Guys do you like make up on girls?

In My Humble Opinion
21

I’d hate to get too pedantic over this, but I don’t think “No make up” is the same thing as “Not wearing anything at all on her face”

I mean heck, any guy who has had a live in GF knows what base is and what it looks like when applied.

But those same guys might not consider said women to be “wearing make up” in the official sense.

Base doesn’t count as “make up” to a lot of guys. Especially if they’re referring to their GFs. This may have to do with mental gymnastics some guys do to convince themselves that THEIR GF looks good “with out” make up.

22

Around the house my wife wears very little or no makeup. She puts it on when she goes out. Not a lot. A little foundation, powder, and lipstick. She wears nail polish. I like it.

I’m not a fan of the Tammy Faye Baker look.The poster child of too much makeup.

23

Anyone ever notice the women who work at makeup stores tend to have the most caked on gaudiest makeup of them all?

24

I strongly suspect that “not wearing anything at all on her face” is what most guys mean by “no make up” but I’m open to being shown wrong.

ETA: I mean, to be honest, I strongly suspect that at least a bare majority of guys have only the vaguest idea what “base” is.

ETAA: POLL!

25

I would disagree, especially if you’re calling this the pedantic (i.e. strictest) interpretation. No make up does indeed mean not wearing any [make up] on her face.
It would be absurd if, to refer to no makeup at all, we’d have to say something like “no makeup whatsoever; not even base” every time.

26

Put me in the “less is more” camp - a little makeup is ideal.

But I’d much rather see a woman with no makeup on than too much. Someone with make-up so thick they had to get a plasterer to apply it is not only hideous to see but also indicates that they place a lot of value in hiding who they really are. It’s a serious turn-off. Accent your features, don’t pave them over.

Which reminds me of a joke from the Drew Carey show: “I heard she took her makeup off once and they found a whole other painting underneath.”

27

I’m not a huge fan of makeup. I knew one very pretty woman back in my early 20s who wore it by the ton – almost Tammy Baker heavy, with obvious lipstick and eye shadow. I thought it all overdone. By the time she was thirty, she scaled it way back. She still wore makeup, but it was much more understated, and I thought it looked infinitely better.

Pepper Mill usually goes without makeup, but will don it for special events.

if a woman puts on makeup even partially for my benefit, though, I’m impressed – more by the fact that she would take all that trouble on my account, than for how it actually makes her look.

28

Seriously? there are women who wear foundation, but not lipstick and eye make-up?

There a pretty rigid hierarchy, IME.

Lipstick and Mascara

Above, plus plucked eyebrows, possibly pencil enhanced.

Above, plus eyeshadow and maybe eyeliner.

Above, plus definitely eyeliner, and two-tier, takes-skill-to-apply lipstick.

Above, plus faded, nuanced eyeshadow, and maybe false eyelashes.

Foundation.

I remember a few girls in high school who wore heavy foundation, and sometimes skipped other make-up because they were probably in a hurry that morning, but they usually had really serious acne, which the foundation wasn’t actually covering at all, but it made them feel better, and usually they did wear other make-up.

FWIW, I ran into someone I went to high school with, who I didn’t know well, because we had different sets of friends (she was a cheerleader, and I was a theater freak), but we once had to write a paper together, and we were both in this volunteer group together once, and rode the same city bus home part of the way, so we talked. She used to wear a lot of make-up in high school. She looked like just another cheerleader headed for a sorority then. Pretty, but in a Stepford Wives sort of way.

I ran into her a few years ago, and she was completely without make-up. She looked really sublimely beautiful. Also, about ten years younger than she actually was. We had a nice conversation, and surprisingly, she’d turned into a sort of earth mother who home-schooled her younger kids, and baked her own bread, grew her own vegetables. Very interesting. She had three bio kids, two adopted kids, and two foster kids.

You just never know. The most popular girl in school was home-schooling.

