Makeup artist Kerrie Gentle has been doing this for 37 years - backstage at fashion week, on film sets, at Mecca and in her own studio. Along the way she has made up a long list of well-known Australian faces, Pip Edwards among them. As one half of the Kerrie x Simone masterclasses and a member of The Beauticate Collective, she hears the same sentence from women over 40 almost daily. Here, she explains why your technique needs to evolve alongside your skin - and the small changes that make the biggest difference.
Over 37 years in the beauty industry, I've watched trends come and go, products evolve and techniques completely change.
But one thing has remained exactly the same.
Women don't want more makeup.
They want the confidence of knowing that what they're doing still works for the woman looking back at them in the mirror today.
Whether I'm working at Mecca, in my makeup studio, or at one of our Kerrie X Simone events, I hear the same thing over and over again.
"I don't know what I'm doing anymore."
It's the same message that lands in my Instagram inbox almost daily.
Your skin has changed. Makeup has changed. The formulas we use have changed. It makes sense that the techniques we've relied on for years need to evolve too.
The good news? You don't need to start from scratch. Often, it's the smallest tweaks that make the biggest difference.
Pip Edwards, made up by Kerrie. Whoever is in the chair, the brief barely changes - skin that looks luxe and glowy, lit from within rather than covered over.
Your Skin Is the Star
If there's one thing I want someone to notice when they look at you, it's your skin…not your foundation.
Healthy-looking skin has never gone out of fashion.
In fact, I don't think a completely flat, matte complexion has ever been the most flattering finish, particularly once we reach our forties. As we age, our skin naturally loses moisture, elasticity and luminosity. Taking every bit of shine away doesn't make skin look polished, it often makes it look tired.
I explain it to my clients using a simple analogy.
Imagine two beautiful pieces of timber furniture.
One has just been polished. Light bounces off it beautifully. It looks rich, fresh and cared for.
The other has a layer of dust sitting over the top. The furniture underneath is exactly the same, but because nothing is reflecting the light, it appears dull, flat and lifeless.
Our skin behaves in a similar way.
Hydrated skin reflects light. It looks healthy, bouncy and vibrant.
Hydrated skin reflects light. It looks healthy, bouncy and vibrant.
Skin that's dehydrated, overloaded with powder or covered in layers of matte product loses that natural luminosity, making the complexion appear grey, flat and older than it really is.
That's why I believe skincare isn't separate from makeup.
It is makeup.
Skin Prep Is the New Foundation
Women often ask me what foundation I recommend, but more often than not, my answer starts with skincare.
Because if your skin is dehydrated, rough or covered in a layer of dead skin cells, even the most beautiful foundation won't perform the way it's meant to.
One of the most overlooked steps is regular exfoliation.
If dead skin cells remain sitting on the surface, your expensive serums and moisturisers are largely nourishing skin that's ready to shed anyway. Gentle exfoliation allows fresh, healthy skin underneath to absorb the ingredients that actually make a difference.
One product I've been reaching for lately is the Saint Louve 12% AHA/BHA Exfoliating Serum. It gently resurfaces the skin, encouraging healthy cell turnover while leaving the complexion brighter and smoother.
I follow that with the Saint Louve Vitamin B3, B5 & Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Serum, which floods the skin with hydration before makeup. It's exactly the kind of product that creates the healthy, light-reflective canvas I'm always trying to achieve.
If someone's skin is feeling particularly dry, which is incredibly common after 40, I'll often finish with Saint Louve La Soie Crème. It's rich enough to deeply nourish mature skin but absorbs beautifully, leaving the complexion soft, supple and comfortable.
When your skin is properly prepared, everything else becomes easier.
Foundation glides on more evenly.
You need less product.
And the skin still looks like skin.
Your makeup shouldn't look like it's resting on your skin.
It should look like it's part of it.
Why Foundation Looks Different Today
One of the biggest changes I've witnessed throughout my career is the evolution of foundation itself.
When I first started as a makeup artist, if I wanted skin to look luminous, I had to create it myself. I still remember squeezing Revlon Skinlights into my Napoleon foundations over 25 years ago because naturally radiant foundations simply didn't exist.
Today, complexion products are completely different.
They're thinner in texture, lighter on the skin and often infused with skincare ingredients. Think serum foundations, skin tints and foundation drops that allow your own skin to shine through rather than covering it up.
That's exactly where modern makeup has shifted.
So rather than telling women to throw away everything they own and start again, I encourage them to rethink how they use what they already have.
If a favourite foundation has started looking a little flat, I don't necessarily replace it.
Sometimes I'll simply mix in something nourishing like a face oil or luminous drops. Lately, I've been reaching for the Basics by B Liquid Glow Drops. Just one or two drops mixed through foundation instantly softens a matte finish and brings life back into the skin without making it look shiny.
It's one of those tiny tweaks that completely modernises the way foundation looks.
Don't replace your foundation - change the way you wear it.
Don't replace your foundation - change the way you wear it.
Less Product. Better Placement.
One of the biggest misconceptions I see is that looking fresher requires wearing more makeup.
The opposite is usually true.
The women who leave my chair looking the most refreshed almost always leave wearing less foundation than when they arrived.
Less powder.
Better placement.
Cream textures where appropriate.
A softer, more lifted blush placement.
And makeup that's working with their skin instead of trying to cover it.
Kerrie Gentle has spent 37 years in the industry - film, television, editorial, bridal and red carpet.
It's the biggest lightbulb moment at our Kerrie X Simone events.
Within minutes of changing the placement of blush, reducing the amount of powder and switching to lighter textures, women look in the mirror and almost always say the same thing.
"I still look like me."
That's exactly the point.
My goal has never been to make women look more made-up.
It's to help them look like the freshest, healthiest version of themselves.
The Takeaway
After 37 years, I've learnt that beautiful makeup isn't about chasing trends.
It's about understanding that your skin will continue to evolve - and allowing your makeup to evolve with it.
I don't want people to notice your foundation.
I want them to notice your skin.
I don't want people to notice your foundation. I want them to notice your skin.
Because beautiful makeup shouldn't hide who you are.
It should simply allow healthy, confident skin to take centre stage.
You don't need a completely new makeup bag.
You don't need to spend hundreds of dollars replacing every product you own.
You simply need makeup that evolves with you.
Ed's note: If this resonates, Kerrie's Kerrie x Simone co-host Simone Aspinall covers the other half of the face for us in The Brow Mistakes Most Women Make - and How to Fix Them.
