Do people get treated differently if they wear make up

[Mamalicious16]

I don't often wear make up but my friends do. Out shopping and ( it seemed to me but maybe I'm just a bit sensitive today) they seemed to be served quicker in shops/ a bar we went in and the cafe. Aibu or do people get treated differently if they wear make up?

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland
I think you're right.
I must sound like a broken record at work telling feel girls that they're better off having good skincare and drinking water for skin troubles, then if they feel a little self conscious then a small amount of light makeup would be by far better than a heavy face of it / if there's real issues then they need to see a GP.

I've got colleagues who wear a full face daily and said that I'm lucky to have clear skin. I don't have perfectly clear skin at all. I just wear a small amount of light targeted makeup for the dark circles and do what you do. Nobody can tell I wear any.

@palmaviolet66 🤣🤣 that made me laugh.

@CanThingsChange35 ive had this recently too. Ive always worn makeup , but recently in the last year or so I dont always bother. Ive noticed people being more friendly to me. I dont get it

Try making your way around the City of London in a wheelchair with no make-up. It's hideous. You get ignored, barged, sworn at for occupying space and all the rest. And then one day, my cousin suggested I try wearing red lipstick. I would not now go into the City in my wheelchair without red lipstick on. Total game changer: suddenly the bankers are polite and I'm presumably seen as one of them who had something unfortunate happen to put them in the 'chair, rather than just being garden variety scum

There is so much wrong with this picture, I know. I both feel I shouldn't wear the lipstick to protest the arseholery but then also feel I should because life is hard enough and I have limited energy, so if I can make my life easier with lipstick, take the win.

I don't think it is just women with /without makeup. More dressing smartly as if you have made an effort. And that you then look like you know what you are about so more likely to be easily assisted in a shop than someone who hasn't brushed their hair and looks aimless.
I can't believe that a smart man in a suit wouldn't get better treatment than the same man in long shorts and a baggy t shirt.
My adult DCs just look scruffy much of the time - their argument is that people can just take them as they are, a good point but as I'm old fashioned I see it as a mark of respect to dress nicely for the other person (or at least change out of your casual lounging clothes) eg if seeing the doctor, visiting a hospital, shopping in a smart shop, going for a meal etc. I've made an effort for the occasion, the lunch you have arranged, not rolled out of bed, stuck on the first thing I could find and forgotten to brush my hair.
I also think that you are only young and handsome for so much of your life, why not dress up to it and make the most. Once you are old grey and wrinkly it is a lot harder to make an impression (though I know many will come on with suggestions stunning looking wrinklies but I'm meaning in day to day life not celebrity world).

I do wear light make up and work - light foundation, mascara and eyeliner. I have gone to Boots to buy mascara if I realised I hadn’t put it on.

It’s been ages though so now as a sahm I’m used to not wearing any pretty much every day. I like wearing glasses though, I’ve finely found some frames I really like. Biggish Tom Ford ones they kind of have same effect as make up.

In general I find service in shops still good.

That's so horrible grumpy My DM had to wear crutches for a few months recently (early 60s but stylish) and she said people were falling over themselves to help her.
They did an experiment on tv where a woman in business dress lay on the pavement moaning and so did a scruffy man (actors) ...predictably the man got ignored and people rushed to help the lady.

I rarely wear make up (allergies, maybe just tinted lip balm and brown mascara sometimes) and people in public are usually nice to me. I get asked for directions a lot too, or for help by random kids - clearly their DMs also told them 'look for a nice lady with a buggy'

One example that springs to mind for me is when I’m being overlooked in the Mac make up store. If I’m not all done up the girls in the store simply won’t look my way, if I’m standing there waiting to get served I am consistently ignored to the point where I walk out and buy elsewhere! I personally find that store the most infuriating and biased towards beauty.
If I go in there all done up, no issues getting served! I’ve tested it a few times, it never fails!
I don’t go there anymore!!

God this is depressing.

I've recently moved more from no make up at weekends, to no makeup when not in an office to fuck this for a laugh I'm only wearing it for weddings, parties and Christenings.

I have short term contracts often with different groups of people so my colleagues now have never seen me with make up on so I have nothing to compare and I have to say I've not knowingly noticed in other areas.

But it's been completely my choice and it's happened at the same time as (if I'm being honest, probably as a direct result of) some intensive therapy to work on self esteem and as I've got into yoga and running so have body confidence too.

So I would subscribe to the confidence theory muted above.

However, I do need more work and am hoping to expand my business so I am now thoroughly depressed that the answer to that is to paint my face. Sigh.

No.

I"m 51 and I hardly ever wear make up, however I do take very good care of my skin.

I can't say that people treat me differently. In fact I get quite a few admiring looks from younger guys (30s-40s). Don't know why, I'm not that slim or tall either (I'm a bit plump to be honest).
I do wear cool shades though - maybe its the shades! LOL.
And I feel confident in the clothes I wear.

I have never worn make up.
It didn’t stop me getting hired at job interviews and I had a satisfying 36 year career as a hospital doctor!
As an elderly feminist, I despair that women are still dealing with this misogynist shit. Your self confidence really shouldn’t depend on plastering your face and clogging your pores with a load of chemical crap. Try instead an air of professionalism, a pleasant smile and the knowledge that you’re good at your job. Believe in yourself and others will too.

