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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU To be bemused by current make up trends?

187 replies

misskelly · 02/09/2017 19:14

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?

OP posts:
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InspMorse · 03/09/2017 09:11

Not a fan of the 'drag queen look' of the 2010's but I was a teenager in the '80s and remember this... (see photos)

AIBU To be bemused by current make up trends?
AIBU To be bemused by current make up trends?
AIBU To be bemused by current make up trends?
Fekko · 03/09/2017 09:12

Looks like it takes away too much time to put in that much makeup. There is a teen on a tv promo at the moment (educating Cheshire or Manchester) and it looks like she has cut out 2 slug shapes from a bin bag and stuck them on her face. My 13 year old asked why her parents let her go out in public like that.

Maybe the natural look is due a revival?

cuirderussie · 03/09/2017 09:21

Yes it goes in cycles. I was an 80s goth and wore so much eye makeup it looked like I was wearing glasses. I predict the minimalist 70s/90s look will come back soon. And yes, I often feel like applying a wet wipe to those lovely young girls who look like Ru Paul. (old gimmer)

ChardonnaysPrettySister · 03/09/2017 09:22

Maybe the natural look is due a revival?

It is, according to the dross tutorials I watched.
It only takes 45 minutes, 23 makeup articles and lot of pouting and only looks natural from across the road.

But yes...

BikeRunSki · 03/09/2017 09:23

Moving on from make up, myb27 yearnild assistant has battleship grey hair extensions. Big chunky ones in naturally dark blonde hair.,t "get" extensions, but not that colour!

Ladycsparkles · 03/09/2017 09:36

Anotherniceday I agree but that's not going to stop girls trying to replicate their looks. YouTube is full of 'how to contour like a kardashian' videos

PantPlot · 03/09/2017 09:41

It's just fashion, it's nothing new really. I remember slavishly following the Just Seventeen guide to the half-pink half blue eyeshadow look and surely looked ridiculous to most older people.

Have to say though, some of the language used on this thread makes uncomfortable reading- 'grotesque' 'ugly' etc. These are women being talked about.

I say if you want to comment like that you have to post a pic of yourself to back it up Grin

Nettletheelf · 03/09/2017 09:59

Those photos of Madonna and the girls with the crazy pink eyeshadow aren't representative, though (and the second two photos don't look as if they are from the 1980s...they look like a modern take on a 1980s look).

They are looks created specifically for photo shoots, just like the 'contour' look. Like the heavily contoured look, they are not intended to be worn in real life!

Just like Toyah Wilcox and her extravagant make up looks: she wore those for photos and videos, not to take the tube.

Not that the 1980s was a time of make up restraint, but compared to the current Kardashian look it was quite sedate, blue eyeliner and all.

Ktown · 03/09/2017 10:08

Contour is just meant for film/photos.
It is as if no one mentioned this to the kids!
It is a specific uk thing though. I haven't seen it anywhere else so it shows how much peer pressure there must be.
Make up is fun but it is too overly theatrical nowadays and it looks ridiculous.

Garliccalamari · 03/09/2017 10:10

I don't like the current darkened eyebrow trend but I really hate the big false eyelashes trend. Some girls look so old and heavy with those big things on their face!

I used to own black lipstick Shock. Best thing that happened to me make up-wise was an older friend who took me to a make up workshop done by a proper professional. It taught me how to do proper make up suitable for my face. Maybe we should all drag our daughters and nieces to such a workshop?

gunsandbanjos · 03/09/2017 10:10

I have a teenage daughter and she has been through a crazy eyebrow stage, I just let her get on with it until one morning before school they had reached epic proportions and I called a halt! They were utterly ridiculous, she seems to have reverted back to light, natural makeup for the time being.

She doesn't need it at all she's beautiful (yes I'm biased), glad she's toned it down.

Opah · 03/09/2017 10:12

Lots of women wearing heavy make up in general.

If youre up close, it looks like they've got crap on their faces. Are they trying to attract a mate? Can't men see through the illusion?

User843022 · 03/09/2017 10:19

'I think you know what I was an 80,s girl and had many a bad perm it's all fashion innit?'
Very true, the current generation will look back and cringe at their Lily Savage make up as we all do with our 80's looks.

