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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Make up

433 replies

ettieb · 04/09/2023 08:17

Do you wear make up every day? I do...I know I look better and younger when I wear it and feel so much better. I know so many people who don't wear make up on a daily basis who look stunning when they put make up on to go out. Why wouldn't you want to look the best you can all the time? It doesn't need to take a lot of time...5 mins for basic eye liner..mascara.. blusher and lipstick...I have a friend in her 60s and if we go out she wears lipstick and mascara and looks 20 years younger! I also would wear make up if I'm just at home hanging out with my DP...I want to look my best for him. I find it baffling that people will do their hair and make up to go out with with work colleagues but don't do the same on a daily basis for their partner...

OP posts:
cardibach · 04/09/2023 10:38

I never wear make up. I know I do t look better with it. I also never think people with make up look better. They just look like people wearing make up.
It's uncomfortable and expensive and takes time I'd rather spend doing something else (even if it is 'only two minutes'). I also believe it's better to have clean skin in terms of skin health. I'm 58 with minimal wrinkles.

GingerIsBest · 04/09/2023 10:39

I love make up. And I often wear it simply to make myself feel better.

But I am completely baffled by your assertion that everyone should. It's so weird.

I also love wearing sandals but that doesn't mean I think everyone should. I like having my nails painted but I don't think everyone has to.

PinkDaffodil2 · 04/09/2023 10:40

I’m a GP - I don’t think looking younger or more attractive (or stunning even!) would help much in the day job!
DH appreciates me putting on makeup if we go out together, but with two small kids I’m not wearing it every day. I also don’t want people getting used to it so I look older / tired if I don’t wear it for once.

BlueberryTart · 04/09/2023 10:40

I don’t like putting stuff on my face and then having to clean it all of again. I am 50s and have never worn eye make up. Hate the idea of putting on mascara or eyeliner and then having to remove it all again. Surely that wrecks your lashes and skin around your eyes?

Netcam · 04/09/2023 10:43

cardibach · 04/09/2023 10:38

I never wear make up. I know I do t look better with it. I also never think people with make up look better. They just look like people wearing make up.
It's uncomfortable and expensive and takes time I'd rather spend doing something else (even if it is 'only two minutes'). I also believe it's better to have clean skin in terms of skin health. I'm 58 with minimal wrinkles.

I feel the same, I'm 53 and never wear it. I find it uncomfortable and hate the feel of foundation on my skin, always have. I wear glasses all the time so eye make up seems pointless, even for an occasion. On the few occasions I have worn it over the years I have never felt I looked better than I did without. If I dress up a bit and do something to my hair that is enough to look special for me.

Augustus40 · 04/09/2023 10:45

You should put make up on to please you not men lol.

Comedycook · 04/09/2023 10:47

Most days...not always a full face. Sometimes I'll just put on some mascara and tinted brow gel. The problem is when you were make up all the time, no one ever compliments you. I used to wear a full face every day to work. One day I didn't wear make up and everyone kept asking if I was ill. If I had never worn make up and then suddenly did, people would have been more likely to say, oh you look nice

Comedycook · 04/09/2023 10:48

And we all wear make up for other people. You wouldn't put it on if you lived alone on a deserted island.

Whattodo112222 · 04/09/2023 10:48

Only wear makeup going to work and out with friends etc. Don't wear it if I'm wfh, quick trip to supermarket or doing the school run on a wfh day. Absolutely no point.

Usernamesarenoteasy · 04/09/2023 10:49

I haven't worn make up in about 15 years.
And I certainly wouldn't bother wearing it for someone else's benefit! Why should I wear it for a partner?
For me, I look how I look. Slapping a load of shit all over my face doesn't change how I look underneath, so what's the point? If people don't like the way I look, that's on them, not me.

AmazingSnakeHead · 04/09/2023 10:56

I mean, it's fine that you feel this way, but I honestly don't understand what is baffling to you about people who don't wear make up. I wear make up sometimes, but not everyday and not when just at home.

Why wouldn't you want to look the best you can all the time?

It's subjective. I like my face. Sure, with make up I look "better" by the beauty standards of our time. But why on earth should I care about that? My face isn't so hideous that it needs to be covered all of the time least someone be forced to endure its natural awfulness.

And anyway, I'll wager any money that you don't look the best you can all the time. Sure you wear make up, but you won't have perfect hair, your very best clothes, your maximum amount of sleep, every single day. So actually you do understand why people don't look their best all the time.

I have a friend in her 60s and if we go out she wears lipstick and mascara and looks 20 years younger!

Why would I want to appear younger than I am? I have no interest in befriending people who would look down on me for being my actual age. So there is no benefit to appearing 20 years younger.

I also would wear make up if I'm just at home hanging out with my DP...I want to look my best for him. I find it baffling that people will do their hair and make up to go out with with work colleagues but don't do the same on a daily basis for their partner...

