To ask: if you don't wear make up regularly, what do you genuinely think when you see someone who does?

[Mingewithafringe]

Really interested to hear people's views on this as it's something the socially anxious person in me has always wondered.

I wear a lot of make up by most people's standards. It stems from my teens where I developed bad skin and was just desperate to cover it. It's a lot better now but I have scars and patches that I feel insecure about.
So as well as a concealer and powder foundation, I also fill in my eyebrows daily, wear liquid eyeliner on my top lid, kohl pencil on my waterline, mascara, bronzer and either matte lipstick or a tinted lip balm. Without the eye make up I look tired or ill (people have actually said that!)

This is most days unless I know for sure I won't be going out that day. I have applied it for so many years that it only takes me about 5/10 minutes to put it on in the morning, and the amount of money I spend on make up has just become one of those accepted expenses, although I don't actually spend a lot because aside from my foundation, the rest is usually affordable stuff like Maybelline, Bourjois etc

I go through phases where I just hate the fact that I feel like I have to wear it and so I try to wean myself off it e.g. By not wearing eyeliner or by going for a subtle/minamalistic look. But I just don't feel confident and end up reverting back!

I have always wondered what ladies who don't wear make up are thinking when they talk to me. If I walk in to a room, 99% of the time I am wearing the most make up out of any woman. So ironically, I wear make up so that people don't think "look at her scars", but now have developed this insecurity where I feel that when I talk to someone, all they are thinking is "jeez how much make up is she wearing, it's a toddler and baby group for crying out loud"!!

Am I being silly?

I notice things like wonderful smiles and hair first. But if someone does have a lot of makeup on - and that means drawn-on eyebrows, caked-on foundation, fake eyelashes etc. - usually I'll think they'd look so much lovelier with a bit less. I wear very little myself as I never really learned the techniques - and I don't want to start now.

It must be horrible to feel like you can't leave the house without war paint, without spending time strategically hiding your face.

I honestly can't really recall who wears makeup and who doesn't in my friendship group. They are just them if you know what I mean.

I'd only notice someone's make up if there was something particularly striking about it. Where I live there are a lot of younger women with ludicrous drawn on with a black marker striking eyebrows

I love make up and own a huge amount.

I'm sometimes too lazy to apply it but I feel disheveled and a mess when I'm not wearing any and I'm with someone who is. It makes me regret not making the effort in the morning as I feel more confident and put together when I'm wearing it.

I look ridiculous in makeup, it just doesn't suit me at all (probably because I look about 12). I don't judge women who wear makeup at all, in fact I feel slightly jealous that they can do it and not look like a clown or a child playing dress up! In my friendship group it's a fairly even mix between those who wear some every day and those who never bother.

I have never worn make-up, I never figured out what was the point of it. And to be honest, I find the smell and texture of makeup a bit yuck. In my culture, we kiss in the cheeks, and I have always disliked kissing a face full of makeup, ugh!

I very rarely notice what other people wear, let alone whether or not they have makeup on, unless they look like a clown, in which case I just think "OMFG!" and feel a bit sorry for them, because I assume they must have very low confidence and self-esteem, and because after such a massive effort they just look like they dumped their face into a bowl of talc powder. But I just think it, I would never mention it.

TBH, I do think a full face of makeup, that looks like a mask, looks 'odd", because it looks so obvious and in my opinion, makeup should enhance your natural look, not look like someone has tried too hard.

I am also aware that this is entirely my own opinion and should be ignored by everybody else. Where what makes YOU happy, not an observer/ total stranger.

i only ever wear make up when going for a night out.

i think people that wear it daily look lovely and wish i had the drive to want to as i do look better with it on.

having said that i think i still look nice without it and i know friends who wouldn't leave the house without it and i'm glad i dont feel like that.

I don't wear much and if I see a beautifully made up woman I always envy their makeup application skills and think they look good and take pride in their appearance. I sometimes wonder how they can be bothered if it's very early, for example an early long haul flight.

I don't wear makeup except for very rare occassions.

The only genuine thing I'm thinking when I see someone with makeup on is they've evidently had more time than I did this morning.

There's a mum on the school run. She always looks immaculate with high heels and makeup. I've just convinced myself she must have to get up at 4am to look that good and I value my sleep too much to be honest.

