10 Best Eyeliners for Mature Skin, Tested by a 60+ Woman

As my mom has gotten older, she’s discovered that finding a quality eyeliner that works well for mature skin is surprisingly difficult. Growing up, I don’t think I ever saw her without a perfectly defined flick, which is why I knew the problem wasn’t her technique—it was that the formulas she loved no longer sat the same way on her mature skin. After plenty of trial and error over the years, she finally found liners that glide on smoothly and stay put without dragging, skipping, or settling into fine lines and wrinkles.

If you’ve noticed your eyeliner isn’t applying the way it used to, you’re not alone. As we age, celebrity makeup artist Katie Jane Hughes explains, “The skin around our eyes becomes softer and thinner, and therefore it starts to wrinkle, making makeup harder to apply and leaving eyeliner looking a bit crinkly.” That’s why choosing the right formula—and tweaking your application technique—can make all of the difference. To help eyeliner lay down more easily, Hughes recommends “using an eyeshadow stick to create a creamy base for eyeliner” and “working backward using the shape of the applicator versus drawing it on to limit tugging and pulling.”