8 Makeup and Skin Care Brands Created for Women Over 40
An emerging crop of cosmetic and skin care brands are delivering multibenefit, multitasking products to a generation of consumers traditionally overlooked.
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To say the beauty industry hasn’t catered to Gen X like it has to millennials, Gen Z, or even Gen Alpha is an understatement — and something that tracks for a generation long misunderstood and underestimated. But a new school of beauty brands is changing that, creating makeup and skin care that not only supports the evolving beauty needs of those over 45, but also does so in a very cool way.
“Before I started developing my own brand, I was overwhelmed with the choices [of beauty brands and products available] — even as a professional makeup artist,” says Jamie Greenberg, founder of Jamie Makeup and a celebrity makeup artist of 25 years, who counts Rashida Jones and Kaley Cuoco as clients. “But even with so many choices available, I didn’t feel that makeup brands were talking to me. They were marketing to a younger demographic or a group that felt too serious and no fun. It was frustrating.”
So in 2020, Greenberg developed her own line for people of her age group — those who don’t have the time to master a smoky eye by way of YouTube videos, but who still want to get the look. And Greenberg is in good company. Jamie Makeup joins a crew of new-school brand founders giving Gen X and older generations their due, with texture-addressing skin care and hydrating makeup that hasn’t lost its edge.
Jamie Makeup
“Anything I make will always be something that isn’t already in someone’s makeup bag,” Greenberg says. Not only is the Jamie Makeup founder developing new makeup products (and inspiring copycats), but she’s introducing her own lexicon for her category-straddling launches along the way. Back in 2020, Greenberg launched a blush-highlighter hybrid, dubbed “blighlighter,” that works as an all-day-wear cream blush and packs the luminosity of a sheer highlighter, while still delivering moisture to the skin. What’s more, it’s made to swipe onto lids, lips, and of course, cheeks, for a monochrome look with ease. Another must-have innovation from the brand? The Eye Schtick, a cream primer and eye shadow pen dispensed via a built-in sponge applicator sized to perfectly fit in the crease of the eyelid. The formula is offered in matte and shimmer shades that flatter a range of skin tones and eye colors, and deliver a smoky eye with ease. What’s more, the product was made to accommodate those with hooded eyes — the long-wear shadow is water-resistant and doesn’t migrate as powder shadows can. And when you’re ready to remove that makeup? Naturally, Greenberg has a highly effective, spray-on makeup remover that also nurtures skin.
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Phosis
Menopause health coach Susan Campbell just launched Phosis, a skin care brand designed to address the changes that occur with the fluctuating estrogen levels of perimenopause and menopause. The name itself is a tribute to the metamorphosis that women go through in middle age. For some, the perimenopause period can begin in the mid-30s, though it is more commonly experienced in women ages 40 and above.
The brand’s first products, a calming and restorative facial cream and oil, are made to support sensitive skin and barrier function, while improving radiance and texture — characteristics often compromised in those experiencing perimenopause and menopause. Though quite thick, the essential oil- and fragrance-free Calm Deep Hydration Restorative Cream absorbs and feels like a light moisturizer, while still packing a bevy of ingredients (including red algae extract and ceramides) to hydrate, strengthen the moisture barrier, and address redness. Meanwhile, the Luminous Ultra-Fine Revitalizing Face Oil is made to maintain skin microbiota, another evolving aspect of 40+ skin.
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Sarah Creal Beauty
An eye cream packaged like a lighter. Tubes of lipstick with an art deco vibe. Sarah Creal is making some of the coolest-looking skin care and makeup in the industry. But it’s what’s within the innovative — and super covetable — beauty products that make the brand a Gen X dream. There’s a creamy concealer that’s weightless so as not to cling to fine lines or crease, a transfer-proof tubing mascara developed to volumize while conditioning and softening lashes, and an eye cream and primer that does it all except leave skin feeling greasy. Oh, and did we mention the lipsticks are expertly named? There’s “Red V. Wade” and “Madam President,” to start, plus a lip treatment called “The Adults Are Talking.” Talk about a brand that speaks to women.
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Maxine’s Revenge
Launched in February of 2023, Maxine's Revenge is a prestige cosmetics brand created for women over 40. Its first product, French Face Concealer Concentrate, uses coated pigments in an ultrathin base for a formula that provides natural-looking coverage that won’t settle into expression lines. “It’s like a serum had a baby with a full-coverage concealer,” founder Leah Hundsness says of the product designed for thin, textured, and dry skin. “I developed it to be ultrathin, stretchy, and full coverage, but also hydrating so it would adhere to the skin without being heavy. The formula [has] 69% hydrating ingredients, 24% pigments, and 7% blurring and functional ingredients.” The formula can be used as a spot concealer or foundation and is indeed a concentrate, so very little goes a long way. “I generally recommend one dot of [product] per 1 inch of skin,” Hundsness says.
