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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Can you dress professionally without make up?

133 replies

DarkShade · 21/09/2022 20:53

There's a thread on at the minute where people are discussing what they look like at the school gates and I noticed that a lot of the posters who reference good jobs that aren't WFH say they have nice clothes on and a full face of make up. This has got me thinking - is full face of make up part of dressing professionally for the office?

I ask this genuinely, no judgement one way or the other. I'm actually curious as I don't wear make up simply because I never learned how to, but now I'm of the age where I really could do with it. The toddler years have not helped! I also am applying for jobs, and have just had a penny drop moment that maybe my natural haggard looking face is holding me back....

So if you have a professional job in an office or somewhere out of the house where your appearance matters, do you wear full make up? What does 'full make up' mean to you? And would you think someone who didn't do this was underdressed?

For the sake of the poll:

YABU - professional work attire includes full make up, would feel under dressed without it
YANBU - make up is an option but easy to look professional without full make up

OP posts:
sjpkgp1 · 22/09/2022 01:09

Malariahilaria · 21/09/2022 21:15

Going against the grain, but I can do my make-up in 4 minutes and do so daily. I wouldn't and never notice or care if others haven't done so but I feel 100% better for wacking on 8 products (just counted) and feeling a bit more polished. Also always put on earrings and a necklace. No judgment but i feel better and more confident doing so.

I'm with this. 25 years in a Big 4 firm to give reference. Makes no difference to me whether anyone else is wearing it. That 4-5 minutes to get myself ready for work is worth it to me, part of the morning routine, makes me feel a bit more professional and ready for the day.

ToGanymedeAndTitan · 22/09/2022 01:19

I never wear make up .
Can't be arsed with it , feels like I'm wearing a mask if I try to.
Plenty of office jobs over the years from banking to receptionist and being make up free never been a problem!

LemonadeSunshine · 22/09/2022 01:20

Make up free can be perfectly professional but extra attention to grooming is key. So, eyebrows neat and even, glasses / earrings / other jewelry to complement outfit rather than random choice, polished looking shoes and clothes, attention to colours and shapes. More Emma Thompson than Helena Bonham Carter (fabulous though she is!).

ToGanymedeAndTitan · 22/09/2022 01:21

mynameiscalypso · 21/09/2022 23:01

What I really don't like on these kind of threads is the moral superiority some women have about not wearing make up.

In what way?
Genuine question as not seen any of that?
I never wear make up but can understand other people wanting to

ThirtyThreeTrees · 22/09/2022 01:43

I'll get shot for this but I really think it depends on the quality of someone's skin.

A lot of people can get away without it but I'm heading towards 40 with the skin of a teenager. Skin breaks out in spots at time of the moment. Red, blotchy blemishes. I don't wear massive amounts of make up but there are days where if I went without that I would look like I didn't look after myself.

GingerGloucester · 22/09/2022 02:08

I work in an office in a profession. Mostly wear jeans, trainers and a hoodie to work. And definitely no make up!

I think the world or definitely my industry has moved on the last few years where just being yourself and comfortable at work is perfectly acceptable and appearance has no impact on your job role.

Oblomov22 · 22/09/2022 03:23

No. But smart and put together does look good.

CoalCraft · 22/09/2022 03:25

I literally never wear makeup and have never been called unprofessional. I suppose it depends on your line of work, though.

cocococococococo · 22/09/2022 06:25

I personally need make up to look well put together because I’m very pale and without any make up I can look ill, rundown, tired, even hungover! I don’t think ‘full’ make up is needed if that means like what some people wear - as in people who do all that contouring stuff (which I have no clue how to do anyway) but I think too much make up seems unprofessional. I will do my eyebrows, a bit of blusher and mascara. Just to make myself look more alive and presentable! But that’s just me.

LuciferRising · 22/09/2022 07:25

I dont think it's superiority. Some women on this thread enjoy wearing makeup. Some people are insecure about their skin etc and take certain steps to address that. But what is extremely important to point out, for other women and our daughters, is that it is not needed.

We don't need make up to counter that men take up more space, to look professional, get a job, progress, cover up imperfections. We really don't. By believing that you continue keeping the myth alive.

