Me, too. I usually don’t wear it but when I have to wear a suit for work (2-3x/mo.), I think it looks a little strange without it when you’ve got the pantyhose and the hair and the rest. Same with going out. I also get the surprised, “You’re wearing makeup!” comments, although so far they’ve all said I look better with it so maybe I’m not putting it on wrong.
Maybe I use the wrong foundation, but makeup really makes my wrinkles stand out. I am also one of the awful shiny-faced people, but my face is going to be shiny with or without the makeup. If I put powder on over the makeup in the middle of the day to get rid of the shine, it just gloms up into a very unattractive, uneven mess. So I just pat with a damp paper towel. I had no idea a shiny face was “distracting.” Try having acne AND (a few) wrinkles at 35; you might decide not to wear makeup much either, even if you do look better with it.
I do notice sometimes if a lady has or doesn’t have on makeup, but I try not to make judgments about them based on this choice. Most people don’t notice most things about other people that the other people think are the hugest thing. You notice much more about yourself than other people do. I walked around work one day with a big white piece of fuzz in my hair, and when I discovered it, asked my coworkers why they didn’t tell me, and they said they hadn’t even noticed it.
I feel like if you don’t mind taking the time and you think you look better with makeup and it makes you feel better, then by all means wear it. Most of the time, unless you’ve really piled it on, people won’t even notice anyway.
I go through phases where I wear makeup every day and phases where I don’t wear it for weeks, even months at a time. Right now I’m going through a no makeup phase. I know how to apply makeup so that I don’t look like Tammy Faye Baker, so it has nothing to do with knowledge (for me anyway.) I do have a slightly uneven skin tone on my face, but it’s not terribly noticable. I personally think I look better with it, but I have a few reasons for not bothering with it.
The main reason is dry skin. I get dry skin patches on my face, especially during the winter. If I use makeup over my dry skin it quickly becomes flaky or looks caked on. Yes, moisturizers are good, but that gets me into my second reason…I don’t have a beauty routine. Yes, I wash my face, but I don’t moisturize on a regular basis, I don’t use facial scrubs or masks, I don’t use toners, tighteners, blemish creams, or wrinkle diminishers. I have very little patience for things like this. I also don’t generally remember to cleanse my face before I go to sleep, and sleeping with makeup on is disastrous to the complexion. Right now, getting up at 5:00 every morning, I really have little to no desire to mess with makeup. I also have a problem keeping my hands off my face, so it all rubs off anyway. shrug I just don’t feel like it.
I haven’t read all responses so forgive me if this has been stated before…
I’ve had this discussion before with my female friends. Most of us agree that, unless we’re trying to impress someone in particular, makeup seems to be worn more for other women than for ourselves or for men. Women in general are rather competitive with one another. If this woman over here is wearing makeup, her clothes are the latest fashion (and look good on her), her nails are done, her hair is salon-perfect…then other women feel a need to keep up with her. (Disclaimer: This isn’t necessarily true of all women who wear makeup and appear very feminine, but it is true of many of them that I know personally.) It’s just a “keeping up with the Joneses” type of game. IMHO…
Personally I don’t care one way or the other whether a woman wears makeup. As long as she practices good hygiene, it doesn’t matter to me whether she wears makeup, paints her nails, or has big foo-foo hair.
That can be taken two ways, ya know! And your post count is 666…
FWIW, I do know how to apply makeup. I used to wear it regularly, and I know how to do myself up just fine. I’ll put it on if I’m in a wedding or something and I’m going to be photographed.
I didn’t wear any to my interview today, but I think I’ll wear it to the second interview. It is with a high-fashion firm, so I think I should wear some.
To begin, I wear makeup daily. Because of the habit, I feel unprepared and, yes, naked in a way without it. Having said that, I will also readily admit that wearing make up, how much, prep time, which kinds, amount of coverage, etc. can MOST LIKELY be linked proportionally to something else about a person’s emotional state, upbringing, morality, values, etc. In other words (and I say this knowing I’m one of these women) make up ISN’T JUST make up.
Aw, you know what I mean! And I even seem to have proved with my post count that I’ve sold my soul to the devil. I can’t picture you doing the same thing, but “high-fashion firm” sounds dangerous. :eek:
I think what suz is getting is that make up has symbolism for a lot of people that goes far beyond any practical matters of enhancing appearance. Take all the people who have already posted that make up implies that a woman takes care of herself or cares about her appearance. A woman who wears clean, attractive clothes in good condition, combs her hair before leaving the house, brushes her teeth, etc. clearly cares about her appearance and takes at least minimal care of herself, whether she wears make up or not. So why the connection between makeup and good personal care?
Make up and how you wear it (or don’t, as the case may be) says as much about you as the clothes you wear, your hairstyle, and the things you say. It’s all a form of self-expression that’s influenced by your personality and what you’ve been taught such things symbolize, in addition to what you think looks good.
To echo suzq267 and others on the non-beautifying aspects of make-up, it’s akin to a ritual of a sort, a ceremonial “putting on of the face”, symbolizing our ability to project the image we wish to, who we want to be seen as.
God gave me the face of a 12 year old. All well and good when you’re actually 12, but not the way I think of myself. I don’t wear makeup to make myself pretty, I don’t wear makeup to fit in with other women, and I certainly don’t do it to attract men. I have quite an animated face, and I’m also the type of person who picks up on subtle physical cues, however most people are not. I find that by using makeup to exaggerate my features slightly (most importantly my eyes) people are more likely to look at me in the eye when speaking to me, and are more likely to ‘get’ some of my facial expressions.
