimics the dull, flat ‘shadowy’ appearance women over 40 may already be experiencing thanks to wrinkles and dark spots,” warns Balsamo. Instead, she uses a cream highlighter, which “immediately leaves skin looking brighter and slightly lifted.” A cream highlighter can be applied to bare skin or layered on top of concealer foundation by “lightly tapping on top of your cheekbone, in the bow of the lip, and in the inner corner of eyes to give the face an instant boost without dulling the skin,” she shares. Merit’s Day Glow Dewy Highlighting Balm is a highlighter that will visibly illuminate your skin. 

Your natural lip line will begin to fade as you age, which makes lipstick more apt to bleed and feather. To avoid this unfortunate makeup migration, be sure to trace your lips with a clear lip liner, or one the same color as your natural lips. This will create a barrier between your lips and the surrounding fine lines, helping the color stay put. A creamy, smudge-proof clear lip liner like Maybelline New York Color Sensational Clear Lip Liner is a great option for keeping lipstick squarely on your kisser. Check out the other inexpensive beauty tricks only stylists know.