AIBU To be bemused by current make up trends?

[misskelly]

I'm in my 40's and have loved make up since I was quite young. Make up has improved so much over the last 20 years and the colours available for every skin tone has been amazing. Anyone can find the right products and enhance their features if they wish.

So, I ask why,why,why for the love of god has a trend evolved that can only be described as Widow Twanky. Why do so many women want to look like pantomime dames?

Is it due to a culture of selfies and wanting to look good in photos? Fake eyelashes, contouring, drawn on eyebrows and lip lines does not translate in the flesh.

I know this might come across as bitchy, but I'm honestly not trying to be. Especially when so many women could look amazing because they are spending a lot of time and money on their faces. Am I so out of the loop now that I just can't appreciate this look?

H/ave you seen the wiggly fucking brows? Seriously, it's bonkers.

But there were plenty of hideous looks around when I was young as well. "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose!

I agree that it looks daft. It may look nice in photographs but in the flesh it looks like they are made of shiny plastic

Had a night out in Manchester recently very pretty girls with contoured makeup it's not a good look.

Ah the eyebrows by crayola look....... Always hideous.

Agree, the slug brow look is rather peculiar.

What prompted me to post this thread is because recently quite a few people I know have posted pictures online of how they look before they go to an event. While many have posted comments about how amazing they look, I am thinking wtf?? One or two I thought were taking the piss, but I think it's because I can't get my head around the current trends.

The eyebrows are awful. They are so bad, I can't see how people look in the mirror and think they look good

It's really hard to have a conversation with someone whilst waiting for their eyebrows to crawl off. .

I grew up in the 80s. Women today at least look vaguely human. Rather than a rainbow exploded on their face

I think contouring looks good for photographs but it reminds me of the stripy blusher we would have laughed at in the 80s! And those weird eyebrows that look like they're coloured in. I think everything looks fake nowadays -sign of the times I suppose

Indeed MrsTerryPratchett electric blue mascara pink eye shadow for everyone Heather shimmer lipstick !

I personally am glad that more natural 'fuller' brows are 'in' at the mo because I have naturally dark and heavy brows. I do NOT however think the over drawn/slug brow look which seems to be some people's interpretation of the trend looks good at all.

I think the trends you're seeing are powered by the selfie trend. The contouring/highlighting CAN look great on the flesh, but you need to do it differently (and more subtly) than you would for a photo. Which for some reason a lot of people don't seem to understand.

The OTT lip lining is a thing I cannot get my head around though. It just looks awful and fake whether in the flesh or in photos.

Also the REALLY shimmery super shiny golden type bronzer/highlighting that just looks over shiney and sort of waxy because of the sheen is something I can't figure out either...

Contouring never looks good in real,life. I always find myself thinking " oh dear she tried to contour" . That and the big drawn on eyebrows. They always look weird in real life.

I guess it's a trend. We all wore some weird pinky blue coloured lipstick from boots that made you look like you were half dead when I was young. I suspect all generations get it wrong,,,,

I loved my heather shimmer lipstick 😀. I don't understand whats going on with the highlighter they have white shiny faces. It is basically drag make up on women and it just doesn't look right at all

I heard on a beauty podcast that these trends are here to stay as it means the beauty brands can flog way more products. Why would they go back to a more natural look that only needs 3 products when you could be selling foundation/powder/highlighter/contouring powder/setting spray/primer and all the rest?

I have naturally thick eyebrows too, but it's the ones that look felt tipped in that bother me. I think it's the heavy handed, drawn on look I don't get, after years of making sure I blend, blend, blend it freaks me out to see hard lines on the faces of others.

Make up can do so much and I don't think the heavy application that seems popular is doing anyone any favours. I've only ever watched TOWE and MIC once when they first came out and I was struck by how the women in both shows wore the same type of makeup, lashes, extensions etc but the execution was very different.

My neighbour, a beautiful young woman, practically 'sharpie's' her eyebrows on every day. They look absolutely awful and she looks like a clown. Just like you'd sat there with a thick, solid black marker and coloured them in. I've often thought of her one day in the distant future, looking back at her selfies & thinking wtf?

Dh daughter does that thing where she has wings on here eye lids but I think you know what I was an 80,s girl and had many a bad perm it's all fashion innit?

I think it's a selfies/instagram thing to some extent. That sort of makeup often photographs really well but can look dodgy in real life.

I like wearing a lot of makeup, so I'm quite pleased the current trend is a full face. And my brows are thick and black to start with. I don't contour though, it never looks right in person.

I suspect the issue is people following trends without considering whether it actually works for them. I get my eyebrows neatened and never went for the super skinny look that used to be the thing.

Contouring to me (old gimmer alert) is not much different to people using those snap chat filters which give you a halo and eye sparkles then posting it on FB and people commenting on how gorgeous you are. You likely are gorgeous but that is not what you look like. It is harmless but I find it daft.

Having said that I have essentially worn the same 'look' for about 20 years so heaven knows what people think of my face.

Dd wings hers eyes her eyeliner is like a marker pen

I agree I think it is because of the selfie trend... I was at a wedding recently and the 18 year olds there had such heavy makeup on, not particularly well blended and very heavy brows. When I saw the photos after they looked great - next to them I looked like I had barely any makeup on (and I thought I was very made up, false lashes etc), so it seems to be purely for the photos. I suspect they judge whether they have enough on by taking a (filtered) selfie rather than looking in a mirror in natural light!

there are quite a few younger women at my work who wear full heavy makeup - lots of shades of eyeshadow, a heavy brow, contouring, highlighting and full coverage foundation etc. I'm sure it looks amazing in photographs, but under the strip-lighting of an NHS ward it ain't working.

Is it a UK thing?

I saw a really well dressed young woman today, summer casual with a French vibe....then I saw her face...she was so pretty but had pantomime makeup. I can't imagine if she'd been in the south of France she'd have had anything more than mascara and lipgloss, but I haven't been to the south of France in the last 20 years.

Sometimes I entertain myself by scrolling through Mrs Gloss And The Goss on Facebook, and looking for the most hilarious eyebrows. It's quite fun