Palettes though, what's all that about? we were happy with a 2 quid rimmel eye shadow now it's got to be morphe or urban decay palettes that cost a small fortune.

WinnieTheMe · 03/09/2017 10:20

I have to admit, I prefer the thick eyebrows look to the heavily plucked/no eyebrows thing that was in fashion a while ago.

DownWithThisSortaThing · 03/09/2017 10:21

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

They may be naturally good looking, but most of them have quite obviously, or openly, had a hoard of cosmetic surgery and procedures done to get their current looks, plus like you say professional make up artists, which is upto them and it's their money, but it does kind of reinforce the message to young girls that the real natural 'you' is not good enough, which I think inspires the heavy makeup and want for surgery. Which you could say is each to their own, but I do find it worrying that most young girls I know nowadays have absolutely no self esteem or confidence about the way they look, much more so than girls did when I was their age, they aspire to look like people who don't even look like that naturally, they aspire to look 'perfect' and it's an impossible thing to achieve. It just feeds the self loathing and insecurities. Sad

ChardonnaysPrettySister · 03/09/2017 10:45

The Kardashians might be naturally good looking but they certainly do a bloody good job of hiding it under all the paint they're using.

TempusEejit · 03/09/2017 10:47

Can anyone explain to me the look regarding just one nail on each hand (on the ring fingers?) being a painted different colour to all the other nails? I don't get it. Mind you I've never been a fashionable type, I've always been about 2 years behind everyone else Confused

Fekko · 03/09/2017 10:48

It's kind of like Beyoncé - she is pretty when she is in work mode - but I also think she's very pretty when you see her in informal snaps (usually lapped when she's off the the shops in civvies and a baseball cap wth little or no makeup). She looks very different but still pretty. Probably more pretty as she looks very natural.

NoLoveofMine · 03/09/2017 10:56

Many girls have little interest in makeup. I have some friends who love it and love the application process, discuss tips, enjoy actually applying it more than the results some have said, they just find it enjoyable and even relaxing. They do it for their own enjoyment and for one another. I also have friends who are more like myself - don't watch any of these tutorials, have many makeup free days (I don't wear it on school days for example), apply it reasonably quickly when we do. I have no particular interest in makeup. This does show the impact of expectations on the appearance of women and girls, though, as I pretty much always put some on when I go out socially. There's obviously a reason why it's almost exclusively girls and women who feel the need to alter our natural selves with makeup even though we're free not to.

BeyondLimitsAndWhatever · 03/09/2017 10:58

I notice it most when I compare my wedding pictures (severe budget- did my own make up and taken by guests) with those of friends (make up artist and professional photographer).
I look like me, they look amazing - but not like themselves.

FelicityFucknickle · 03/09/2017 11:05

I find it depression tbh. All part of a patriarchal/ capitalist culture designed to make us feel worthless without spending ££££ on cosmetic products and procedures.
I've been away camping with friends who won't get out from under the sleeping bag without a full face of make up just to look "reasonable"
And these are women in their late 20s, just adopting the "natural" look.

IJustLostTheGame · 03/09/2017 11:05

InspMorse I love all those makeup looks Blush
I remember the dark lip liner and pale lipstick combo of the 90s.
I always hated that trend.

mcpound · 03/09/2017 11:07

I'm a bit worried about my own contouring skills now.
I went to a make demo thing and thought the contouring looked great so have been doing it ever since for work. Always looks fine in the mirror but I will be checking in the cold light of day before work tomorrow incase I've got brown stripes all over my face and my work colleagues have been a bit Hmm all this time.....

Etymology23 · 03/09/2017 11:34

mcpound I'm fairly sure it is possible to contour reasonably naturally, by keeping the contrast lower and keeping things close to your natural face shape. It's kinda inevitable that people will notice when it looks UNnatural, but when it just looks like someone's face (especially someone they don't know so don't know how they look without it) it might just look like a normal face with foundation etc on.

PickAChew · 03/09/2017 12:22

Loved Twilight teaser until I developed an allergy to it, leaving my lips cracked and bleeding.

Now that was an exceptionally bad look.