I'm told I'm looking old and drained - fetch the make-up

I need to start wearing make-up. Make-up, apparently, lifts your mood and can work as an antidepressant. A study found that wearing make-up can have a marked effect on improving mood and helping with mental health.

The research by several universities, reported in the scientific journal Dermatology and Therapy, found that those wearing make-up saw symptoms of depression drop significantly and self-esteem soar.

I’ve never had a good relationship with make-up. In my younger days I didn’t feel confident applying it and was always amazed if it turned out okay. When I was in my late teens and early twenties everyone underlined their eyes with kohl, which could be disastrous if not applied properly. We all went round looking like pandas.

It was the done thing to apply two or three shades of eye shadow, blended to look subtle - it was anything but. And, of course, there was mascara, with which I was fairly competent.

I never really got to grips with foundation, blusher, concealer and primer - I always associated the latter with painting and decorating - never knowing in what order to apply them. To this day I have no idea what toner is for.

Make-up can make you feel better about yourself, according to research. Picture: Pixabay

My youngest daughter used to blame me for her make-up mistakes.

As a teenager she once said that whatever she did wrong in applying make-up it was because I didn’t show her what to do, “like other mothers.”

“You don’t even have any proper make-up, mum,” she said, while looking with disgust in my cosmetic bag, at the crumbling powder that I had owned since my student days, the dried up mascara and battered tin of lip balm

And after my failure to demonstrate any make-up techniques worth their salt, she believed I had no grounds for criticising her for wearing too much.

When I reached my thirties, I abandoned the rigmarole entirely and haven’t owned a make-up bag for at least 15 years.

But, now that I’ve reached my sixties, I’ve had a re-think. It’s not only because of this research. In Asda recently with my friend Betty, I helped her to locate her favourite lipstick, Rimmel Number 5.

“I’ve used it for years,” she said, smiling. At almost 95, she looks fabulous. A little face powder, her rosy pink Number 5, that’s all it takes.

People are always complimenting her on how wonderful she looks. I’m more than 30 years younger, yet, when I bump into people I haven’t seen for a while their reaction is far from complimentary. “Gosh I’d never have recognised you - you look so old,” someone told me last summer, and, more recently a friend said I looked "really drained." Theses comments were not uttered maliciously, but they struck a chord nonetheless.

I think it may be time to start papering over the cracks and giving my self-esteem a much-needed boost. I am not a fan of make-up, but am slowly being persuaded that, for women like me, who have seen better days, make-up can have certain transformative powers.

But before I splash out at Boots’ beauty counter I’ll need a few lessons. By coincidence, in the news this week, a number of make-up artists aged over 50 offered tips.

‘Don’t cover wrinkles, use green eyeliner and use lipstick on your cheeks,’ was among them.

I ‘m not sure about the latter, I’m not joining a circus. But next time I have somewhere to go other than the supermarket, I’ll steal myself, apply a spot of mascara and a bit of a touch-up on the eyebrows and see how it looks.

I’d better ask Betty to supervise while I take the plunge.