Cosmetics can help you look younger, even with sensitive skin.

As we age our skin also ages with wrinkles caused by loss of subcutaneous tissue and years of damage from the sun. We also lose color from our skin and hair and very often looked faded and drab which makes us feel older. Cosmetics have been used for thousands of years to help women (and even men) look and feel younger, but for those with sensitive skin using cosmetics can be an expensive challenge of trial and error.

These tips from dermatologist Zoe Diana Draelos, MD, Clinical Associate Professor of Dermatology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC can help you find the best cosmetics for sensitive skin.

Choose powder when possible. Powder cosmetics are not only great at removing shine, they have very few preservatives and contain minimal ingredients that can cause skin irritation. This means powder cosmetics are much less likely to cause problems for women with sensitive skin than their liquid counterparts.

While waterproof  mascaras are great for tearful moments, they require a solvent to remove them that also removes sebum, the oily substance made by the sebaceous glands in the skin. Without this oily barrier, skin is exposed to potential irritants that can cause a beauty breakout.

Use black-colored eyeliner and mascara products. Women with sensitive skin will find that dramatic black is best when it comes to eyeliner and mascara product colors. Dermatologists feel that black is the least allergenic of all colorants.

Stick to earth-toned eye shadows. Lighter earth tones, such as tan, cream, white or beige, seem to cause less upper-eyelid irritation in women with sensitive or itchy eyes. "It is possible that the higher concentration of pigments in darker colors like navy blue can cause an adverse reaction in women with sensitive skin," speculated Dr. Draelos.

Use pencil eyeliner and eyebrow fillers. According to Dr. Draelos, "Pencil eyeliner and eyebrow pencils are wax-based and contain pigment and minimal preservatives. They are much less likely to cause problems than liquid eyeliners that contain latex and may cause problems in latex-sensitive individuals." The pencil forms of these cosmetics are also water removable, making them easier on the surface of the skin.

Check sunscreen ingredients. Dermatologists recommend daily use of a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) 15 or higher. For women with sensitive skin, this sunscreen should only contain the physical sunscreen ingredients zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. Unlike chemical sunscreen agents which absorb UV rays, it is impossible to be allergic to physical sunscreen ingredients since they deflect the rays rather than absorb them.