It may sound crazy, but there is such thing as looking “too young” and it’s actually a curse for some people. In certain situations, like job interviews, looking older may gain you some respect and make others treat you more seriously. In this post, I connected with Beauty Experts and asked them to share their best tips and techniques to make someone look older with makeup. These methods work even if you have a baby face or a round face.

I’ll also provide you with some examples of how you can look older without makeup, including examples using hairstyles and clothes.

How to Look Older with Makeup

Lesley Reynolds is the Co-Founder of The Harley Street Skin Clinic and a Celebrity columnist. She has helped many celebrities in the UK and worldwide achieves their beauty goals. She is also a regular columnist in publications such as The Daily Express, Best Magazine, Stylist Magazine, and many more. To look older with makeup, Lesley suggests the following: 

• Create Contours – One of the features that make a face look young is the fullness or roundness of the face. Using blush on the cheeks to create contour can add a few years to your appearance. To do this, brush a slightly darker blush to the skin under your cheekbones to make your cheeks look slightly sunken in and light blush to the top of your cheekbone to give the appearance that it is more prominent.
• Thin the Nose – Using a cover stick and blush to create a thinner nose or more prominent areas on the face will also add contours. To thin the nose, simply brush flesh tone colored blush or bronzer one shade darker than your own skin tone on the sides of your nose, and apply a lighter colored cover stick to the bridge of your nose. You can also apply blush or bronzer to your chin to mask the youthful look of a small double chin.
• Wear Dark Lipstick – Dark lipstick will make you look older than light-colored lipstick. Make sure that you use a lip pencil to line your lips before applying dark lipstick so that the lipstick doesn’t bleed.
• Use Dark Eyebrow Pencil and Mascara – Dark eyebrows and lashes take away some youthfulness. Many young women have barely their colored eyebrows and eyelashes. By applying eyebrow pencil to your eyebrows and mascara to your eyelashes, you can look slightly older. When applying eyebrow pencil, be sure to make it look natural, and to use one the same shade or only slightly darker than your natural hair color. You should never choose a pencil in a lighter color than your hair. Mascara can be applied in a very dark color in contrast to your hair.
• Cover Acne –  Acne can make an adult look like a teenager. Using foundation and cover stick to hide the acne can make you look more mature.

To give you a better idea, we created a video to show you step-by-step how to look older with makeup. Check it out below:
 

Why These Makeup Techniques Work

Laura Chawke, the founder of Makeup Scholar, explains that most women who want to look older have neotenous features. These are ‘baby face’ features that we typically associate with younger people. These features include fuller cheeks, big round eyes, a smaller mouth with plump lips, and a little button nose. The key to looking older is to deemphasize your naturally neotenous (young-looking) features. If you want to look older, try rocking sultry makeup and ditch the girl-next-door look. Here is an additional tip from Laura to look older with makeup:

• Try Cat Eyes: Big round eyes are an indicator of youth. Applying just mascara on both upper and bottom lashes emphasizes youthfulness. To look a bit older, try out the cat eye instead. Create a sultrier almond-shaped eye by applying a dark black kohl liner on your lower waterline then add a liquid liner wing to your upper eyelid. This will make your eyes look smaller for a more mature and sultrier look. Finish off the eyes with your favorite mascara on the top lashes only.

How to Look Older with Short Hair

If you’re thinking about changing your hairstyle to age a few years, here are some options you can try:

Try Bob Cut with Bangs

The bob cut and bangs hairstyle puts emphasis on the jaws and eyes. By emphasizing the sharp lines of the jaws, it helps to give you that older look. Furthermore, the cut is mostly rocked by mature and busy women. By rocking this hairstyle, you “fit in” with that profile.

Cut Short Sides with Eye-Length Bangs

Short sides help to extend and expose your jawline, making them more pronounced and giving you a more mature look. The eye-length bangs help to draw out the features of your eyes and if you’re someone with pronounced eyes with deep features and lines, these would also be drawn out by this hairstyle. Deep pronounced lines on the eyes are a sign of aging and by drawing them out, you appear to be much older than you are.

Choose Close Crop

The close crop hairstyle is one of the easiest to maintain and works great to age you a few years. This style works well because there is no hair to cover fine lines, wrinkles, skin marks, and discoloration which are all signs of proper aging. Furthermore, it’s easy to wash and trim. Obviously, this hairstyle isn’t for everyone but for those who can rock it, it’s definitely a great option.

 Try the Short Pixie Cut

The short pixie cut hairstyle gives your hairstyle a more balanced back, sides, and top while emphasizing your cheekbones, jaw, nose, and eyes. The short pixie cut is often preferred by women over 30 and rocking this hairstyle could give others the impression that you are also within that age group. This hairstyle also makes your lines more pronounced.

Flip Up Your Bangs

If you already have short hair, then the easiest way to make yourself look older is to flip your bangs up. Exposing your forehead makes your hairline more pronounced. The combination of a pronounced hairline and jawline gives you a more mature look as these are typically found on the faces of mature adults. As with other short hairstyles, flipping your hair up takes away distraction to facial features on your face that are associated with aging, like fine lines and skin discolorations.

How to Look Older with Curly Hair

Here are some curly hairstyles that will help to add a few years to your age:

Create Medium Length Curls

Medium-length curls can help you look older and it’s pretty easy to do if you already have shoulder-length hair. It’s best for people who want to look in order but want to keep their hair down. When your hair is curled, it creates space between your hair and face. This exposes your jawline, lines, and cheekbones more which makes you look more mature.

Cut Short Curls

Although not easy to maintain, the short curly style definitely does the job of making you look older. There is no distraction or cover for your jaw and eyes. The curls also create spaces between your face and the hair. This gives you a very mature look.

Try Pin-Up Curls

Pin-up curls aren’t for everyone and there is a good reason for it. These curls draw attention to their unique style. They also make you look like you are stuck in the past, giving you that old, retro look.

How to Look Older with Long Hair

Grow and Thin Long Hair

Long hair in older women is usually thinner due to natural hair loss from aging. If you want to look older with long hair, simply thin it out and make it straight. Many older women don’t use highlights as its’ damaging to their already fragile hair. Therefore, you should avoid highlights as well to obtain that mature look.

Dye Your Long Hair Really Light

Simply dying your hair to a really light color can easily make you look much older than your age. We are used to associating light-colored hair with older folks. Having lighter color hair is a natural course of life that we must all accept as we age.

How to Look Older with Clothes

Choose Clothes That Hide Your Neck

Hiding your neck tells the world you aren’t interested in attention and would rather stay “low-key”. Most busy and mature women have no time for attention or flashy jewelry as their life priorities have shifted. This is why older women wear plain colors and cover their necks. By covering your neck, you can easily look much older with little effort.

Try Long Skirts

If you love wearing skirts but are trying to look older, a long skirt is a way to do it. It covers most of your legs and won’t make you come off as being too flashy or revealing. For best results, choose one with plain colors. This tells others you don’t want attention, which is a common trait among older, busy women.

Dress Business Casual

Busy woman doesn’t have time to dress up. By dressing in business casual clothes, you let others know that you are a mature woman who is focused on career and life goals. A plain grey jacket and light color work blouses is all you need to pull off this look. Want more pictures? Check out my post on business casual attire examples to find more. In that post, I also discuss some beauty tips to help you look amazing at work. Check it out if you have time.

Try Floral Dresses

Floral patterns and prints make you look old-fashioned and can easily add a few years to your age. They do attract attention but in a way that tells people that you have settled. Floral prints are usually worn by older woman and by wearing floral prints, you give others the impression that you are older and more mature.