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?

I wear make up because I think I look better with it on. I don't trowel it on but I wear foundation, blush, eyeshadow, liner, mascara, brow gel and lipstick most days.

I'd love to say I do it "for myself" but I am aware that the reason I do it is also because the Patriarchy has normalised the idea that a woman's worth is largely tied up in how attractive she is.

I feel sad when I see young women wearing badly applied Kardashian levels of make up because to me it indicates that they have bought into the lie that their sexual worth is inherently how 'sexy' they look.

I get that it can be a peer group thing with social media, but it would be a massive great leap to say that what underpins this is NOT for men's benefit.

The 'Male Gaze' is SO normalised now. The genius is that now they've managed to tell us that we do this "for ourselves".

That said, you'd have to prise my mascara from my cold, dead hands.

I used to spend hours getting ready on a night out. It's what teenagers do. I was a goth so my make up ideas were rather unconventional. I also did like this crowd following, selfie generation, contouring makeup that's going on ATM. It makes everyone into clones. Not all young women continue to spend an age making up every day though.

Did like = DISLIKE

It's a UK thing I think, I live right next to a large lycée here in France (16-19 yr olds) and have never seen any sharpie brows: it's all lipgloss, clear skin and natural hair. Whereas my younger relations in the UK regularly post photos of themselves on FB with a face full of slap.

I stocked up on heather shimmer last time I was home ;-)

I think the make up bloggers and you tube channels have got it set up so that ridiculous makeupnis here to stay. Not just the colonies who sell it are making money now, it's the people who teach you to apply the shit

m.youtube.com/watch?v=H2lmojePnA0

Definitely watch the video above

I quite like it.

Brings some entertainment in a dreary commute, though sometimes a particularly angry brow can be a bit startling.

But seriously, it's frightening that women think they need all that slap.

I am so out of touch. I went to buy a mascara yesterday and I was going down the aisles.... Maybelline, Rimmel, Bourjois etc and they were full of 'contouring kits' and I was WTAF is a contouring kit?! Luckily my adult DDs don't bother with this nonsense so it isn't every young female that does it.

What I really really hate is the sharpie eyebrows where they end abruptly in the middle of the forehead, thick and black and laughable. Also just wish the pouting picture nonsense would stop. Someone I know has started posting pics of herself pouting, she's nearly 50 and honestly she looks ridiculously daft and if she was a good friend I'd be telling her to stop !

I teach secondary. At the end of summer term, it was beginning to look bit like the eyebrow thing is receding (literally!). The girls were looking a bit less slug browed.

All their role models are from reality TV. Sigh.

Feather eyebrows 😁
White/purple shimmery checkbones 😂
Brown Adam Ant style contour lines 😂
Eyelashes bigger that a months wing 😂.

It's all very silly

I hate to lower the tone, but what's the correct etiquette for sex with a new bloke if you wear the full face?
Do you wake up the next morning in a stranger's room looking like The Joker?

I remember reading about contouring in the Jackie magazine in the 70's, it isn't new but it died out for a reason. Everything goes round in cycles, but I have to say the brow thing seems new; it will die out only to return when today's teens are old enough to see their daughters adopt it.

Breakfast

Bless them. They are trying to look like Kim Kardashian but end up looking like Lambchops or Miss Piggy.

can someone put a pic of Lambchops on? (for context)

I think there should be a contoured, heavily made up, sharpie browed smilie.

Do you wake up the next morning in a stranger's room looking like The Joker? I don't think staying over until the next morning would be an option

I was at a wedding recently and the bridesmaids had all they're makeup professionally done. They all looked beatfir tge ceremony and photos but by the time the reception started the Harvey makeup had started sliding off their faces and I just wanted to hand out wet wipes. Anyone they hugged came away with a shoulder full of slap

FFS they looked beautiful for photos and heavy makeup started sliding off!

I'm on lots of make up groups on fb and some of the girls (and guys) that post are incredibly talented with make up.

Is it too much sometimes? Yes I personally think it is but it's not my face. I wouldn't put a full face on to pop to the shops but then I'm quite lazy with makeup most of the time.

The Kardashians etc are a huge part of the reason why women are slapping the contour on- kylie has her own range (which isn't very good, or at least the lip kits aren't) and now Kim has started joining in. You tubers are huge influencers as well, people like nikkitutorials, who quite frankly looks permenantly like a deer caught in the headlights, jeffree star etc etc

It'll pass and another trend will come round.

FYI- coffee shimmer girl here, along with dream matte mousse in a shade that made me look like a ghost along with electric blue mascara 😂

It's the Kardashian effect I think - personally I enjoy applying make up, I like to enhance/emphasise the parts of my face that I like, but make up trends now seem to be designed to actually change how you look, not highlight your best features.

I know a few teenage girls who literally just hate their natural face - forehead too big, lips too thin, face too fat, nose too big - all happen to obsess over Kylie Jenner, and all think they need various cosmetic procedures to look 'ok'. It's actually really sad and the way they apply makeup seems to stem from that - contouring, fake eyelashes, drawing over their natural lip line to get the 'lip job' look and make their lips look twice as big.

I think (hope) it's a trend that will just fade out. Nothing wrong with heavy makeup exactly, but I think things like contouring are difficult to make look good - it's been around for years as a makeup trick, but mainly used in photography, so naturally in real life, it can look bad and a little odd unless it's very subtle.

Eh, it's like any makeup trend. Done right it's stunning. But most people do it very badly. Applying makeup is a skill, but very few people take the time to learn.

If you've been into makeup for a long time I'm surprised you think this is something new. The 80's had women walking around with thick stripes of garish blush on their face, often paired with patchy blue eyeshadow and frosty lipstick. The 90's were just a mess, and the early 2000's weren't much better. Even the more recent no makeup makeup trend was a disaster on many people.

The Kardashians etc are a huge part of the reason why women are slapping the contour on

the Kardashian are naturally good looking and have professional makeup artists.

I've been watching some make up tutorials on You Tube and the sheer amount of stuff that get plastered on is mind boggling.

And then they call it a "natural look".

Clearly it's meant for looking good in photos, for the handful pr so of women who are models or actresses. but it just looks daft in RL, on the 7:35 to Victoria on a rainy Thursday morning.

I do like to contour but it's very subtle and blended well and only with a bit of bronzer, Some people literally paint their faces!

Big lips are also very in fashion, apparently even men are getting lip fillers?

Like anything though hopefully it will die off.. because I can't do my eyebrows