to not wear makeup to work?

[TheSunflower]

I am starting a graduate job in January. I don't normally wear makeup. Am I sabotaging myself if I do not wear makeup?

Or should I wear makeup?

It is a corporate job.

Provided you are clean and properly attired, there can be no argument that you look "unprofessional". Unfortunately, your managers may not agree and you will need to challenge them, not easily done so early on in a career without negative repercussions. Good luck!

Wearing make up does not equal looking professional. It looks like you're wearing make up.
If you want to wear make up and it makes you feel good then wear it.
There shouldn't be any pressure to conform to (some part of) society's view on what a woman should look like.

This may seem radical Scotty but perhaps some women are shock horror happy to look the age they actually are...

I also believe that people's perception of you is totally their reality, so while you think you're shunning the societal norm and forging your independent, make up free path, others may think you're lazy and a bit odd

It isn’t the “societal norm” for women to wear make up. Some do, some don’t.

People at work see me as an intelligent, very capable and valuable colleague. I am regularly told I’m an outstanding teacher in the classroom. Clearly not wearing make up has had no effect on how people see me.

A lot of women whee I work do not wear it but then again there are a lot of elaborate hair sty,les (braiding and so on). I wear make up because I like it not because I think I should.

I agree with others that being clean & tidy, hair and clothes smart is important. Make up is not necessary.

Just leaving these here from Man Who Has it All.

Managerial level here and have never worn make up - I don't have time too - like pp my mum wasn't a make up wearer so didnt grow up like that - I dress well and am clean and tidy - what more do you need?

I am forbidden to wear make up at work, due to my surroundings. I have still managed to get to senior management level. Fortunately some people can see past my haggard, ageing visage!!

Scotty, are you taking the piss? If I've misjudged your tone, then apologies but if you're serious......she's a resident expert and she's there for her knowledge, not as a fucking ornament.

Bloody hell
An old shoe??

What does it matter what she looks like?

Don't be silly, ScottyTeapot. How ludicrous would Ruth Goodman look if she appeared on our screens dressed as a Victorian or Elizabethan but in full modern slap? Is her lack of make-up really her defining feature as opposed to her successful career both as a historian and a TV presenter? Frankly, I have infinitely more respect for someone like her than someone so superficial as to think a failure to wear make up denotes a lack of pride.

This woman annoys me the most. Pops up on all sorts of programmes as the resident historian. Put some slap on, woman, and have some pride. You look like an old shoe!

Men don't wear makeup. Do you tell them they don't have any pride and that they look like an old shoe?

No wonder sexism is still alive and well when women themselves encourage and perpetuate it 

I used to wear make up to work, but then couldn’t be bothered. Nowadays it’s tinted eyelashes (very pale lashes, look a bit dead without it) and tinted moisturiser. I use bare minerals when I have a breakout.

You don’t need to wear makeup ever.
I didn’t in my first job in a big bank. I didn’t start wearing make up until I was 22.

Now I love putting it on and hiding the wrinkles so I wear it all the time but now I can afford the good stuff so I love buying it too.
Also one thing I liked about not wearing makeup is that I definitely had more time in the morning!

I’m on a grad scheme too. Some days I wear make up sometimes I don’t. I sometimes do it in the car on the way in and sometimes I have a nap. Unless you have a really bitchy intake no one will care.

No. If you start you'll feel like you can't stop. You don't need make up to do your job.

I go through phases but when I go back after maternity leave I won't be doing, I'll have enough to do in a morning and I ain't getting up any earlier! As long as my skin behaves..

"When did a woman's bare skin become so offensive that it has to be covered up in skin coloured paint to make it look like better skin?!"

Weird, isn't it? Somehow Nature managed to leave women's faces in an unfinished state that has to be augmented if they're not to be judged as weirdos or unprofessional slatterns, but mens' faces were made just perfect and a delight to the eyes as they are.

I actually wear a small amount of light foundation at work because I'm self-conscious about hormonal acne, but I'm aware that I don't make that choice in a vacuum. I mean, a (female) colleague once told me to wear extra eye make-up and a short skirt to a client meeting because the client was French and "you know what Frenchmen are like".

Oh, and people still talk about the male junior who came in one day with a (very tiny) amount of make-up on. Funnily enough, nobody goes on about professional he was for making so much effort to look groomed (quite the opposite, in fact!).

I love make up .. but lots of people at work don't wear it .. I don't think Anyone notices either way !! Do what you are comfortable with x

"Men's" . Bloody typo.

If you don't usually wear make up why start now. It's not about how long it takes, some people just don't like wearing make up so you shpuld not feel as though you have to. When I was younger I wouldn't go out the door without make up, now I don't give a toss I rarely wear it, no one has ever mentioned it in a negative way. I love make up though and love to get done up every now and then. I even went to college and did a course on it 😂

If you work in an environment where you feel you have to wear make up I think you can probably safely assume that the culture doesn't respect women as professionals.

I've met Ruth Goodman, she was incredibly witty, passionate about her subject and engaging. I was not in the least distracted by the fact that she had a face.