Trans-seasonal slap sounds thrillingly new-broom, as one gears up for the full blast of autumn and winter. However, the reality often means feeling odd, weird, not yet in one’s groove: colours, textures and techniques in a no-woman’s land.

Do not despair. Being ejected from one’s comfort zone is actually an extremely good thing. Our faces, skin, colouring – and personalities – are constantly in flux, never more so than in midlife; it pays to take a moment to reassess.

At 66, Val Garland, beauty veteran and judge on BBC’s Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star, is the queen of keeping matters moving. How does she keep faces looking modern for Kate Moss51, Helen Mirren80, Tilda Swinton64, and herself? Here she reveals the cosmetic tricks every woman over 50 needs…

1. Polish, don’t plaster

‘My golden rule is skin, not camouflage,’ Val tells me. ‘The biggest mistake is over-applying products. At 50 and beyond, I always say polish, don’t plaster. Focus on light – textures that reflect it. Keep the complexion sheer: let the freckles, the lines, the stories show. I’m fascinated by skin-tech hybrids. The serums that double as primers, the foundations that are skincare with tint. These formulas are genius because they move with you, don’t crack or sit in fine lines.’

Lisa Eldridge’s best-selling Seamless Skin Enhancing Tint (£37, lisaeldridge.com) is the perfect means of achieving this.

It’s hard to believe that something so gossamer-light and luminous (packed with 78 per cent skincare ingredients) could achieve such coverage. It’s witchily brilliant. Val favours high-tech Japanese brand Suuqu’s new Skincare Cream Tint (£48, selfridges.com).

Ten years in the researching, she describes it as ‘pigment wrapped in a beauty cream’. The Ordinary Serum Foundation (£6.40, theordinary.com), or No7 Restore and Renew Serum Foundation (£21.95, boots.com), are her budget choices.

2. Trending texture

‘Don’t get trapped in nostalgia,’ counsels Val. ‘Make-up should evolve with you.’ Like me, she finds texture a means of shaking things up. ‘For autumn 2025, embrace a graphic element,’ she continues, ‘but, make it wearable. Maybe a softened aubergine liner instead of black; or a blurred metallic lid rather than a hard shimmer. For lips, go for a stain; something that feels bitten and blurred rather than drawn on’.

Val is obsessed with a ‘tight line’ (application along the inner edge of the upper lash) using ‘gel liner, just kissing the roots of the lashes for invisible definition. It wakes up the eye without shouting’. Try Stila Stay All Day Smudge & Set Waterproof Gel Eyeliner in Plumfull (£18, stila.co.uk) for her modish aubergine. L’Oreal Paris Paradise Le Shadow Sticks (£7.99, superdrug.com) give great glint. For a stain, Val favours Maybelline Teddy Tint (£11.99, superdrug.com), which I’m immediately off to invest in.

3. Cunning colour

Overly neutral faces are unfashionably ageing. Val recommends: ‘Colour that has depth, but isn’t harsh – that’s what keeps it modern. I’ll never stop using a cream blush. With the featherlight textures on the market, it’s the fastest way to create life in a face. Blushes that look like your own blood rising to the surface.’

Like Greta Lee, 42, Sarah Jessica Parker, 60, and Jenna Lyons, 67, I’m passionately in lust with Merit Flush Balms (£26, meritbeauty.com), one of which sells every 30 seconds. Why? Flush Balm imparts a lit-from-within, utterly gorgeous glow. I can’t get enough of Après, a berry that is pure ski chalet chic.

4. Brush up

‘Another obsession has to be brushes!’ Val cries. ‘Blending is your best friend after 50.’ Val favours a Duo Fibre Face Brush (try NYX Professional Makeup Pro Brush 04 – Dual Fiber Foundation (£16, asos.com) for a seamless finish.

She also requires a Fan Brush (say, No7 Fan Powder Brush£16.95) to blend highlighter to a Hollywood lustre. While Suqqu’s soft, synthetic Face Color Brush (£110, selfridges.com) is her secret weapon for sculpting ‘facelift’ bronzer. Check out the similarly dome-shaped Bobbi Brown Blush Brush (£42, lookfantastic.com) if this is too steep.

5. Less kit, more verve

Val’s final message is: ‘Less equipment, more instinct. Make-up should feel like play, not hard work.’ Too right. For the next ten days, I challenge you to wake up, take a look at yourself, and do something different. The gold-flecked eye shadow, dewy ‘cloud’ blush, or stained lip that you’ve dismissed as too out-there may just become your go-to.

Autumn hair hits

Race you to it

I’ve always scrimped and bought the cheapest nail-varnish remover, to be left with scrappy, patchy results, wondering how my salon can do the job in a single swipe. No more! Mylee Acetone-free Gel Polish Remover (£9.99, mylee.co.uk) is a one-wipe wonder for normal lacquer removal, or soak and scrape to rid yourself of gels, acrylics, tips and glue. Life-changingly efficient. Worth the dosh.

Cosmetic craving

Since August, I’ve been trying to do some extremely gentle weight-lifting to counter diminishing midlife muscle, as we’re advised to over 50. Given this is the first exercise I’ve attempted, there are moments when I ache like the 54-year-old woman I am. Until, that is, I immerse myself in a tub of Weleda Arnica Muscle Soak Bath Milk (now £13.12, hollandandbarrett.com).

This sublime, aromatic soother is laced with arnica, rosemary, lavender and birch leaf and utterly sublime. On emerging, I rub a little Weleda Arnica Massage Oil (now £15.96) on the area and all is cured. One doesn’t even have to boast ‘a knee,’ ‘a hip,’ or ‘a shoulder’. It’s simply a remedy for October.