I don’t wear any makeup other than the occasional eye liner & lip gloss. My friends wear varying amounts of makeup according to their professions and inclinations. None of us feel that makeup is something worth disagreeing about, and I can’t remember the last time any of us actually mentioned it.
True story.
It’s perfectly fine to have a personal preference for women not wearing makeup but I don’t think anyone can honestly, objectively say that, for instance, red blotchy skin looks better than not blotchy or than anyone looks better when you can’t tell they have eyelashes. I know next to nothing about biology but aren’t all creatures programmed to seek out healthy looking mates? A woman with a little color to her cheeks (provided she hasn’t given herself the clown treatment) is going to look healthier than a paler gal, imo.
My father didn’t like makeup and so my mother wore very little (occasional lipstick). My wife understands that and rarely wears any (I don’t like to kiss her with lipstick so she never uses that). Now I notice that my daughters-in-law hardly ever wear makeup. So I approve.
Sometimes I see women with black rings around their eyes and I think that is hideous.
Agreed. I’ve never really liked wearing makeup and there was a time in my twenties when I tried going without. I have very white, translucent, sensitive skin and blonde eyelashes and eyebrows. With no makeup at best I look like a frog’s belly with two blue blotches (eyes). So then I just did mascara. At this point I went on a cruise with my boyfriend and we did one of those portraits after the formal dinner where you have to buy the pictures. I was appalled. There I was in a lovely green velvet dress, looking like I’d had sandpaper rubbed all over my face. Ever since then I regretfully wear base to even out my skin tone, mascara and just a little shadow.
And yes, this no-makeup fad comes around every few years.
I’m the least girliest girl I know. I’ll dab on a little Wet n Wild lipstick when my lips are looking especially pale, but that’s about it for me.
But dayum, are people being unnecessarily judgy! I have to wonder if some of the women who are so anti-make up are speaking from a perch of privilege. If a person doesn’t experience the scourge of acne or facial scars, maybe they have the luxury of thinking make-up is “dumb”.
I’m looking forward to when the Hollywood “glamorous hot mess/drag queen” look goes away. But make-up is a not going away any time soon, and I think that’s a good thing. Make-up can do beautiful things. It’s no more superficial than jewelry or nice clothes.
Well said! 
There is some commercial out now for mascara in which they show a close-up of the woman’s eye and the product is all gunked and clumpy…looks she has black dingleberries all over her lashes. On purpose!
Anyway, I like makeup. It’s fun to use and it makes me look better. But I’ve always made it a game to use the smallest amount possible for the greatest effect, so I guess right now I’m with the IN crowd. Whoo-hoo!
I think if I was a guy, makeup would seem kind of gross to me.
You are a good person, monstro.
Me, I’m assuming it’s people for whom no amount of make-up would make a damn bit of difference.
It’s a trend that comes and goes. I rarely wear much makeup, maybe once or twice a month when going out to dinner or to a party or something. Or maybe if I have a zit I might cover it up with concealer, then put powder all over my face to even things out. But I’m also an engineer who wears polo shirts often, and I work at a manufacturing plant. If I worked at a more customer facing position I might feel the need to wear more makeup, or maybe I’d still be lazy, I don’t know.
I agree, the right amount of properly applied makeup can make anyone look better, for both women and men. But no one should feel obligated to wear a certain amount of makeup. And also no one should be shamed for wearing what others perceive as a large amount of makeup.
burpette wears no make-up whatsoever; doesn’t need it, she has the face of a madonna (Not the skanky one).
Her HAIR, however… .
I meant no offense with the blotchy skin / invisible eyelash comment, JcWoman. 
I wasn’t aware it was really a “movement” so much as something female celebrities are using to demonstrate that they’re held to different standards than men are. I thought the movement du jour was size acceptance.
The only time I hear about makeup vs. no makeup is when celebrities tweet photos of themselves not wearing any in what seems like an attempt to demonstrate that they’re “just like us.” Which when you think about it is really silly. Whether they’re fat, thin, tall or short, if they’re in a magazine or formal photo shoot or even on the red carpet, editors go way out of their way to correct any flaws. I can kind of get that - it’s kind of like using a tarnished tea set. The shape is whatever it is, and you’d never want to change it, but you’re not going to use it for company without polishing it (assuming you would ever in your life own a silver tea set).
That said, I imagine that those celebrities who are exposed as having terrible skin would have much clearer skin if they didn’t use so much shit on their faces in an attempt to look natural. And I rarely wear makeup - it takes extra time in the morning that I could be spending relaxing with a cup of coffee on my porch while the rest of the house sleeps. That’s way more valuable to me than mascara.
I don’t wear makeup. Never have. It doesn’t appeal to me on either a theoretical or a practical level. I think most women look better without makeup, just as most men do (but most men already seem aware of that).
I only wear makeup to disguise myself and blend in if a situation calls for this, so very rarely. Without makeup, I look fine. With a small amount of natural-looking makeup, maybe I do look better, but I already look good enough, so why bother? Why would I expect my life to improve because I put some toxic chemicals on my face to disguise myself as someone better-looking? Any improvements would be based on a lie.
I don’t judge others for wearing makeup, but sometimes I do wonder why people go to so much trouble to achieve a less-attractive result. Using makeup to cover scars or discolored areas at least makes some sort of sense, but clumping your eyelashes together with a tarry substance and smearing blue goo on your eyelids is seldom an enhancement.
No, we’re voices in the wilderness.
I’m a big fan of no makeup, especially foundation.
Your first statement is very unlikely to be true; you are probably unaware of how much makeup women are actually using. Your second is impossible to prove, since of course the effort expended and the resulting utility enjoyed by the woman is her subjective call.
Pretty much everyone could do more work to look better, everyone just have different cut off points on how much work they want to do, and that’s okay. It’s not a disguise, it’s just trying to look like a better version of yourself.
There are benefits to wearing makeup, and sometimes detriments to not wearing it. I easily found this article about how women are sometimes discriminated against at work for not wearing makeup. I know I could find other articles and studies. It’s unfair, and should change, but I’m not going to think badly of women wearing more makeup and trying to work the system as best they can.
Well I would assume that’s because women know that they need to wear makeup, but many don’t know how to apply it, or how much to apply, or what colors and brands and styles would be best for them. And they think the penalty for wearing zero makeup is worse than the penalty for wearing mediocre makeup.
I would almost certainly look better in expertly applied makeup. But I have no expertise, and have allergy problems, so I never learned. So, I’m doing the no makeup thing because I never learned how to do otherwise. That definitely just makes me ignorant, not superior.
I have to wear some makeup, at least a little bit. I’m a natural blond which means fair complexion, pale eyebrows and lashes, and just generally beige all over. My features disappear in the beigeness unless I do something to make them stand out. I have enough natural blush in my cheeks and have taken excellent care of my skin so that I don’t need to use a foundation or blush. But I need some eye shadow and mascara and a touch of brow color. Lately, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to need undereye concealer as well. I usually do wear lipstick, but a nude color, and I wear it more for moisturizing purposes than for glamorization purposes.
Now if I’m dolling up for a special evening, that’s another matter. I’ll pull out all the big gun products and have myself a good ole time with eyeliner, false lashes, and all the other girlie-girl stuff.
Not wearing makeup is like not wearing a cardigan. Some people like it, some people don’t. The world is best when everyone is more or less free to choose as they prefer without judgement.
I wear a bit of makeup, because I like the way it looks. But I don’t “feel naked” without it and I don’t bother when I’m camping and the like and don’t wear it.