A Picture Thread: Before & After Make-up, Or Other Things

[CairoCarol]

Inspired by this thread.

This is me before make-up.

This is me after make-up - at least, as much make-up as I own/can bear to put on (I did try to lay on the blush kind of thick for the picture).

How do you look before and after - make-up, a haircut, weight gain or loss, or other changes?

[Euryphaessa]

Here's before makeup (slight misrepresentation, my skin isn't usually that clear).

Here's after.

A hair and glasses evolution:
short hair, green frames (2006)
black hair, black frames (early 2008)
brown hair, black frames (April 2008)
current glasses, somewhat current hair curled for the occasion (late 2008)

I'm sorry, I'm a camera whore.

[Green Cymbeline]

I hardly ever wear makeup. Maybe 5-10 times a year, only for special occasions. I'm just too lazy. I should probably use it more often though, because as you can see, my eyes are invisible, and I am pale with really ruddy cheeks (I have rosacea).

Without makeup (I'm the one on the left in all the photos):
With my boyfriend
With my nephew
With my mom

With makeup:
With my cousin
With my boyfriend
With my family - I'm on the far left. My makeup was a lot heavier than usual - I decided to do extra special purple shimmery eyeshadow for a holiday party.

[3acresandatruck]

Ha! CairoCarol, I can't see any difference in your pictures. You ladies got nothing. Now this is scary: before and after the passage of 4 decades.
Me at age 13.
Me at age 53.

[CairoCarol]

Queen of Town: it's good to be a camera whore. Where would picture threads be without camera whores? I thank you for all the great pics.

nyctea scandiaca: assuming the rosacea isn't otherwise a problem, it seems like a good thing - free permanent blush!

3acresandatruck: hah, I didn't even think of that option (probably in denial about my own aging). You look a lot better at 53.

[Savannah]

I'm going to post with/without makeup, too--I meant to do it on Friday morning (even put on a little eyeliner) but I left my camera at work.

[Scarlett67]

Originally Posted by 3acresandatruck

Me at age 13.

That's 13? You look like a bank manager.

[Robot Arm]

With goatee
With full beard
Clean shaven
Without hair

These span about the last ten years, but except for the shearing, I don't think I change much.

[lorene]

Originally Posted by Robot Arm

With goatee
With full beard
Clean shaven
Without hair

These span about the last ten years, but except for the shearing, I don't think I change much.

Which of these fine fellows are we expecting at the Boston 'fest in February?

[NinetyWt]

I don't know what it is about me (perhaps not being so photogenic), but I can look very different in photographs. Here is an album with pictures of me spanning 30 years. I look like 10 different women!

[Quartz]

Originally Posted by 3acresandatruck

Ha! CairoCarol, I can't see any difference in your pictures.

Me neither: you look mighty fine in both of them!

[JKilez]

Originally Posted by Quartz

Me neither: you look mighty fine in both of them!

If anything, the one without makeup has a slight edge. You have a natural beauty.

[fachverwirrt]

Before makeup.
After makeup.

With, of course, a wig thrown in for good measure.

[olivesmarch4th]

I could only find one photograph of myself without makeup. Apparently the only place I dare to go without The Face is rural Mexico. And I'm still not 100% sure.

no makeup

makeup

[Quartz]

Originally Posted by olivesmarch4th

I could only find one photograph of myself without makeup. Apparently the only place I dare to go without The Face is rural Mexico.

I cannot notice any difference due to makeup: this is probably because in the second photo your face is shaded by your husband.

[Quartz]

Just as an addendum, I'm viewing the pics on a cheap LCD monitor, which may make a difference.

[Robot Arm]

Originally Posted by lorene

Which of these fine fellows are we expecting at the Boston 'fest in February?

There's plenty of time; any requests?

[JustAnotherGeek]

Originally Posted by lorene

Which of these fine fellows are we expecting at the Boston 'fest in February?

waitasecond! I missed the thread! Icanhaslinkplz?

[Reply]

In all those pictures, I have to say I vastly prefer you gals without the makeup. Except CairoCarol, whose pictures look too similar to tell.

I don't get men who like makeup. Why don't they just kidnap a mannequin?

[OpalCat]

I have kind of a lot of these...