Makeup also helps me express my mood. When I’m feeling aloof, and don’t want to be approached, I’ll layer on some black eyeshadow and skip the blush. If I’m feeling energized, I might opt for something sparkly and bright.
Conversely, I’ve also found that when I feel sluggish, fatigued, and generally like crap, putting on makeup can actually make me feel better. When your outside image looks vibrant and polished, it’s hard to keep from starting to feel that way.
And another point that’s important to me is that sometimes I don’t feel like looking like me. I like to be able to transform myself into someone else, change the way I see myself, even if only superficially. I find it helps me understand a little more about myself and the way the world sees me.
To me, a lack of makeup says, “I’m not obsessed about my appearance. I can show a few flaws to the world without destroying my confidence in myself.” I never think, “Geez, that dame should put on some makeup!”
Now, I should stress that the oppossite isn’t true: I don’t think women who wear makeup are obssessed with their appearance or less confident–unless they display those traits in other ways, of course.
I don’t wear makeup either-it so happened that I didn’t wear it when I was a kid and then when I was grown up I never got into the habit. Once when I was at college some of the other girls gave me a makeover or some such and I hated the feel of make up on my face! It felt clammy and it was like my skin couldn’t breathe. Furthermore I felt that I looked just fine without it.
I do collect somel lipsticks though, but I hardly ever wear them. I tried a blue one-bad move! with my pale complexion it made me look like a corpse! Any purplish hues tend to have the same effect…
I agree that that stuff is too expensive anyway, even if I was inclined to use it. I think I look perfectly alright as I am. (one of the few occasions I wore lipstick my bf got me to wipe it off cos it looked so bad! seeing as I hardly ever use the stuff I am not exactly skillful with it! )
And of course as we all know, it is very difficult for a female to attain a satisfactory visual aspect without the stuff, since their natural appearance is so…you know…I mean, it’s not like they are intrinsically cute like us guys…and besides, one of the reasons they wear it is to be attractive to us, and we are notoriously difficult to impress in that fashion, so unless the female is able to present a truly superlative appearance she doesn’t stand much chance of attracting an admiring male gaze or provoking initial male sexual interest.
That’s an interesting point. I found myself a little surprised when some of the ladies in this thread mentioned how everyone they know wear makeup and consider makeup part of good grooming for women. I must have been raised just the opposite; it has never occurred to me that people might link grooming with makeup on women. I should also say that I was raised by a Mennonnite mother (much lapsed, of course) who rarely wore makeup - she didn’t tell her girls not to wear it, it just wasn’t an issue with us.
To me, lack of makeup doesn’t say anything except possibly what has been mentioned before; that the lady in question doesn’t feel a need to add to her appearance. I do notice women who wear too much makeup, though, and I do feel like they probably are not as self-confident as they might be.
Personally, I like as little as possible. The more a woman puts on, the more vain she appears. Although, there are some women who do look better with a little extra on…
I am not unaware that it is easy for me to be so descriminating since it is not normally something guys have to apply to themselves. (thank god)
Yes, you said it and I didn’t. [sup]I was trying to be nice.[/sup]
I agree completely. So much, that I’d thought about starting a thread on the subject. This even applies to the male responses, since as pointed out I am in the minority even among males.
I could have honestly said that I don’t really notice whether a woman has on make-up or not, unless she has on too much (which is also true of perfume.) However, I know that most women do use make-up. If this thread was representative of the per centage of women that use make-up Avon and Mary Kay wouldn’t be so successful; there wouldn’t departments in retail stores specializing in it and Green Bean wouldn’t have started this thread in the first place.
Well, this isn’t an unbiased sample by any means. I don’t think you can use the posters in this thread as “evidence” of any kind. I don’t know that “most” women use makeup, though. There may be regional differences in usage rates. I notice that you are in Mississippi and Audrey is in Texas. When I went to college, I noticed that women from the Northeast and west coast used less makeup than women from other areas. That’s not “evidence” either, but it leads me to wonder about regional practices regarding makeup.
Your point about the prevalence of makeup sellers is well-taken, but I just want to point out one thing–many women who enjoy using makeup also enjoy buying and experimenting with it. It’s basically an unlimited market–it’s easy enough to convince a makeup user to buy yet another lipstick.
But of course you’re right that I wouldn’t be asking if it weren’t so prevalent.
(Oh, and I meant to wear makeup today, and I forgot!)
Most of us are not answering your question but instead talking about our own preferences to wear or not. I asked hubby what he thought and his only comment was, too much makeup=“naughty lady” impression. So I guess in reverse, little or no makeup=“not naughty lady.” For him, anyway. But he’ll probably never be in a position to hire a lady for a professional job. Not very helpful but more responsive to your question, I hope.
I don’t feel like I have an opinion about women who don’t wear makeup to the office (I think it’s different if you’re talking about the grocery store or gym), never really thought about it (too concerned about what they think of me for not wearing it?), but I am re-examining my feelings to see if I am unconsciously judgmental of other womens’ general appearance, including makeup or lack thereof, because I probably am.
)
[sup]I was trying to be nice.[/sup]