29

No Makeup please. I don’t want to smell it and I don’t want to kiss you with that gunk on your face/lips. I feel like taking a damp cloth and wiping your face clean. Also I want you for who you are, not a mask.

Now if it’s covering up some cosmetic ‘issue’ I can understand.

30

This past year, I dressed up as Abby from NCIS, which involved a good hour in the mirror to get the makeup right. Paler foundation, darker brows, full eye make-up, lots of black eyeliner, black mascara, dark red lipstick, and so on.

When I went to work the next day in my usual makeup, at a couple of my coworkers asked me if I just didn’t wear makeup normally.

The thing is…I was wearing foundation, brow powder, mascara, and lip gloss. Just in natural brownish and pinkish tones. So I knew I was doing “no makeup makeup” right.

Other than the mascara, I really don’t look much different without makeup. But I have pale eyelashes, so you’ll pry my mascara out of my cold, dead hands!

31

I am all over the place on this one. First of all I want the lady to feel comfortable about herself. Around the house, walking the dogs, grocery shopping etc, I prefer light make up. If we are going out on the town I enjoy a little more dramatic look but never excessive. Obviously this would vary with the individual woman and what she has to work with. At my age 66, a little more make up is to be expected.

32

Another vote for “less is more” and for the idea that most guys prefer some, but subtle enough that in their cluelessness they can believe it’s really none. ETA: As **GrumpyBunny **just demonstrated.

I’d add that for best results it needs to be age-appropriate. I think the OP is 20ish. Different standards apply to 20s, 40s, and 60s. ETA: Ninja’d by HoneyBadgerDC on this one. Id’ say 60 is the time to really start scaling down the makeup, not up; the worst thing in the world is the 65 year old tart. Tammy Faye was scary at 30, but horror movie material at 65.

Last of all it needs to be event- or socially-appropriate. Going to Bubba’s BBQ Shack for Saturday afternoon lunch is different than attending the gala opening of the Opera season at the Met. Some folks’ lives revolve around events like the former, others the latter. ETA: Ninja’d by HoneyBadgerDC again. Curses!

33

Few people are likely to tell you your makeup looks excessive, even if it looks like clown makeup, because that would come off as judgmental.

In the third case these comments are coming from people who are accustomed to seeing you with makeup on. It would be different if you wore no makeup all the time.

34

I don’t think it’s as rigid as all that. My bare minimum is eyeliner (I pretty much never wear mascara–it’s sort of an extra I do once in a while). And my more complete look is foundation and eyeliner, and occasionally gloss.

To be honest, I find the biggest thing that enhances my appearance is having my hair looking good. For me blow drying feels like another (really long!) step in the process.

35

I’m a guy. And my wife’s attitude is quite the opposite of you. Which works for her and therefore for me.

Makeup for women who like the way it looks, as you clearly do, is great.
You have the best possible reason for wearing makeup-YOU like it. The fact that your friends also like it is a bonus. Enjoy.

36

The difference makeup can have in before and after is pretty insane and frankly it could be pretty deceiving especially if you say had a girlfriend that never let you see her real face.

Do a google search of “makeup ugly to pretty” and you’ll see what I mean.

37

Light makeup is fine. For more makeup she has to be really good at it, and not many women seem to be that good.

38

I do if I can’t tell they are wearing any.

39

Just because some guys make that mistake doesn’t mean any specific man is likely to. It seems like a mistake more likely to be made by the unobservant or by young men who’ve never lived with a woman.

Besides, when men say they don’t like makeup even though they totally do like understated natural looking makeup, they’re not so much contradicting themselves as being inarticulate. If you explain it to a man, he’s not going to say “oh my god! All this time I really did like makeup!”, hes’ going to say “ohhhhhh! Yeah, I meant I don’t like unnatural gaudy make up. Thanks for correcting me.”

40

I do not like any make up on a woman I am intimate with because me and my dogs are lickers and it tastes bad. As long as it is not garish I see little reason to add any input into another individuals prefrences.