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Maxine’s Revenge French Face Concealer Concentrate
Jones Road Beauty
Since its launch in 2020, Jones Road Beauty (the second cosmetics brand from makeup mogul Bobbi Brown) is on target to make $140 million in revenue this year, thanks in part to viral hits including Miracle Balm. The moisturizing balm, made to be worn alone or on top of foundation, delivers a soft wash of color to the skin, thanks to light-reflecting pigments that brighten, warm, and otherwise revitalize dull complexions. Consumers can’t get enough — it was Shopify’s bestselling product last Black Friday, and limited-edition travel sizes and palettes sell out fast.
But that’s not the only trick Brown has in her makeup bag. Another fan favorite is a foundation-tinted balm hybrid that provides light-to-medium coverage and is stacked with hydrating ingredients such as jojoba oil and sodium hyaluronate. Meanwhile, the brand’s newest innovation, a richly pigmented, water-resistant gel eyeliner that glides on without skipping or pulling at skin, defines the eyes and stays put. It’s currently only available in a sure-to-sell-out limited-edition kit created to celebrate the brand’s fourth birthday.
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All Golden
Chefs in cooking competitions love to flex by preparing a specialty ingredient two ways. Freshly launched skin and hair care line All Golden achieves a similar feat by processing actives from the cactus fruit in two ways. First, it upcycles prickly pear waste by turning it into a fermented filtrate broth, rich in probiotics. The resulting essence is then used across the product line in place of water as a primary ingredient to both hydrate and balance the skin’s microbiome. Second, the brand extracts an acid from the prickly pear that acts as a gentle exfoliant. “It’s so gentle that we put it in our eye cream,” founder Sarah Kugelman says. “This is perfect for women over 40 as they tend to have more sensitive skin.”
A standout in the nascent brand’s line, road tested backstage at New York Fashion Week, is a silicone-free makeup primer made to fill pores and smooth skin texture. “This primer is specifically designed for women over 40, as it targets common skin concerns [that can appear] during the menopause phase, such as dryness, visible wrinkles, and texture,” Kugelman says. “Unlike most primers, this one is formulated with cactus water instead of deionized water, providing advanced hydration alongside hyperpotent performance. The product is a hard-hitting treatment lotion [also made with] a complex of peptides, adaptogens, our vegan acid, and topical neuromodulator griffonia lysate to tighten and lift skin.”
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Monika Blunder Beauty
Celebrity makeup artist Monika Blunder (whose clients include Ines de Ramon, Kate Hudson, and Gemma Chan) didn’t set out to make a cosmetics line specifically for 40+ skin — and indeed, her range of natural-hued, easy-to-apply makeup looks great on faces of any age. But the botanical-infused products also happen to hydrate and boost the skin, a coup for Gen X consumers. Take her bestselling foundation-meets-concealer, Blunder Cover, made with calming arnica, anti-inflammatory edelweiss, hydrating aloe vera, and castor seed oil. “As we age, skin can start to look more uneven and hyperpigmentation, fine lines, and redness can appear, so we want to use a foundation that can help cover up but not mask the skin or settle into fine lines,” Blunder says.
Other favorites particularly suited for those over 40 include Kissen Lush Lipstick, which is created in flattering, your-lips-but-better shades and loaded and with hydrating ingredients to soften lips, such as jojoba oil, meadowfoam seed oil, and marula seed oil. The formula also boasts a creamy texture for a smooth application that doesn’t tug on lips. Among Blunder’s own favorites for the 40+ set? Liquid Flush Cheek Tint Blush, also made with botanicals and plant-derived oils. “The reason why I love a cream or liquid blush for mature skin is because it looks like your own skin rather than blush just sitting on top of skin, like many powder blushes do,” she says. “Our liquid flush is such a unique lightweight formulation that’s also buildable and won’t streak upon application. The safflower oil in the blush helps improve skin texture, and the edelweiss is a natural antioxidant that can help protect the skin from environmental stressors.”
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Westman Atelier
Leave it to a veteran makeup artist who has worked with just about every top actor and model from the ’90s onward to create an elegant cosmetics line that feels luxe. But despite a high fashion pedigree, Gucci Westman isn’t dreaming up eyeshadow palettes swathed in logomania for maisons. Instead, her namesake brand is marked by quiet luxury. Weighted vessels with chrome and gold finishes don’t just look like a million bucks — they house formulas that make older women feel like it too. That’s thanks to creamy textures that do double time to nourish the skin while delivering a believable “I think it’s just her skin” glow. Foundations, highlighters, and contour products are all made in easy-to-apply stick formats, and a newly launched matte lipstick formula delivers significant pigment but doesn’t suck every bit of moisture from lips. Westman Atelier is the makeup brand for the grown woman who has arrived, but is never not applying makeup on the go.
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