Kate Middleton ditched one big beauty mistake to look younger and it's so easy to copy

Kate Middleton ditched a big beauty mistake and it's helped her knock years off her age, according to a makeup artist.

• Kate Middleton looks more 'youthful' and it's all thanks to her having stopped using heavy eyeliner since marrying Prince William.
• The Duchess of Cambridge notably wore black eyeliner on both her upper and lower eye back in 2010 when she announced her engagement to Prince William but these days she sports a more natural look.
• This royal news (opens in new tab) comes as it's revealed Kate Middleton can’t stand one of Prince William’s ‘nightmare’ habits – but it’s hilariously relatable (opens in new tab).

Kate Middleton has completely revamped her look in the last 10 years - and a make-up artist thinks Kate choosing to ditch her eyeliner over the years has made her look more 'youthful'.

The Duchess, who is set to celebrate her 40th birthday on Sunday, 9th January low-key for a selfless reason (opens in new tab), experienced a birthday heartache (opens in new tab) over Prince William's 'crushing decision'.

But as she prepares to turn 40, there are some notable changes the Duchess has made to her appearance over the last decade. But when it comes to her appearance, we noticed that, unlike Adele, who loves a vogue eyeliner look (opens in new tab), Kate has ditched the heavy eyeliner in recent years - opting for a more subtle look.

Speaking about Kate Middleton having ditched the beauty mistake, Saffron Hughes, MUA at False Eyelashes (opens in new tab), explained the reason why Kate might have opted for a darker eye in the past. She said, "I think some people like to try and define their eyes by applying black eyeliner to their top and bottom lash lines to really make their eyes stand out.

"However, applying heavy eyeliner like this can actually make your eyes look smaller while adding more shadow to the area and increasing the risk of smudging."

"By ditching the heavy eyeliner, Kate has managed to maintain a beautiful, youthful appearance, allowing her to look just as good (maybe even better) now, than she did in 2010."

But she advised women to ditch the dark and opt for a brown eyeliner on just the upper eyelid instead like Kate has on the right-hand side snap below...

She explained, "As we get older, many of us feel we need to apply more makeup to look more youthful, however, it’s more beneficial to apply less makeup! If you are still wanting to wear eyeliner, I would recommend brown eyeliner rather than black and only apply a thin line to your top lash line.

"This adds a softer definition to your eyes in a much more flattering way," she concluded.

You can see from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's engagement video below that Kate wore more make-up in 2010 than she does these days...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hPi38x90ks

Meanwhile, Psychotherapist and broadcaster Lucy Beresford believes that Kate was using makeup at the start of her journey to becoming a Duchess to hide while under the spotlight.

Although it took Kate Middleton a while before she ditched the beauty mistake, Lucy said, "It takes a lot of experimentation with make-up to work out what works for you and what your style is. I see Kate's heavy eyeliner for that engagement interview as being very much her first 'big' role as a sem-royal, and therefore keen to make a statement with bold, confident make-up (perhaps to compensate for not feeling very confident under the glare of the spotlight!). So it was almost like a form of protection, to 'hide behind' the eye make-up. "

Kate, who is mum to son Prince George (opens in new tab), eight, daughter Princess Charlotte, six, and son Prince Louis, three, has grown in confidence as the Duchess of Cambridge and Lucy explains how this has changed her image.

"But as time has gone on, and the Duchess of Cambridge has refined her own style and become more confident, she knows that she doesn't have to try too hard. Less is more, and she carries it all off so well. PLUS, she is now the mother of three small-ish children, and as any mother will tell you, you need to create a make-up and style regime that can fit in around raising a family," Lucy added.

Makeup bags at the ready, three, two, one - throw the heavy black eyeliner away!