10 Best Lipsticks for Older Women for Smooth, Even Color

Like everything else on our faces, our lips naturally change as we age. The best lipsticks for older women—thanks to their moisturizing, feather-proof formulas—can help mitigate concerns we may have, like volume loss and fine lines. “As we mature, we tend to lose collagen production, which causes our skin to become thinner and results in volume reduction,” says Los Angeles-based makeup artist Elaina Badro. “Mature skin also produces less oil, which leads to dryness.”

The following makeup artist-approved lipsticks have one important aspect in common: They’re all enriched with ingredients like hydrating hyaluronic acid and emollient shea butter to smooth and plump while providing rich, vibrant pigment. Learn more about the best lipsticks for mature skin to soften the effects of dryness, thinness, and accentuated fine lines.

Our Top Lipsticks for Older Women

• Best Overall: Armani Beauty Lip Power Longwear Satin Lipstick, $45
• Best Satin: Anastasia Beverly Hills Satin Lipstick, $26
• Best Glossy: YSL Loveshine Lip Oil Stick, $45
• Best Matte: Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Lipstick, $35
• Best Lip Primer: Sarah Creal Lip Grip Line Filler, $36
• Most Buildable: Sisley Paris Le Phyto-Rouge Lipstick, $75
• Best Long-wearing: Merit Signature Matte Lip, $26
• Best Shade Range: Urban Decay Vice Hydrating Lipstick, $21
• Best Plumping: Paula’s Choice Pro Collagen Peptide Gloss Balm, $24
• Best Multiuse: Make Up For Ever Artist Color Crayon, $35

Best Overall: Armani Beauty Lip Power Longwear Satin Lipstick

Why it’s worth it: Armani makes excellent lipsticks, we’re not surprised the brand has a mature-lip-friendly option—and a long-lasting one, at that. “If you have a long day in the boardroom, a late night dinner followed by dancing, or just anytime you want your lip color to really last, this is the perfect formula,” says Los Angeles-based makeup artist Robin Black. “It’s intensely pigmented with a lightweight feel and a smooth satin finish that stays put for six to hours. I’ve even worn it through a client lunch, straight into a meeting without a touch-up in between!” The ultimate test of a long-wearing lipstick is how it wears through a meal, so consider us totally sold.

Best Glossy: YSL Loveshine Lip Oil Stick

Why it’s worth it: It looks like a lipstick, it’s buildable like a lipstick, but it nourishes and hydrates like an oil. It’s the beauty equivalent of a magic trick, and why YSL’s Loveshine Lip Oil Stick won a 2024 Best of Beauty Award. The formula blends six nourishing oils (including passionfruit seed and macadamia-derived emollients) for a glossy, cushiony finish. Fig pulp adds an instant surge of hydration and comes from YSL Beauty’s Ourika Community Garden in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains (a project that supports women’s economic independence while providing unique, carefully sourced raw materials for YSL’s beauty formulas). And while the brand keeps much of the tech behind that plush, light-catching shine and 24-hour hydration under wraps, one swipe is enough to make a believer out of you.

Best Satin: Anastasia Beverly Hills Satin Lipstick

Why it’s worth it: Anastasia Beverly Hills’ Satin Lipstick is a winner for anyone who doesn’t want the high-beam shine of a lip gloss, but also isn’t in the mood for a flat matte. The lipstick has just enough slip to glide on comfortably, thanks to emollients and microcrystalline waxes that help the color lay down evenly and stay put. It also includes vitamin E, which softens lips as you wear it, making them feel cushioned. Los Angeles–based makeup artist Chloe Majdipour says satin finishes naturally glide more than mattes, making them easier to apply, especially for mature lips prone to dryness.

Best Matte: Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Long Lasting Matte Lipstick

Why it’s worth it: Mattes have a reputation for being dry, flat, and unforgiving. But Charlotte Tilbury’s Matte Revolution Lipstick features lipstick tree extract (yes, a real plant nicknamed for its pigment-rich seeds), which helps keep the formula soft and comfortable instead of chalky. Emollient esters (meaning they give it a silky glide), while vitamin E (tocopherol) provides antioxidant and conditioning benefits, creating a finish that feels plush rather than parched. New York City-based makeup artist Kat Dorn is a fan of both its comfort and wear: “It’s creamy and will stay exactly where you apply it without drying out the lips,” she says. She also calls the square tip a game-changer for shaping, and has a trick for even more longevity: “Apply, set with powder, and layer again for up to 10 hours of color.”