Ok here are some no-makeup pictures:
getting my hair done
having a rather bad day
haven't gotten out of bed yet

With some makeup:
just some eyeliner/mascara
going out dancing
also going out dancing
and ridiculous faces
(AFTER going out dancing*...yikes!)

And then there's LOTS of makeup:
like this one
eye makeup
Mardi Gras

Or really strange makeup:
changing age (young/old)
changing gender
changing race
changing species
changing everything!
gory stuff
???!?!


*no, dancing didn't change my hair color--this pic was a year earlier.

[OpalCat]

Originally Posted by Robot Arm

With goatee
With full beard
Clean shaven
Without hair

These span about the last ten years, but except for the shearing, I don't think I change much.

Between the goatee and the full beard, I think the big fuzzy ears is a bigger difference than anything else...

[CairoCarol]

I liked those pics from Robot Arm - a good demonstration of how the same person can look very different due to the presence or absence of facial hair.

NinetyWt - I can't get that link open, much to my disappointment (30 pics is a feast).

While I appreciate the kind words of Quartz and Jkilez, I wasn't looking for compliments - I just had to post something to get the thread started. However, to the extent that those are nice pics, I can explain the secret: as my husband took them, he said "think of your husband!" or "think of our son!" So, as embarrassingly corny as it sounds, it's love that you see in those photos.

fachverwirrt: that's a riot! Your makeup looks sort of like one of the characters in "Space Mutiny," which we watched in the MST3k version last night.

olivesmarch4th - I think I've said this in other picture threads, but your photos never correspond to my mental image of you: you are supposed to have black hair and dark brown eyes! Your photos are like mine though - very similar with or without make-up.

[CairoCarol]

Opal - Wow! Awesome collection! In the first photo you look eerily like a good friend of mine. Nothing like her in other photos.

[Reply]

My turn. Before.
And after rock climbing.
Including a conceited (and slightly drunk, I think) self-portrait in the bathroom mirror, heh.

[Reply]

Originally Posted by OpalCat

I have kind of a lot of these...

haven't gotten out of bed yet

I love this one! I think it makes you look beautiful

[OpalCat]

Oh I came across a few others that fit the "before" concept compared to photos of me now. I am done now, I promise!

No hair
high school, doing nontraditional things with eyeshadow and lipstick
high school, trying really, really hard to be taller than my 6'4" uncle
high school: sophomore class picture
high school senior picture. Please forgive me: it was the '80s
high school, but the scary part is that's me on the right, and my dad's 2nd ex-wife on the left.
the only picture of me that I know of to exist of me pregnant
the day of giving birth, still in the hospital (mind you, he's 13 years old now!)
two of my favorites with Dominic when he was a baby

me about 60lbs heavier than before having a baby
even heavier, on the Rikki Lake show

And yet further in the past, early fashion experiments with paper muffin cups
later, totally unaware of what life had in store

[Pyper]

As a toddler
With full makeup
With no makeup, wet hair, and glasses. Yikes!
Cross-dressing

[OpalCat]

Originally Posted by Reply

I love this one! I think it makes you look beautiful

Aw, thank you! That photo (mainly the hair) was actually the inspiration for this painting of mine: Being Art

[OpalCat]

Originally Posted by Pyper

With full makeup
With no makeup, wet hair, and glasses. Yikes!

These link to the same photo

[Pyper]

Originally Posted by OpalCat

These link to the same photo

Doh!

Here's without makeup, I hope.

[Robot Arm]

Originally Posted by JustAnotherGeek

waitasecond! I missed the thread! Icanhaslinkplz?

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/...d.php?t=502923

[NinetyWt]

Originally Posted by CairoCarol

NinetyWt - I can't get that link open, much to my disappointment (30 pics is a feast).

Hmm. Try opening just one (HS photo).

There's only 19 pics in the album, not 30.

[jayjay]

Originally Posted by Scarlett67

That's 13? You look like a bank manager.

I was thinking more like "county-level politician".

[CairoCarol]

Hmm, 30 years, 30 photos ... someone needs a little help with their reading comprehension, and it isn't the other posters in this thread.

One pic worked fine NinetyWt - I take it that was a "before." I don't know how old you are, but the glasses, clothing and hairstyle look very similar to my era - I graduated in 1976.

