Take five years off your age with these simple makeup techniques – no scalpel required.

Lift and luminate

1. Create a youthful, soft-focus effect with a medium-coverage foundation that enhances rather than masks your own skin. Even better, choose one that has skin-tightening benefits, like L’Oreal Paris NutriLift Gold Foundation, $44. Blend it well until it disappears into your skin.

2. Brushing a matte bronzer, like Smashbox Bronze Lights Sunkissed Matte, $48, that’s one shade darker than your skin tone underneath your chin is a clever little way to define a sagging jawline. Make sure you feather the bronzer down the neck, so there’s no obvious line.

3. Complete the look by applying a little rosy-toned cream blusher, like Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Cream Blush, $55, to the apples of your cheeks, blending upwards. This will really give your whole complexion a lift.

Pimp your pout

1. Make your lips look hydrated, plump and soft by smoothing any flaky bits away with a damp face cloth, then massaging a rich lip balm, like Jurlique Love Balm, $15, into them.

2. Prepping the skin around your lips by patting on a little primer can lessen the look of any fine lines. If lipstick bleeding is a problem for you, using a lip pencil the same colour as your lips, like Covergirl Lip Perfection liner, $14, will help.

3. Choose neutral or bright shades of lipstick, like Karen Murell Lipstick 04 Shimmer, $30, rather than lip-shrinking shades to take years off you. Opt for cream formulas and if you can still see your lip liner once your lipstick is on, use a brush to blend the two together.

Brighten your eyes

1. Book yourself into a brow expert who will tweak your eyebrows into their most flattering shape and teach you how to define them with makeup. Brow shaping is the ultimate instant eye-lift.

2. The skin in the inner corner of our eyes often looks darker as we age, which can make us look tired and older than we are. Combat this by lightly patting concealer, like Nude by Nature Liquid Mineral Concealer, $25, right into the eye socket area and blend with your fingertip or brush.

3. Even out pigment discolouration by sweeping a neutral shadow, like Nude by Nature Ultimate Eyeshadow, $30, all over your eyelids, then apply mascara, like Elizabeth Arden Beautiful Color Lash Enhancing Mascara, $58, right to the base of your lashes. Think flattering flutter, rather than stiff spikes, which will age you in a flash. Do this by choosing your formula carefully and replacing your mascara regularly so it doesn’t dry out.