I wear make up every day, although my daughter says I shouldn't bother because you can't tell. It is just primer, BB cream and blusher, eye shadow and mascara but subtle I suppose.
When I see someone obviously wearing make up I either think 'Wow, she looks nice and I wish I could do mine like that' or else I may think 'That is a lot' Either way I am not judging the person wearing it. I just notice.
However, if someone is not wearing any I don't consciously notice that.

So long as you feel ok and confident in what you wear then does it really matter?

I never wear makeup, dd does every day, neither of us judges the other.

it's just different taste and doing what works for us

like I have a black coat and she has a brown one

I don't wear makeup. At all. It makes my face itch and go blotchy for days. I honestly wouldn't notice if you were wearing it or not if it were normal makeup. If you were made up with beautiful winged eyeliner or sparkles I might notice but only in a "oooh that looks nice" way. Only time I've ever noticed someone wearing makeup in a negative way was a woman I used to commute with who wore orange foundation, bright pink lips and thick black eye makeup.

If someone was wearing terrible make up - orange foundation, sharpie eyebrows etc i'd (internally) raise an eyebrow. Otherwise i may mentally note "ooh, her eyeliner is perfect" or "nice brows" but i'd not think any more on it.

I don't ever wear any make up.

Does anyone else think heavy make up is just for evening? (By heavy I mean foundation, blush, highlighter, lipstick, full eye make-up etc.)
To me it's like wearing a cocktail dress and stilettos in the daytime. Seems out of place. Or am I out-dated?

I wear make-up most days but keep it light and natural looking. CC cream, touch of bronzer, softly defined brows, some dark shadow along my lashline, tinted lip balm.

If the foundation is a good match and the eyebrows haven't been sharpied I wouldn't give someone a second glance. I do find it hard not to stare at the drawn on eyebrows though - they are still a rarity where I work and I feel surprised when I run into them on the tube or in another part of the country.

I like looking at people's make up, i don't judge them for the quantity. Not a fan of slug brows though!

I don't really think about people's make up all that much. Sometimes I will notice if they look particularly nice. But there is a certain sort of make-up which I do notice people wearing which I don't really like the look of, which is very polished but unnatural looking. The only assumption I make is that that person has different tastes to me, though, so it's not really a big deal. Like shoes or tattoos or hairstyles really - they can tell you a little bit about a person, but generally not any of the really important things.

Me too Jelly when they are far too dark, heavy and unnatural you find they are all you can look at and you can't actually have a normal conversation with someone without gawping at their ridiculous eyebrows.

As a young woman I used to wear the works, Siouxsie and the Banshees style :D (Young people may need to Google...)
Now I'm 50, I wear none - cleanse, tone, moisturise and out.
I admire skilfully applied makeup but have an aversion to solid, 'Sharpie' eyebrows. I'm fascinated by perfect eyebrows that are beautifully groomed.
I hate orange/ginger coloured foundation - nobody has that skin tone.
Some people don't feel dressed without makeup; my Mum was still wearing foundation, lipstick and eyebrow pencil in her 70s and I admired her for making the effort.

Wear as much make up as you want. I don't wear makeup 99% of the time and I don't really care if someone else does. The only exception is when someone wears makeup and looks worse with it than they would without it, in my opinion, then I notice.
But it's my personal opinion and other person's personal choice to wear mkeup they want.

As someone who suffers from anxiety (and has it under control via CBT) I would suggest you focus on your own anxiety surrounding the issue rather than asking the opinions of others about your choice to wear make up as it really is no one else's business. FWIW I wear makeup because I love it and I enjoy the way it makes me look. I really don't care what other's think.

I wear make up.

Fuck what people think, if they like it or don't like it. If you feel better, then let them get on with it.

Live and let live.

I don't wear make-up, and only notice it on other women if it is unusual colours - that is, dark red lipstick and the like. I don't hate women who look like that, I just think they must have some self-esteem problem.

If you just paint your face over in skin tones, I likely won't notice and just envy your even and flawless skin.

Well applied makeup I wouldn't think anything of it.
No makeup I wouldn't think anything of it.
Badly applied/excessive makeup id notice... and judge. By this I mean orange, patchy, unblended etc..