I get it. I have malasma, am mid 40s, am under 5 foot. To top it off I work in male dominated field. I am mid senior. I have seen and been the victim of some sexist. A bit of makeup does not level the playing field.

lemoncurdling · 22/09/2022 07:51

I’d wear more make-up if I was any good at applying it.

luxxlisbon · 22/09/2022 09:09

Make is is just to mask insecurities

🤦‍♀️
Can we not do this?
Plenty of women wear makeup because they enjoy it and it makes them feel good. Not because they have crippling insecurities.

Notcontent · 22/09/2022 09:23

The young professional women I work with (in London) wear very little make up. If anything, heavy make up would probably look a bit out of place.

HilarityEnsues · 22/09/2022 16:30

They probably are wearing makeup, or things like BB creams, brows groomed, no makeup makeup is a thing, what is called the clean girl aesthetic.

CulturePigeon · 22/09/2022 16:44

Yes, I think so!

But I do think you need to be neat with well-presented hair.

This applies to men and women. Many men with long hair tie it back for work and as long as it's clean, it looks fine (or have I just worked in fairly creative envrionments...perhaps in the City it might not go down well??).

Make-up is optional in my view, but I hate to see dirty, unkempt hair.

10HailMarys · 22/09/2022 16:53

mynameiscalypso · 21/09/2022 23:01

What I really don't like on these kind of threads is the moral superiority some women have about not wearing make up.

Absolutely this.

Wear makeup or don't wear makeup; it doesn't matter. But wittering on about how women who wear makeup must be insecure, or 'hiding' or brainwashed by the patriarchy is just patronising internalised misogyny. Really, really fed up with women treating other women like airheads just because they like clothes, makeup or skincare. There's so much inherent snobbery in the sneering at 'a full face'.

10HailMarys · 22/09/2022 17:06

But what is extremely important to point out, for other women and our daughters, is that it is not needed.

Except a) I don't need you to point that out to me, because I am an adult and don't need to be lectured and b) just because something isn't 'needed' doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it or that you to rail against it. I don't 'need' to have the walls of my house painted a certain colour, either. I don't 'need' flowers to grow in my garden. I don't 'need' to drink tea instead of water. I have those things because I like them. Nobody has any more business telling me that I don't 'need' makeup than they have telling me I don't 'need' my cup of tea.

Patronising other women, as if they are silly little children who don't understand their own decisions until the makeup-free crusader explains it to them, is not my idea of feminism.

FlipFlopFlippedyFlop · 22/09/2022 17:08

I don't think you have to wear make up but I just feel more confident in it. When I'm not working from home I wear make up foundation and eye liner.

Icanstillrecallourlastsummer · 22/09/2022 17:11

I hope not. I only really wear mascara (and my eyebrows are tinted). It wouldn't occur to me that people thought I was less professional than someone with a full face of make up. In fact, too much make up can, I think, look unprofessional.

shivawn · 22/09/2022 17:13

I'm a nurse and always wear makeup to work, I wear scrubs so not professionally dressed! I'm meeting a lot of people all day so I just like to look put together. By the end of my 12 hour shift I have considerably less makeup left on my face than I did at the start of the day though! I don't always wear makeup on my days off.

XelaM · 22/09/2022 17:15

I'm so jealous of people who are confident enough to ho to work without make-up. Not something I could ever do. To be fair, I have never seen any of my colleagues make-up-less (worked in City law firms, now teach at a university).

XelaM · 22/09/2022 17:16

to go*

catwithflowers · 22/09/2022 17:23

I absolutely agree that you don't need make up to look professional but personally, I couldn't imagine not wearing it. I am retired now but have always worn make up since I was about 14, not lots, just a bit of lipstick, mascara and possibly blusher. I wear it at home even if I see no one all day, it's just part of my routine, like taking a shower or brushing my teeth. Takes me a minute or so

Total respect to those who don't want to and I don't even think I would even notice if others were wearing it or not (unless they were really made up like for a night out)

abovedecknotbelow · 22/09/2022 17:30

I wear more make up now than I did in the office because I look fucking awful without it on video calls.

XelaM · 22/09/2022 17:30

Actually I worked with one fellow solicitor who didn't wear make-up (at least it wasn't visible) but she was one of the most naturally beautiful women I have ever seen in my life. She was so stunning she didn't need make-up because she had naturally dark lashes and and flawless skin. If I were that beautiful I wouldn't wear make-up either but as it is I look like an extra from a zombie film 🧟‍♀️ without it