I'm 55—Here Are 10 Things I Do Before Video Calls to Look More Photogenic

If you’ve been reading our beauty content for a while now on Who What Wear, you’re likely already familiar with one of our favorite lifestyle, beauty, and fashion bloggers, Melissa Meyers (also known as The Glow Girl). Not only is Meyers practically a savant when it comes to navigating clean, nontoxic beauty, but she also loves to routinely share her best tips and tricks when it comes to aging. Refreshingly, Meyers is all about embracing the aging process and empowering women to be the best version of themselves—whether that’s taking the leap and experimenting with clean beauty products, embracing self-tanners (instead of the sun), or just knowing the best and most effective makeup hacks.

Being the font of knowledge that she is and in light of the COVID-19 outbreak, we reached out to Meyers for her best makeup and skin tips—quarantine edition. Now that everyone is under strict stay-at-home orders and taking video calls at all hours is the new normal, we asked Meyers to share her best skincare and makeup tips. In other words, what can we do to look as photogenic and bright-eyed as possible? Keep scrolling for 10 beauty tricks Meyers always abides by before jumping in front of her screen.

Yes, that’s plural! According to Meyers, one of her best-kept secrets for looking refreshed and keeping her skin plump and hydrated is prepping her skin pre-camera with a face mask catered to her main skin concerns and using a separate masking formula to address the delicate eye area.

“This certified-organic treatment mask uses rose-hip seeds and quartz to polish and refine the skin,” she explains to me, noting it’s a great way to prep the complexion before tackling a day filled with Zoom calls.

“These award-winning eye masks are a quick, easy fix for de-puffing and reducing dark under-eye circles,” says Meyers. “I pop them on for 15 minutes in the morning to help brighten my eyes for the day.”

Even though video calls aren’t the highest-quality (aka you probably can’t see every line and pore as you would IRL), the goal is still to have radiant and dewy skin with coverage that mimics the health of your natural skin. The best way to accomplish this? Seasoning your canvas with a luxe oil to aid in hydration. To boost your glow even further, Meyers likes to work the oil into her complexion using a rose quartz gua sha tool.

“Hydrating and anti-aging, this natural, collagen-boosting face oil creates a perfect canvas to prime skin for that no-makeup makeup look,” says Meyers who co-created this specific formula with Olie.

“This must-have tool from Miranda Kerr’s clean beauty line helps massage any face oil into the skin while getting out all the TMJ kinks—it’s a daily ritual that keeps me glowing,” Meyers swears.

Yep—your skin can still reap damage from the sun or from the blue light emitted from your laptop and phone. Meyers tells me she likes to multitask with coverage and SPF protection by opting for lightweight BB creams or tinted moisturizers that soften and diffuse the look of her skin for video calls while staving off any potentially damaging light.

“This unique formula is my go-to for tinted coverage and sun protection—it’s so lightweight and leaves skin with a velvety texture,” shares Meyers.

She’s also a huge fan of Ilia’s latest skin wonder, a weightless, light-coverage tinted serum containing hyaluronic acid and SPF. “This new multitasker leaves skin with a dewy finish and comes in 18 shades,” she praises.

Meyers tells me she loves to play up her eyes when she’s preparing for a full day of video calls or photos. Her secret? Creamy, bronze-hued eye shadow and some concealer for a dose of strategic camouflage. She also recommends sticking with clean formulas, which can be less irritating to the sensitive eye area discouraging any pesky redness.

“I love how this shade of bronze helps eyes pop on the Zoom screen and also nurtures the sensitive skin around the eyes,” says Meyers.

If your goal is to look more bright-eyed (especially for those early morning video calls), Meyers says this is the perfect opportunity to add a light, hydrating concealer to your get-ready mix. Simply tap a bit of the formula wherever you have shadows and circles, and then dab and blend it out to diffuse so you don’t end up with buildup or annoying creasing.

Sure, pretty much any mascara will draw attention to your eyes and enhance your lash line, but for those looking to beef up your natural lashes (which thin as we age), Meyers recommends choosing a clean formula that’s enhanced with growth- and thickness-boosting conditioners and ingredients. Not only will your lashes receive instant gratification, but they may get stronger and healthier over time as well.

“This conditioning mascara has the perfect applicator—the formula nourishes lashes and gives them lots of thickness and length,” shares Meyers.

Makeup artists always wax poetic about the importance of maintaining, shaping, and caring for your brows. (Like our lashes, brows can thin and lose their shade and luster as we get older.) Luckily, that’s nothing a great eyebrow pencil can’t handle.

“This universal-colored pencil beautifully blends eyebrow hair so that they look thicker and darker,” Meyers tells me.

Adding a pop of creamy color to your cheeks can make all the difference when it comes to looking well-rested, youthful, and vibrant. In fact, you’ll want to go a little more heavy-handed with your application than you would for face-to-face encounters since the color translates less intensely over your video calls. (Same goes for your mascara application!)

“Dab this organic blush on the apples of your cheeks to stay looking vibrant and rosy even after hours and hours of video calls,” suggests Meyers.

By now we all know that sitting out in the sun (especially sans SPF) is one of the worst things you can do for your skin as we get older. If you are going to be outside for hours, please douse yourself in sunscreen to keep skin damage at bay. Or do like Meyers and feign the look of a sun-kissed glow with a nontoxic bronzer instead.

“This perfect bronzing powder creates the illusion of sun-kissed skin to look refreshed and healthy when your face is front and center on the screen,” Meyers shares.

Youthful skin is often attributed to bright and radiant skin, but that’s just not always attainable—even for those of us in our 20s or 30s! Therefore, wrinkle-, line-, and spot-diffusing highlighters can be a game-changing addition to your routine, and they can add a touch of warmth and luminosity to your complexion. Just make sure you don’t choose a formula that’s too glittery or disco ball–esque in its finish. This can actually draw more attention to fines lines, texture issues, and the like.

A best seller, this hydrating and calming luminizer is one of Meyers’s favorites. She says it helps soften and brighten the skin to give her complexion a bit of shimmery highlight that translates beautifully on-screen.

“This is a multipurpose polish delivering luminous warmth for eyes, cheeks, and face,” says Meyers. “The bronze-gold color, especially, looks gorgeous on all skin tones.”

Last but not least, this natural highlighter comes in a stick form and delivers light-reflecting radiance to highlight your favorite features. “I keep it in my desk drawer and swipe it on my cheekbones right before Zooming,” adds Meyers.

Lips (like our hands, necks, even our brows) are one of the features that can easily be forgotten but can be a dead giveaway for your age. Not that that’s a bad thing, but keeping your pout plump, shiny, and hydrated acts as a filter of sorts for lines, wrinkles, and loss of volume, which can all intensify as we get older.