Pyper, your "supernerd" picture is actually really cute, I think ... okay, you don't look like a supermodel in that shot, but you look like someone I'd want to know - smart and funny.

Speaking of glasses, mine are really thick so I generally stick with contact lenses. I'll post again in a little while with a picture of me wearing them.

[OpalCat]

Originally Posted by Scarlett67

That's 13? You look like a bank manager.

My son is 13. These photos look decades apart!

[CairoCarol]

Ah, here we go: me wearing glasses. That makes for a much more dramatic contrast in my case. As you can imagine, I wear contact lenses most of the time.

[overlyverbose]

This is me without makeup. It was taken four years ago.

This is me with makeup, taken last month. I had fallen asleep at the foot of the bed, though, hence the somewhat goofy look on my face. I think my husband caught me in the middle of saying, "What?" He had brought my son in to wake me up.

I haven't found a digital pic of me in full spackle - I think I have them all hard copy and I'm far too lazy to scan them.

[Isamu]

Originally Posted by 3acresandatruck

Ha! CairoCarol, I can't see any difference in your pictures. You ladies got nothing. Now this is scary: before and after the passage of 4 decades.
Me at age 13.
Me at age 53.

13? Really? You look like a full grown man. I guess you were the guy in school who bought the booze for your underaged friends.

[Lionne]

No makeup (I actually just washed my face)
Seven minutes later
If I'm going out, I put a little more emphasis on the eyes, but this is my normal makeup.

It's really weird to stare at yourself closely for longer than a minute.

[tesseract]

Originally Posted by Reply

My turn. Before.
And after rock climbing.
Including a conceited (and slightly drunk, I think) self-portrait in the bathroom mirror, heh.

Wow, nice job, Reply! You look great. How much weight did you lose?

[Hostile Dialect]

Originally Posted by JKilez

If anything, the one without makeup has a slight edge. You have a natural beauty.

Seconded. (Talking about CairoCarol.)

Reply, I had no idea you could lose weight rock climbing. I thought you had to be fit first.

How much money did you have to sink into the sport? I may start getting into it now!

Hostile Dialect,
Hostile Dialect, Narcissist

[overlyverbose]

Originally Posted by CairoCarol

Ah, here we go: me wearing glasses. That makes for a much more dramatic contrast in my case. As you can imagine, I wear contact lenses most of the time.

At the risk of sounding weird, glasses or not, you have fabulous eyes.

[Reply]

Originally Posted by CairoCarol

Pyper, your "supernerd" picture is actually really cute, I think ... okay, you don't look like a supermodel in that shot, but you look like someone I'd want to know - smart and funny.

Seconded Stole the words right out of my mouth.

Originally Posted by tesseract

Wow, nice job, Reply! You look great. How much weight did you lose?

Thank you. That means a lot, actually. I went from 250 to 160 but that was when I was in hardcore self-hatred mode. Now I'm back to 180 or so, but I've also mellowed out a lot in the process... I'm still going to try and get it down eventually to 150 or so for a healthier body fat ratio, but hopefully not at the expense of my sanity this time. Slow and steady.

Originally Posted by Hostile Dialect

Reply, I had no idea you could lose weight rock climbing. I thought you had to be fit first.

How much money did you have to sink into the sport? I may start getting into it now!

Hostile Dialect,
Hostile Dialect, Narcissist

I don't want to hijack this thread so I won't go into TOO much detail here; I'll say a bit and if you have more questions or whatnot, please feel free to PM me

I didn't just climb; it was a complete lifestyle change from a totally sedentary one to one with proper nutrition (NOT a "diet", but healthy, sustainable lifelong eating habits) combined with climbing, swimming, jogging, martial arts and weight training. It took a beautiful girl, one too many rejections, and a long, hard look in the mirror, but I went all out and it was the second-best thing I ever did with my life.

While it IS possible to lose weight climbing -- doing ANY sort of exercise with sufficient duration and intensity will cause muscle gain and/or fat loss -- I wouldn't necessarily recommend it as a starting point if you're very overweight, if only because it's going to be, as you suspected, that much harder. I would imagine there's a break-off point (in terms of body weight) where the difficulty and frustration factor of being unable to pull yourself up more than a few feet will outweigh the enjoyment the sport can give.

