Why so much makeup?

[mincepieprivateeye]

I went to Boots yesterday as I needed a mascara and moisturiser. I got to wondering why some of the beauty counter staff wear so much makeup. I'm not talking nicely done either, the person on the Clinique counter had a tide mark of dark foundation and almost drag queen eyebrows and lashes, it would put me off asking for advice. A couple of assistants on another counter were nearly as bad while the others were all made up but looked nice. I fully understand they have to wear the make up they sell but do they need to wear it all?

My DD and I were commenting on the over made up staff in boots last weekend. I think it looks really odd. I wonder if a lot of people who plaster themselves with makeup never check how it looks in natural light.

The eyebrow thing is hilarious.

I find people saying that the eyebrow trend is hilarious. For some people it isn't a trend 😑 some have had their eyebrow hair fall out and genuinely don't know how to draw them back on, that's sad not funny

Even if your eyebrows have fallen out there is no need to draw two thick black caterpillars on your face.

Normal pencilling in of eyebrows isnt noticeable.

Sorry, I did mean the thick stencilled brows in conjunction with thick fluttery and very false eyelashes.

It's a a fashion look, not someone who has filled their eyebrows in.

The two are completely different.

I know the two are different, but believe me, if you are the one with dark hair and no eyebrows, it's not nice seeing people constantly mocking drawn-on eyebrows of whatever type because you feel self-conscious enough as it is. It's hard getting them exactly right every day then there's the worry that they will smudge if you sweat, run in the rain etc. I know it's a first world problem but I do wish I didn't have it.

Assumed from the thread title this was going to be about Kimberly Walsh on Sport Relief Bake Off. Why was she so made up?? It looks incredibly aging, esp with those heavy earrings. I thought she looked really odd.

It was because Kimberly was practicing her icing skillz.

Quite why she needs that is a mystery, she's very pretty anyway.

The brows we're talking about here are the trying to keep up with some weird fashion brows not the people who've lost their hair. I can't imagine anyone who had lost hair would want to draw half inch black brows on. It just pardon the pun, draws attention

hollin I understand what you are saying but the picture is really not a person with no make up. There are thick black lines along the underneath of her eyes! They aren't tattooed and her eyelashes are thick and black. To me it is a full face of make up - not No make up.

but what do I know I'm on old bat who has to wear make up to look even remotely OK!

Unfortunately, the old fashioned "painted dragon" look seems to still be obligatory in some places.

Kelsoo - you look made up, not natural. Sorry to disappoint you.

The trout pout does nothing to help.

My lovely 18 year old dd works part time for a very well known cosmetic store. Sometimes, I almost don't recognise her when I go to visit her. She and her co-workers all must sport that pale, thick drawn eye brow, heavy lippy mask on their fresh faces.

The fashion for really heavy makeup for teens started with Towie and the Gypsy wedding thing. It's a transvestite look, IMO.

Fits well with teens who want to invent/re-invent themselves and cover perceived flaws - insecurity, basically

I can see how easy it is to rack up the products though.

Average daytime makeup if I am feeling/looking particularly rough and want to look more polished;

1. BB cream
2. Little bit of powder on t zone
3. Little bit of concealer on any blemish
4. Under eye colour corrector
5. Brow pencil/powder just lightly to fill in gaps
6. Eyelid primer
7. Eyeshadow, 'nude' colour but might be 2 or 3 shades blended
8. Light eyeliner
9. Touch of brown mascara

10. Smidge of blush 11. Perhaps a smidge of highlighter 12. Something on the lips, tinted lip balm or a 'your lips but better' lippy.

That's 12 (15 if you want to count eye shadows separately) without trying very hard, takes less than 5 minutes to do, and doesn't look caked on- clearly you're wearing a bit of makeup but a light base done well can use quite a few products but people just comment that my skin is looking lovely rather than thinking its makeup. But you can easily use 3 or 4 products on your base - not caking it on but just using different things lightly where they are needed, and then adding back a bit of colour where needed with light blush, bronzer etc where needed.

It's kinda funny that we're obsessed with 'natural look' really, my natural look most mornings is bleary eyed, greasy t zone with dry cheeks, few spots, blue eye circles and red patches on my chin and nose- I look drained and ill. 5 minutes in front of the mirror and I look healthy and neat, and most importantly feel a hell of a lot better as well!