Best Lip Primer: Sarah Creal Lip Grip Line Filler

Why it’s worth it: In many cases, your lipstick is only as good as the condition of the lips beneath it all. Sarah Creal’s Lip Grip Line Filler is “a must for more mature lips,” according to Black. “It’s a peptide priming treatment that smooths and blurs lip lines while keeping your lipstick in place for longer. Lactic acid gently exfoliates any texture, helping the other actives (like peptides) to penetrate more effectively. You can even dab some around your lips to soften any lines.

Most Buildable: Sisley Paris Le Phyto-Rouge Lipstick

Why it’s worth it: Sisley Paris’s Le Phyto-Rouge Lipstick has a gel-based texture that melts in like skin care, creating a thin, smoothing veil that you can blend out for a soft stain or layer into full, creamy color. The brand’s proprietary Hydrobooster complex, which features hyaluronic acid and konjac glucomannans, gives lips instant plushness, while camellia and jojoba seed oils add softness and suppleness to mature lips over time. “No matter if you wear it sheer or build it out to full color, this luxe formula always makes lips look smooth, hydrated, and refined,” says Renée Loiz, a makeup artist based in Los Angeles.

Best Long-wearing: Merit Signature Matte Lip

Why it’s worth it: If we haven’t convinced you yet that people with fine lines around their mouths can wear lipsticks with a matte finish, Merit’s Signature Matte Lip will make the case. Consider this a modern matte—lightweight, buildable, and non-drying—so it feels like nothing on the lips and never settles into texture. Hyaluronic acid helps smooth and lock in moisture, while sesame seed extract keeps lips soft and comfortable throughout the day. One swipe gives a soft wash of color; two or three build easily to full pigment. When it comes to desert-island products, especially if you’re a true-red person, our tester swears by Vermillion.

Best Shade Range: Urban Decay Vice Hydrating Lipstick

Why it’s worth it: Even though there’s a handy shade-picking tool on Urban Decay’s website, it can still be hard to know if you’ll actually like a shade based on an online swatch. To help with this, the brand anchored its Vice Hydrating Lipstick lineup to Los Angeles—each of the 35 shades nods to a neighborhood or mood—so picking a color feels more like choosing a vibe than decoding undertones. The formula comes in three finishes (matte, cream, and shine), but we’re especially partial to the cream for mature lips. “The super creamy formula is infused with aloe vera and avocado oil so the lips will feel nourished and hydrated,” says Majdipour, which keeps pigment from catching on texture.

Best Plumping: Paula’s Choice Pro Collagen Peptide Gloss Balm

Why it’s worth it: While it’s not a lipstick, we love Paula’s Choice Pro-Collagen Peptide Plumping Gloss Balm for older women because it tackles the things that tend to show up with age: dryness, thinning, and fine lines around the mouth. The treatment leans on a trio of pro-collagen peptides to visibly reduce lines and add fullness, support natural collagen for better volume, and lock in hydration and prevent the look of thinning. The base feels glossy and soft, thanks to shea butter, castor oil, and emollients, giving you instant comfort. “I love wearing this nourishing formula alone or over lipstick for extra hydration and shine,” says Dorn.

Best Multiuse: Make Up For Ever Artist Color Crayon

Why it’s worth it: We love it when a lipstick can multitask, and Make Up For Ever’s Artist Color Crayon pulls triple duty on lips, cheeks, and eyes. The formula is surprisingly blendable thanks to emollients and sunflower seed wax, which help the pigment spread without dragging. “Crayon formulas are incredibly forgiving on mature lips, and this one glides, blends, and builds without ever feeling heavy or waxy,” says Loiz. “I love the control it gives, especially for adding definition without outlining lines too sharply, thanks to the wider tip,” she says. Just pay attention to the shade notes—some shimmery shades aren’t recommended to wear on lips, while others aren’t suitable for eyes.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are the benefits of lipstick for mature skin?

While moisturizing lip products like balms, oils, and masks deeply condition your lips, it’s understandable if you don’t want to sacrifice your favorite red lipstick in the name of hydration. Thankfully, you can achieve the pigmentation you desire and still reap the benefits of lip-loving, texture-blurring ingredients, thanks to the abundance of hydrating and conditioning oils. In case you aren’t aware, moisture replenishment is especially important for diminishing the look of volume loss and fine lines, two key concerns that tend to pop up around the mouth as we get older. “As we age, our capacity to retain water in the skin diminishes, so skin becomes drier,” Blair Murphy-Rose, MD, a board-certified dermatologist based in New York City, previously told Allure. “Dry skin can appear dull and make fine lines more noticeable.”