My partner stopped wearing makeup a couple of years ago and one of my friends re-introduced himself to her

Yeah, if my house is a mess then I'm failing at life (nope my house is just a mess)

If I'm not wearing makeup I'm failing at life (nope I'm just not wearing makeup)

Sometimes I think people only give a shit about me as a person when my house is spotless and my face is painted, and I just think, oh for crying suffragette out loud, is this really all that feminism has won me? I have a voice and a role in life but only so long as the dishes, hoovering and face painting are done first.

If I think what I could do with those hours I spend remaking beds and sofas and wiping the table down for a thousandth time, the amount of time I spend doing my hair, shaving my arm pits, putting my makeup on and taking it off again then it makes me want to scream.

I'm just a pretty bird in a tidy cage. Or I'm invisible. Ffs.

But does anyone think that this can backfire if they are wearing 'too much' or badly applied makeup? I've been thinking about this a lot as it seems where I live, the middle class mummies all wear extremely light or no makeup, but they are all Pilates thin and wearing joules and their hair is done...

I used to wear it for me more than others at work.

Not sure if anyone would notice that much as it’s very light. But when I used to stand in front of a big room of people to talk the various things I wore - clothes included gave me a sense of detachment and I could act a little in the role. Psychological sure but it helped.

@Camomila I've experienced the crutches thing myself in pre-wheelchair days. Being on eye level makes all the difference, it seems, and also the fact that crutches are often seen as temporary.

I attended the same conference two years running, the first on crutches and the second in my wheelchair. I'm objectively the same person, in the same environment, but it was shocking how different the experience was. Some of that was structural and due to how they'd laid out the spaces and not at all thought through what would happen if a wheelchair user actually showed up and took part. Some of it was doubtless other attendees feeling uncomfortable looking down at me if we were to want to talk, and the lack of seating in break-out areas didn't help. But I think a large part was that it is difficult to look dynamic or make eye contact from a wheelchair, so in a situation where a certain amount of networking is going on and everyone is looking for opportunity, the last person you seek out is the one in a wheelchair, because what could she possibly have to offer? I've not returned to the conference since. And yes, I wore make-up on all three days, because of my City experience, and wanted to approach it as positively as I could. Ah well.

It’s not only wearing make up, if you’re pretty, slim or younger you will always get treated better.

Almost half of employers surveyed by beauty retailer Escentual.com confessed a woman's makeup would be a major factor in their decision to hire her, and women who didn't wear makeup to a job interview would be less likely to be hired.

Well, a 'beauty retailer' is hardly going to publish results of a survey which indicates that make up makes no difference!

I think it's one of those things which are impossible to prove in any 'scientific' way. If you've put the effort into putting on makeup, chances are you've made an effort with other areas of your appearance, eg clothes and hair, too. Also, unless you can measure the impression you make on the same people with or sans maquillage, then you can't really compare directly. Some people are just friendlier and nicer than others.

Plus, how do we really 'measure' such things in the first place? If you've put on makeup and otherwise put some effort into looking good, then you'll probably feel better about yourself, and that very likely makes an impact on how you perceive others perceive you.

I think some people look dramatically different wearing makeup, and some don’t. I fall into the latter category. I used to wear makeup every day when working, now retired and don’t any more. I haven’t noticed I’m treated any differently.

Being on eye level makes all the difference, it seems, and also the fact that crutches are often seen as temporary. I worked for a while in a place where a lot of important meetings happened in crowded bars at lunch time. As a just over 5 ft female working with a lot of males all of them over 6ft, I found it very hard to stay part of conversations which were happening a foot above my head.

In my experience the women who don’t need make up are treated the same regardless of whether they have make up on or not.

I'm always quite shocked by these threads because I'm mid 40s, never ever wear make up and always wear jeans or similar level of informal clothing and trainers (especially to work as anything else would be impractical) and I have fairly untamed dark blind curly hair, not glossy or "done" at all, but I never feel remotely invisible. I have never in my life had a problem getting served or had anyone try to sell me expensive nylon or any of the stuff others mention...

Perhaps I'm a man, but I've been pregnant and breastfed my babies so I'm pretty sure it's not that...

I'm fairly confident and smile and make eye contact... I don't look younger than my mid 40s age, and never wear make up and would feel like a toddler in fancy dress if I did, so I'm not going to try it to see if it's different, but I can't imagine suddenly being more visible, I'm already as visible as anyone else as far as I can tell...

It's very confusing to me!

I've also been offered every job I've been interviewed for - obviously I dress more smartly for interviews but I don't wear make up - I've never worn it in my life, not even once. I didn't wear it for my wedding let alone interviews...

A "beauty retailer" is only ever going to publish survey results which function as an infomercial for their own products - the questions will have been designed to elicit results which sell make up. That's so transparently an obvious forgone conclusion that it shouldn't even need saying.

Areas where making an effort is relevant at work:
Working hard at school to learn basic skills such as 3 Rs, key scientific concepts
Working hard post school to get a degree and/or professional or vocational qualification
Working hard on getting job to do it well, get on well with colleagues etc
Ariving on time, keeping people informed, keeping skills up to date, not throwing a sickie, just generally being reliable

Why wearing makeup would be valued ahead of any of the above is a mystery.

Sexism is alive and well.

I also never get the 'feeling invisible' thing you hear about on threads like this. Aren't most of us pretty anonymous and 'invisible' to strangers? How much time do you spend looking at strangers in public? When someone needs to interact with you, you can be sure you'll be 'visible' to them, regardless of your age, sex or perceived beauty.

Or does 'invisible' translate to 'men don't find me hot'?