My SIL lost her eyebrows and pencilled them in- and I never even noticed. For a start, she pencilled them in where her natural brows were, not inches up her face. She used a pencil that was only slightly darker than her hair was, not black. And didn't make the edges all sharp and straight lines. Assuming that those of you who have lost your eyebrows follow the same sort of guidelines, I doubt people will notice!

Yes, that is what I do, but this is the thing, when I lost my brows 6 or 7 years ago you could find about 2 brow products in the average branch of Boots and no one was drawing them in, I felt hideously self conscious with mine. Now, thanks to the heavy brow trend we are spoilt for choice and I feel far less self-conscious, but it is still hard getting a natural, matched look every morning with no natural brow line to follow. Long live the trend for "done" brows!

Whoknows I can understand why that felt difficult, I lost mine recently so "luckily" there was lots of good advice on S and B plus a multitude of recommended products. My artificial ones just looked like my real ones but neater It felt very odd though as I am normally "no make up" type of person, and bang on about feminism and men not having to enhance themselves etc etc.

Make up is interesting to me as after losing my hair I felt compelled to resort to artificial methods - wigs, eyebrow pencils etc and I wouldn't have thought I would, it's definitely changed my views in some respects. I do feel that people should be proud of their own looks and not cover themselves up in an attempt to fit in with societal "norms" - yet when I looked like an alien I was on S and B asking for advice how I could fit back in. It's interesting.

With my DDs I have tried to sell the idea as make up as "fun" and to play with rather than to cover, if that makes sense. Interestingly they don't wear any at all either, but we are all lucky enough to have good skin although mine is deadly pale with a tinge of blue and of course may feel differently if we didn't. My DDs are definitely in a very small minority amongst their peers. I'm sure lots, if not all of them would look beautiful without makeup and ( to me) it's a bit sad they obviously don't feel that they are "good enough" without make up. I realise that makes me somewhat of a hypocrite!

Good daily make-up, done well shouldn't really look as if you're wearing anything.

Think Downton Abby (upstairs) - you know that the actresses are fairly heavily made up, but you'd be hard pushed to list what they're wearing.

My daily make up is eyebrow pencil to fill the gaps, BB cream, concealer and powder, a touch of blush and mascara. In photos it doesn't look like I have anything on but I look very different without it.

I believe on DA they tint their eyelashes black.

I was at an EL counter the other day. Very nice SA, told me shed been there for 11 years. Perfectly matched my foundation on sight, I was kinda impressed.

But HER makeup! She looked like an '80's skit. Like she had taken a Sharpie and drawn rings around her eyes. Neon pink lips and blusher. And for someone who was so clever at matching me on sight, why was she so orange??

She was leaning in close to talk to me and even though she was very nice, I found myself leaning back a bit as her appearance was so alarming. There was just so much "face" to take in! It was too much for my eyes!

Purplehair I totally get the conflicting thoughts on style & beauty stuff vs inherent feminist principles. I struggle to accept that how I feel about my appearance really is a deep ingrained cultural misogyny, hard wired into my thinking now, but that is what it is really. I have gone through no makeup phased and no hair removal phases, but in the end I just can't shake it and I feel better when I do those things, and actually actively enjoy make up and skin care stuff, almost like a hobby.

It is a complete mystery why makeup artists/sales assistants can't colourmatch themselves though! I guess it's a 'look' in itself maybe, obviously wearing the products rather than a subtle look. Not one that I desire to emulate though.

I get the conflicting thoughts about make-up and feminism too. Sometimes I go months without wearing any except the brows, then I wear quite a bit every day for months again, then I change back. I was lucky that my head hair came back (alopecia) and eyelashes never went so brows are the only essential for me, but I really do look like Mr Potato Head if I don't do them.

The trout pout does nothing to help.

How fucking rude

I always hate talking to a person with the high arched eyebrows because after a while I realise I have raised my own natural eyebrows in imitation. It's quite embarrassing, and I have no idea what they think of me doing this, but it's involuntary.

I often realise I'm really staring at someone's eyebrows if they're very "defined"
Obviously when I catch myself I stop! It just looks ridiculous to me, but I do know that's because I'm getting on a bit.

I've noticed the heavy makeup my young neices wear looks fine in photos, nice even but in real life its a bit cartoon like. Its a symptom of the selfie generation.