Cosmetic chemist Ginger King says taking this extra step to find a hydrating lipstick is worthwhile. “For mature women, the selection of lipstick is trickier because they tend to have thinner and drier lips.” A safe bet, King says, is to “choose a more muted tone.” Otherwise, springing a tinted lip balm may be more suitable than a fully pigmented lipstick.

What ingredients should I look for in lipstick for mature skin?

In case it wasn’t evident, hyaluronic acid is a beneficial ingredient for all, but especially for older women. According to New York City-based board-certified dermatologist Doris Day, MD, this hydrating humectant is “great at holding water and giving skin resilience and firmness.” Los Angeles-based makeup artist Elaina Badro adds that hyaluronic acid’s plumping properties help “fill in the cracks on the surface of the lips,” creating a smoother look to your lips.

Other moisturizing heavy hitters are emollients like shea butter and cocoa butter, which soften dry cracks and blur the appearance of fine lines. These ingredients are also responsible for giving your lipstick formulas that easy-gliding feeling. As for what to avoid? Erin B. Guth, a Los Angeles-based makeup artist, generally recommends steering clear of matte lipsticks, as they tend to have drier finishes that may highlight fine lines.

How should I apply lipstick for mature skin?

Aside from seeking more nourishing ingredients for your maturing lips, your application technique plays a vital role in your finished look. To enhance the look of your lips, start with a clear lip balm to prime and prep the area. “Primers are a great way to ensure that the products stay in place and can prevent feathering, which can draw attention to fine lines,” Guth says.

After lip primer, she recommends using a lip pencil one to two shades darker than your natural lip color to slightly overdraw and give the illusion of bigger lips. Fill in your lips with your lipstick of choice, pop a bit of a lighter shade to the middle of the lips to highlight, et voilà! Instantly plump-looking lips.

Meet the experts

• Elaina Badro, a Los Angeles-based makeup artist
• Robin Black, a Los Angeles-based makeup artist
• Doris Day, MD, a New York City-based board-certified dermatologist
• Kat Dorn, a makeup artist of LRN Beauty based in New York City
• Erin B. Guth, a Los Angeles-based makeup artist
• Ginger King, a cosmetic chemist
• Renée Loiz, a makeup artist and founder of Color May Vary based in Los Angeles
• Chloe Majdipour, a Los Angeles-based makeup artist
• Blair Murphy-Rose, MD, a board-certified dermatologist based in New York City

How we test and review products

Before reviewing any makeup, we ask questions about a number of factors: What ingredients are in it? Does the brand offer a wide shade range inclusive of consumers with all skin tones and undertones? Is it safe for readers who have sensitive skin or wear contact lenses? Is it on the affordable side or more of a splurge? Is its packaging consciously designed or needlessly wasteful?

For our review of the best lipsticks for mature skin, we enlisted the help of multiple editors, writers, contributors, makeup artists, and cosmetic chemists to review the products. This ensures our testing base spans different skin tones, genders, demographics, and dermatological conditions. We considered each product’s performance across four primary categories: ingredients, wear and longevity, efficacy, and hydration. For more on what’s involved in our reporting, check out our complete reviews process and methodology page.

Our staff and testers

A beauty product is a personal purchase. You might be searching for a face cream to address persistent dryness or a new nail product to add to your Sunday self-care routine; you may simply be browsing around for the latest launches to hit the hair market. No matter what you seek or your individual needs and concerns, Allure wants to ensure that you love anything we recommend in our stories. We believe that having a diverse team of writers and editors—in addition to the wide range of outside testers and industry experts we regularly call upon—is essential to reaching that goal.

After all, can we really say a skin-care product is the “best” for people over 50 if the only testers we’ve solicited opinions from folks who have yet to hit 30? Can we honestly deem a high-end diffuser worthy of your hard-earned cash if it’s never been tested on curls? We’re proud that our staff spans a wide range of ages, skin tones, hair textures, genders, and backgrounds, which means that we are able to fairly assess any beauty product that comes into the beauty closet.

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We could talk about lip products all day long. In fact, let us show you our fave formulas: