Wearing or not wearing makeup

I can't even remember the last time I spent time with or spoke to a woman wearing make-up. They're all bare-faced hussies like me.

I used to love wearing a bit of make up, but as I get older my eyes run with any mascara and I've tried lots, even the very gentle ones, which is a shame really as I would still like to wear a bit.

AmberGran

^Why do some people feel the need to perpetuate the pervasive denial of normal aging processes by making themselves look younger?^

Aging doesn't bother me in the least. However, I don't like looking as if I am at death's door. I am naturally pale, with very dark hair. I don't mind the pale skin but along with the dark circles and hollows under the eyes, plus red eyelids if I'm not sleeping well, I often do look ill. Some days I look fine, on others I don't. It takes 5 minutes to mitigate most of this, and the face I present to the world shows how I feel - healthy and cheerful, if a little tired.

Why do so many people who choose not to wear makeup assume that anyone who does has been brainwashed???

Well said!

Or describe its natural colour as washed out without makeup?

Well, dotscot, I presume you are referring to my post.

If long-term illness can make someone look 'washed out' then I see no reason why they should have to go around looking pale and yes - washed out - and having people ask if they feel all right. Wearing a little makeup so that they don't look pale and 'washed out' can boost their morale and stop all the questions about one's health.

So I'll carry on using the blusher.

My apologies to Granmarderby10. I somehow quoted the wrong post in my post, on page 5. My strictures were aimed at dotscot's post just below Grandmarderby10

I just do not understand how that happened.

I usually manage to jab the mascara wand into my eye, growstuff
Can't see without my glasses, can't apply it wearing glasses!

I don't wear make-up very often, not because I'm beautiful and youthful-looking without it (I wish!), but because I'm lazy, don't like the feel of it and am so short-sighted that I'm useless at applying it.

I do have a reasonable skincare routine and wear skin and lip moisturiser.

I’m not sure mascara came in anything but blocks in the 50s, AmberGran. My mum had a block mascara but she dampened her brush by running it under the tap and shaking off the excess. She would never in a million years have spat on it!

Crossstitch I also remember seeing someone spitting into the mascara brush before rubbing it on the block. I always used mascara in tubes with wands so I was a bit taken aback by it 😆

A good moisuriser, and nothing else.

Oh Maggiemaybe, you brought the memories back! I remember when I was about 12, watching a friend’s very glamorous mum putting her makeup on. To my disgust, when it came to the mascara, she SPAT (shock, horror) on the little brush and rubbed it onto the mascara block before applying it to her lashes. I was horrified! She used a cake foundation too, and applied blusher (then called ‘rouge’) liberally to her cheeks. Lipstick was applied, blotted, then applied again twice more. What a performance. The day I watched her do this, she was apparently going shopping! Goodness knows what lengths she went to for an evening out!

My daily routine takes around 2 minutes - eyeliner, lipliner, mascara, eyebrow pencil and lipstick. I rarely bother if I’m not going anywhere, but I think I look better with it. If I’m going somewhere special I’ll take a bit longer, perhaps a tinted moisturiser, a streak of eyeshadow, a bit of rouge, maybe brush on some bronzer and highlighter if I’m pushing the boat out.

I can understand the youngsters dedicating time to their appearance and the latest trends, as I did the same back in the day. Anyone else remember the 3 or 4 coats of black mascara so your lashes looked fake, the “eyelashes” drawn in black liner under the bottom lids, the fake freckles and strategic beauty spot, the white lipstick? I used to think I looked fabulous - how I wish I had a photo to make the grandsons laugh!

Norah

Curious, why is moisturiser deemed makeup?

I would class moisturiser as a skincare product rather than make-up, although I guess if it's tinted moisturiser, it's more like make-up?

Well it's not really, but I suppose it's the first thing I put on my face, so it kind of registers as such, but even if I didn't wear make up, I'd still moisturise.

Makeup, at any age, is just a choice.

Some people choose full face, some choose differently.

Curious, why is moisturiser deemed makeup?

A personal choice as far as I'm concerned. I've toned it down since I've got older, face moisturiser, I don't wear foundation anymore. I've got a lot of eyebrow products, brow high lighter, some neutral eye shadow sometimes, or just a primer I have an uneven skin tone. Mascara if we are going out. I do have a lot of lipsticks. What I wear on my face is entirely for me. Some of my friends don't bother with it anymore, again absolutely their choice.

Granmarderby10

* Bukkie* yes I have.
This is why I don’t wear it all the time.
It becomes the norm and only the truly naturally beautiful will look this good all the time.
It fosters un- achievable expectations of how a body should look.
And I think this has contributed to low self esteem and general dissatisfaction with peoples lives.

What a virtual signalling morally superior post.

What has make-up got to do with looking younger? Why not just wear it because it is fun and you like the look. I have never thought make-up makes me look younger or better.

Look at the way children love face paints and many cultures also decorate their faces in different ways, to convey all kinds of messages, Why shouldn't we in our culture choose to do so as well, in our particular way?

If you do not like wearing make-up and feel morally superior as a result, my response is that of Sir Toby Belch to Malvolio in Twelfth Night Dost thou think because thou art virtuous there shall be no more cakes and ale?

I am afraid attitudes like yours only encourage me to wear more make-up.

Why do some people feel the need to perpetuate the pervasive denial of normal aging processes by making themselves look younger?

Aging doesn't bother me in the least. However, I don't like looking as if I am at death's door. I am naturally pale, with very dark hair. I don't mind the pale skin but along with the dark circles and hollows under the eyes, plus red eyelids if I'm not sleeping well, I often do look ill. Some days I look fine, on others I don't. It takes 5 minutes to mitigate most of this, and the face I present to the world shows how I feel - healthy and cheerful, if a little tired.

Why do so many people who choose not to wear makeup assume that anyone who does has been brainwashed???

It's a personal decision. I always wear some make up as it makes me feel livelier and happier.

If people choose not to wear it, that is fine too.

DotScot

I don't wear any makeup at all and haven't since the pale pink lipstick, blue eyeshadow and clumpy mascara days of the seventies. I'm now 68, a bit wrinkled where the laughs have been, and a Scottish peelywally shade most of the year.

I think that people should do what they are comfortable with, so long as it hurts no-one. I suppose that some people who have spent some time on their make-up probably look at me, at a wedding say, and quietly make negative judgements. That's up to them.

I did notice the unquestioned assumptions in some of the posts here:

Most Pale ladies look better with a little make up on Better than...?

Other people take you more seriously, as though you have made an effort with your appearance and not let yourself go. So much to wonder about in this one sentence. 'take you more seriously'? 'made an effort'? 'let yourself go'?

piggy eyes Aren't eyes just eyes?

Why would you need your face to be more defined? Or describe its natural colour as washed out without makeup? Why would imperfections need to be concealed?

Why do some people feel the need to perpetuate the pervasive denial of normal aging processes by making themselves look younger?

I did state my belief at the beginning that people should do what they are comfortable with so long as it hurts no-one. Are some of these assumptions, evident through the language people unthinkingly use, responsible for many of our grandchildren (it's not restricted to the girls), feeling that their beautiful natural appearance, whatever it is, has to be modified through make-up, hormones, diets or phone filters to be acceptable to the outside world?

Well said

* Bukkie* yes I have.
This is why I don’t wear it all the time.
It becomes the norm and only the truly naturally beautiful will look this good all the time.
It fosters un- achievable expectations of how a body should look.
And I think this has contributed to low self esteem and general dissatisfaction with peoples lives.

Wearing or not wearing make up is a personal choice. I like to wear a little make up when I go out but I don't need to put my face on to collect the bins in. I feel make up should enhance your natural features. Have you ever bumped into someone without make up who usually wears a lot and not recognised them?

I don't consider moisturiser to be make-up. I have used moisturiser all my life, but never wore foundation until I was middle-aged.

Now I'm lucky if I put the moisturiser on- all that money sent over the years hasn't made a bit of difference!

Make up has been used for thousands of years by both men and women so I guess there must be some reason why many of us like to use it. I've used a night serum on my face for years, changing it as new products are developed but always a gentle but thorough cleanse and something designed to improve my skin, (my current one contains AHAs and HA) applied with a dose of hope and scepticism. However, I always put the lotion on the back of my left hand first and the proof is there to see. The skin on my left hand is softer, has hardly any age spots and is plumper than that on my right and the skin on my face is very good for my age. As I said upthread generally I never leave the house without some form of skin protection even to do the gardening and it shows on my face.