I don't want to look my best "for" my partner. I am the way that I am. If he's not into it, he can go elsewhere. My partner values me for much more than the colour and lengh of my eyelashes, thank the lord.

The reason I wear make up at work and not at home is that work is a competitive environment. I want to look more awake and with it, and I know that some people (like you) look down on other women's natural faces.

livinglifetothefull · 04/09/2023 10:56

I used to wear make- up when i was in my teens early 20s .
I dont bother now havent done for years .
Chap stick and face cream only .
Take me as you see me .

herewegoroundthebastardbush · 04/09/2023 11:01

Like Caitlin Moran says (not my favourite feminist but this one phrase I always liked): are the men doing it? Is every man spending 'just 5 mins' (as if, frankly, it takes longer than that to put on make-up properly) covering up his skin texture, lengthening his eyelashes, pinkening and plumping and glossing his lips, in order to look 'better and younger'? Is my DP expected to do this when he's just hanging around the house with me so he 'looks his best'?

If not, why not?

The answer is patriarchy.

If you enjoy putting slap on, fill your boots. If you like the way it makes you look, enjoy! But other women don't want to, or they would. Simple as. And questioning that in this wide-eyed "why wouldn't you want to look your best for your maaaan?" way makes you look like a simpleton and a handmaiden.

BIossomtoes · 04/09/2023 11:04

Comedycook · 04/09/2023 10:48

And we all wear make up for other people. You wouldn't put it on if you lived alone on a deserted island.

I would.

Sceptre86 · 04/09/2023 11:04

I choose not to wear it everyday. I don't think people who are done up every day ever look any different but that's just my view. I have dark under eyes but quite good skin otherwise and feel confident without makeup. Whatever works for you.

marblesthecat · 04/09/2023 11:05

I put on a bit of concealer and eyeliner and ofc sunscreen if I'm going out as in just nipping to the shops. I occasionally wear mascara to work but I hate the feeling of it. I wouldn't dream of wearing makeup in the house. My skin needs to breathe and my DH doesn't care. I know I look way better with my eye makeup properly done but I refuse to wear a full face of makeup all day every day, I just hate the feeling of it so much.

pointythings · 04/09/2023 11:05

If wearing makeup makes you feel good and boosts your confidence, that's great. If you couldn't care less and are confident and happy without, also great. Instead of going 'why wouldn't you want to look your best?', maybe you should just respect the choices other people make.

marblesthecat · 04/09/2023 11:07

Also there's no way this isn't a troll post. You find it "baffling" that women don't want to wear makeup 24/7 to please their partner? Are our natural faces that hideous? I get way more pleasure from doing my skincare than wearing makeup.

CPLawyer · 04/09/2023 11:10

Nope. I only wear it for special occasions like weddings, birthdays, fancy meals out etc

AnObserverInThisDarkWorld · 04/09/2023 11:13

I think I look perfectly fine without make up

I do it when going out to feel "special"

And 5 minutes my arse to do all that. I can't do my eyeline in 5 hours let alone 5 minutes

bryceQ · 04/09/2023 11:14

I rarely wear make up, I wear sunscreen every day. Im early 30s.

I like my face and i don't need to look better every day, my natural face isn't unfinished, I don't like the idea of seeing it that way. My husband tells me I'm beautiful every day.

Now and then it's fun to put some make up on but for me it's the same as wearing a dressy outfit, it's not for daily wear.

What I look like is just one small part of who i am.

AnObserverInThisDarkWorld · 04/09/2023 11:15

Comedycook · 04/09/2023 10:48

And we all wear make up for other people. You wouldn't put it on if you lived alone on a deserted island.

I would if I was dressing up for dinner on the island 🤣

IamnotSethRogan · 04/09/2023 11:18

I don't think everyone is as concerned with how they look, that it'snot a defining factor in who they are as a person. I say this as someone who is concerned and wears make up every day but I do wish I was the sort of person who didn't place as much value on it.

BIossomtoes · 04/09/2023 11:20

AnObserverInThisDarkWorld · 04/09/2023 11:13

I think I look perfectly fine without make up

I do it when going out to feel "special"

And 5 minutes my arse to do all that. I can't do my eyeline in 5 hours let alone 5 minutes

You’d be able to do it in five minutes if you did it every day.

Minfilia · 04/09/2023 11:22

IHeartGeneHunt · 04/09/2023 08:42

Mascara, because I have white hair and grey eyes and without it I look like an albino woodlouse.

Grin

I used to wear pretty heavy makeup daily. I had laser eye surgery lately and it’s actually been pretty liberating to just not bother.

Today I have a bit of blush and a bit of concealer and that’s it. Vaseline on my lips and moisturiser on my face.

My skin feels much nicer for it!