That said, it's definitely not impossible! I started climbing when I was about 200-220 ; keep in mind that I was so weak at the time I could not do a single (not even one) push-up or pull-up and couldn't even run a mile. I also got a friend who weighed 300-400 lbs (she wouldn't say) into the sport; she'd only have the energy to do it once or twice a month, but at least it got her motivated and gave her something to really look forward to someday.

But that's the thing! More than just weight loss or muscle gain (there was both, to be sure), it was the sheer passion of it -- I fell in love with the sport, with the fear and the conquest thereof, the adrenaline, the internal growth, the rugged scenery, the people, the feeling of achievement, etc., etc. that it motivated me to do everything else just so I could get better. I'm still not very good, but climbing has already irrevocably changed my life for the better. It took me a year or two before I felt comfortable self-identifying as a climber, but now it's one of the things I'm most proud of in life.

And it doesn't have to be an expensive sport at all. For the first year or so, I only spent about $150 on a starter package (shoes, harness, chalk, carabiner) and that's enough for many types of climbing. My 24 Hour Fitness happened to have an included rock wall, as does my current university, but independent gyms generally run about $30-$50 a month, and of course outdoor climbing is generally free.

Anyway. That's enough, lol; if you let me, I'll rave about it for pages PM me if you want more info.

[Hostile Dialect]

Wow! I'll keep that in mind. I'm somewhere around 220-230 (depending on which scale you ask and which week it is) and I could pump out a halfway-respectable pushup set. I'm 6'0", so if you're shorter (it sounds like you are if you're shooting for 150), I'm probably at a closer starting point than you are.

That said, I don't have $150 period and don't have a job, so I don't see that happening.

[3acresandatruck]

Originally Posted by Scarlett67

That's 13?

Well, I was almost 14. I'd kind of forgotten about my appearance back then, but an explanation: I had smashed up my face several months before the photo was taken. Broken teeth, broken nose, abrasions, contusions, stitches, yada yada yada. I actually had people who knew me scream and run away (literally! - it still makes me laugh when I remember Laura running down the hall at school) when they saw me the first time after the incident. I'd healed to the point where I don't think anything really shows in the photo, but I look older in the picture than I would look in my driver's license photo at 16. My upper incisors in the photo were caps Mom made me wear for the picture; I hated the way they felt and they only lasted a few months. Any scars that remain are lost in my wrinkles now.

[Reply]

Originally Posted by Hostile Dialect

Wow! I'll keep that in mind. I'm somewhere around 220-230 (depending on which scale you ask and which week it is) and I could pump out a halfway-respectable pushup set. I'm 6'0", so if you're shorter (it sounds like you are if you're shooting for 150), I'm probably at a closer starting point than you are.

That said, I don't have $150 period and don't have a job, so I don't see that happening.

I'm 5' 9". You'll be fine. The added height can be an advantage too Most gyms let you rent equipment for a day too, if you just want to give it a try. And I know you do. You know you do. I can smell the desire emanating from your hands all the way from up here.

[Hostile Dialect]

I do. I just have no money. Really, between my out-of-state speeding ticket, textbooks next quarter, and saving up to study Spanish dialectology in Spain this summer, I can't spend a dime on anything that isn't:

1. food
2. one of the three things mentioned above
3. buckeyes

Hostile Dialect,
Hostile Dialect, Narcissist

[Enginerd]

If you're a student, your school might have cheap/free climbing facilities. My school rents equipment (harness and shoes) for something like $3-$5 a day. It's more than a dime, but not much.

[KnitWit]

Laura before:

http://i43.tinypic.com/2enxk47.jpg

Laura after:

http://i39.tinypic.com/kbd1z6.jpg
http://i40.tinypic.com/xoqr7d.jpg

Much better, huh? This is fun.

CairoCarol, you look great in the "after" photo, but you seriously don't need makeup. You're a beautiful woman! Gorgeous skin! Maybe I'll do a before and after makeup today. I LOVE playing in eyeshadow.

[KnitWit]

Wow, there are a lot of really attractive Dopers! Do you think all the Dope makes people prettier?