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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to not wear makeup to work?

477 replies

TheSunflower · 31/10/2018 06:15

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.

OP posts:
needsanewname · 31/10/2018 09:00

@boopsy I have the WORST skin - red bumpy cheeks. I do have my eyebrows waxed and tinted though.

I just have to think about what I care about most, the fact people will think about my red cheeks or sleep.

Myimaginarycathasfleas · 31/10/2018 09:01

Lucky you if you feel confident and professional without make up. That's as it should be. If you're the only one not wearing make up when you start, be the one that changes the culture for those that follow.

Dress appropriately and no-one will care about the make up.

Good luck with the new job!

LostInShoebiz · 31/10/2018 09:04

I’m very lucky in that I work in a creative field that values being a bit different so anyone with a full face of Instagram make up would be frowned upon massively. No make up is far preferable and is, having looked around the office today, the norm.

ReanimatedSGB · 31/10/2018 09:06

Most people don't actually notice as long as you are clean and tidy. I quite like make up but associate it with fun, not work (I like lurid colours). I have occasionally put foundation on for work if I'm a)having a rosacea flare and b) meeting new people.

I did get told a few times, around 20 years ago, that wearing make up and more conventional clothes might 'help' at work, to which my response was always that I'd start doing that when my male colleagues did. I don't think it ever made any difference tbh.

The only time I would think it's fair enough to ask staff to wear make up is when the job involves selling make up.

YellowOcelot · 31/10/2018 09:07

My colleagues don't respect me whatever I wear, so I don't bother anymore. Arseholes.

MrsJBaptiste · 31/10/2018 09:07

Whilst some men may well wear tinted moisturiser or balm, I don't think it's routine for all men

I don't think it is but men are so much more into grooming than they every were. I frequently see men having their eyebrows threaded in our local shopping centre I haven't braved it as yet

Cheerfulasever · 31/10/2018 09:08

Put some slap on, woman, and have some pride. You look like an old shoe!

Yes this is what we should focus on, not her intelligence, her vocabulary or her knowledge of history. 

Fatasfook · 31/10/2018 09:08

I find it so bizarre that women feel the need to plaster their face with chemical colourings in order to feel presentable - it’s such a strange thing to do. As long as you are clean and tidy then you are presentable. Make up is weird

user59589098 · 31/10/2018 09:09

Don't if you don't want to, of course.

It may give you an edge though.

Whether you want to take that advantage is up to you.

OHolyNightOwl · 31/10/2018 09:13

The judginess clearly goes both ways.

There are several on here that say they prefer no makeup on staff, would judge someone with a full face/false lashes, it creates a barrier, they would rather work with someone with bare skin etc.

Considering most here have said they are senior in their field, it makes me concerned, especially if you hire staff.
Maybe you should look a your unconscious bias. Like you all said, how you look is not relevant to how you perform. Hmm

Cherries101 · 31/10/2018 09:16

If you are on a grad scheme the bottom line is you’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t appear groomed. That means, if you need make up, then you should wear it. You also need to dress as formall as appropriate in your workplace. The standard for grads on a scheme, which is often temporary, are very different to people with perm jobs.

Willow2017 · 31/10/2018 09:18

a nice skin tone and defined eyebrows and lashes etc without it

Why should my skin tone, eyebrows or eyelashes have any bearing on my ability to do my job?

Why are they up for public opinion?

Who gets to decide if my skin tone etc is 'good enough' or needs altering?

My eyebrows have gone to hell due to being 150yrs old so i always use pencil on them but thats for me. Some days i wear make up some days i dont just depends on my mood and what time i have. I am me and my face is mine if you don't llike it tough, it really doesn't matter to me at all.

diddl · 31/10/2018 09:19

" if you need make up, then you should wear it."

What does that mean?

Surely no one needs make up?

MrsStrowman · 31/10/2018 09:22

I generally just wear a tinted moisturiser, I have my lashes tinted so I don't bother with mascara unless I'm going out out, I wouldn't bother with the moisturiser but I'm very pale and people ask me if I'm unwell if I don't! If I am feeling under the weather I'll also use a very light cheek and lip stain (benefit Posie tint) as it gives a bit of a healthy glow. Only wear it off you want to, there are lots of people at my level and above who don't wear make up, it comes from the days when we were practitioners and didn't want to wear full faces of slap to work with sex offenders, DV perpetrators and other misogynists. Mind you even at senior level we don't wear suits and heels either

mugginsalert · 31/10/2018 09:24

I never wear make up. Having now a) reached 40 and b) had a very stressful year, I've had some days when my face flares up and I look like I am unwell, and people comment on my appearance in meetings etc. I intend to buy some very natural looking stuff. I will use it for days when I prefer not to show my fatigue/stress/temporary skin problems.

I am much against expecting women to use makeup habitually to look 'nice', but I am grateful that there are products available to help me look like the healthy version of me, when I want to use them.

When I see carefully made up colleagues in their twenties, tbh I just feel nostalgic for that time in my life when getting ready for work was something I spent time and effort on.

Cherries101 · 31/10/2018 09:24

It means if you have bad skin you absolutely need it. Most male grads with acne / bad skin or bad dark circles in finance don’t get promoted; but women in that situation can use makeup to fix it. You need to appear awake and alert and make up should be minimal to allow this.

adaline · 31/10/2018 09:27

It means if you have bad skin you absolutely need it. Most male grads with acne / bad skin or bad dark circles in finance don’t get promoted

Bollocks.

Willow2017 · 31/10/2018 09:28

You’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t appear groomed. That means, if you need make up, then you should wear it.

Who tells the male grads they need to wear layers of make up to look 'groomed' then?

Op got the job on her own.merits why does she need to change her appearance to prove she can do it?

Groomed is being clean and dressed appropriately for work. Not layers of artificial colouring put on your face.

anewyear · 31/10/2018 09:28

PurpleDaisies me too in imvho 

paap1975 I used to have a colleague many years ago, at least half a dozen years older than me (I was 18/19), who wore so much make up it was literally a mask.
My boyfriend at the time once said he couldn't image what it would be like to kiss her as she had so much lipstick on...
He broke up with me and started seeing her!!! They had apparently been seeing each other for a while.. lying toerag

Pigeonpies · 31/10/2018 09:28

I'm in a professional position and never leave the house without a full face on. But that's because I look ugly without it, nothing to do with being more professional.
If I had good skin and didn't look so ill without it, then I'd never wear it!

I once forgot to wear mascara to work and felt like I couldn't look people in the eye when talking to them.....Confused

Cherries101 · 31/10/2018 09:29

I’m senior in my field. I recruit grads and then support them to MD in 5 years. I know what I’m talking about @adaline. So no, not bollocks. Fact of life.

Cherries101 · 31/10/2018 09:31

@Willow2017 - male grads on finance with bad skin (who don’t get it fixed) often just stop being promoted at a certain level. The sensibke male grads in finance will wear concealer or get dermatology appointments same as women

BrendasUmbrella · 31/10/2018 09:31

Start as you mean to go on. If you'd rather not wear makeup, it will be better to begin not wearing it. If you wear it to make an effort and then stop, they'll be more likely to mention it.

TheWiseWomansFear · 31/10/2018 09:35

No one cares if I wear makeup or not... and if you never wear it then they're unlikely to ever comment.

GladAllOver · 31/10/2018 09:36

The only time I would think it's fair enough to ask staff to wear make up is when the job involves selling make up.
And don't they look awful with all that slap over their faces? Not a good advertisement for their expensive products.