Dawn Pfingston (Just Doing My Best) is all about making midlife makeup and skincare simpler, cheaper, and way less rage-inducing. Her big reassurance up front: if your makeup suddenly isn’t behaving on menopausal/mature skin, you haven’t “forgotten how to do makeup” — your skin and face have changed, so the method needs to change too.

She tackles three common midlife makeup frustrations:

1. Makeup settling into fine lines (or looking crepey/cakey)
   Her fix is less product and more strategy: let skincare + SPF fully sink in, hydrate the under-eye with a balm (she likes one with caffeine for puffiness), then apply foundation in light layers using a brush and a stippling motion (no swiping). She also skips foundation directly under/over the eyes because that thin skin can’t handle a pile-on of products. If needed, she uses colour corrector first (to do the “heavy lifting”), then much less concealer, tapped in gently with a finger.
2. “Everything is falling” (lifting the face with makeup)
   She suggests a simple rule: imagine a horizontal line from nose to ears — blush/bronzer/contour stays above it. Placing blush higher (closer to the eyes) lifts the face. She also shows a quick eye “lift” trick: a tiny swipe of concealer under the outer eye/liner, angled toward the temple, blended out to clean up and lift the shape.
3. Longevity and staying smooth all day
   If makeup separates, looks rough by evening, or pores are screaming for attention, she recommends a primer as the under-makeup “spackle” — not magic, but it smooths and helps makeup grip. Then apply foundation with a brush (again, stippling) to avoid pilling. For wear time, she’s a big fan of setting spray, applied before mascara once it’s dried down.

Skincare-wise, she keeps it practical: vitamin C (daytime, under SPF), peptides and hyaluronic acid (day or night), retinol (night). She mentions budget-friendly brands like The INKEY List and Naturium, and “done-for-you” options like Clarins Double Serum and Total Eye Lift if you don’t want to think.

Nice closing line too: menopause doesn’t take away your beauty — it just changes how you approach it.

See Dawn's PDF with her top five videos in the downloads section

About Dawn

Dawn is one of the most prominent content creators when it comes to make up in midlife thanks to her Instagram and YouTube page which have thousands of followers.

A 57-year-old wife, mother, and grandmother, she lives with her family on a small hobby farm in Tennessee. She has been creating beauty content for mature women for more than a decade and her primary focus is simple makeup tips and affordable products that work on mature skin.

justdoingmybest.com/
youtube.com/justdoingmybest