Now i wear glasses.....

[Mrsstevejones]

After years of being in denial and walking past people i know as i couldnt see them i have finally taken the plunge and actually started to wear my glasses.They are ok, i think they make me look frumpy but after trying on every pair in the shop they seemed the best of a bad lot. I think i may need to get used to them.

I have recently been emerging from my baby bubble and trying to make more of an effort with my appearance. Usually i never wear make up ( since being a sahm) but it makes me look like i have no eyes and when i do it makes a real difference.

So my question is, whats the deal with glasses and make up? Should i bother with eye make up or will it be lost behind the glasses? is lipstick now essential to stop my face looking dominated by my glasses? I am totally clueless - so do any glasses wearers have any advice... please.

Whilst i am at it! i always have really flakey lips, i eat loads of good fats, drink loads of water and i use lip balm at night but cant wear proper lipstick as my lips are so dry - does anyone have any suggestions.

The benebalm tinted lip balm from benefit is great for dry lips, really moisturising but with a decent amount of colour.

Although I should, i never wear my glasses but in the summer when wearing sunglasses I always wear a bright lipstick with natural eye make up (eyeliner on the top lid and mascara).

Laser eye surgery?

I wear glasses for work (occasionally) but would get the laser eye surgery if I had to permanently.

In the meantime make sure your eyebrows are looking good. Good shape, dye them and fill them in.

For everyday I use foundation (Estée Lauder double wear) applied with fingers then buffed over with a big flat head brush. Use concealer (Estée Lauder). Shape my brows with gel. Blusher (Nars Gilda)

Then put a bit of Groundwork Paintpot by Mac over my lids, and blend so barely there. Then curl eyelashes and mascara (currently using Bobbi Brown). And then use a coloured balm or something. Rimmel do a balmy stick thing that looks like a Chubby Stick and it is great.

I'll use more eye shadow for work and generally make a bit more effort. I'll use lipstick too, but fairly neutral pinks (I like Heather pink by BB). If your lips are v dry use a proper medicated Blistex cream. I find other balms make my lips dryer.

I do think eyes behind glasses look better when 'done'. But faces in general look a bit better with make up!

Just do what you fancy op.

It's called Rimmel Colour Rush, the stick thing. www.makeupalley.com/product/showreview.asp/ItemId=169194/Rimmel-Colour-Rush-Balm/Rimmel/Lipstick

Are you long or short sighted op? That will make a difference to how your eyes look when you're wearing them.

Hi thanks everyone for all your replies. The rimmel colour rush looks amazing will def try that. I use the blistex cream but my lips are still always flakey - drives me mad!

So will get my brows done again tomorrow - luckily they are quite a good shape and colour just a little hairy currently! I try some lippy to balance out my face.

My glasses arent the geek chic but metal framed ones with a strong line across the top and frame less on the bottom - if that makes sense.

Will pop on some eyeliner tomorrow and see how that looks.I just was a bit worried it would all be too heavy / dark on the top half of my face.

And yes totally agree virtually everyone looks better with a little make up - esp me!

Get contact lenses?
I always wear full make up with my glasses. You need to work out what glasses suit your face shape. My face is long so i look best with glasses that sweep up at the sides. (Cat eye?)
You can get glasses loads cheaper online. Just ask the optician to write down your perscription.

There are different camps on eye make up and glasses. I used to wear extra but now I just wear some neutral eye shadow and do my brows but no mascara or eye liner.

Lipstick can help balance your face out, I think although personally I can't be bothered with it most of the time (can't stand leaving stains on mugs etc.)

But I think the most important thing is to have frames that you really like and it doesn't sound as if you do? Glasses do look strange and alien at first but there's no absolutely need for them to look frumpy. Even if you can't change them for ages, I'd start thinking about the next pair now. I always go in loads of opticians, take photos, look online and whenever I see someone wearing glasses I like, I ask if I can try on. It takes a long, long time and I think you have to be a pain in the arse till you've found a pair you're completely happy with.

I am not sure if its just taking me a while to adjust to how i look with them but i am very happy with being able to see clearly.

I do like wearing lipstick but i cant be faffed with the reapplication and my flakey lips but i am trying to make more of myself and the rimmel stain thingy looks great - off to boots today!

I think once i have adjusted to glasses i can begin to think more of styles - i have been looking at everyones glasses!

Thanks for all the help

I prefer wearing my glasses! I think I may even look better with them on. Sometimes wear make up and other times not. I didn't wear them at a work do recently and a few people commented they didn't initially recognise me.

Get used to wearing them and find a look that you like! If you still aren't sure, maybe glasses aren't for you...

I prefer glasses too now; hated them when I was young but the older I get, the better they look.

Yes to wearing eye make up with glasses. I tend to keep it simple with eye liner and mascara and concentrate on lips if bothering to wear make up at all at the moment. The only thing I avoid is earrings+glasses, looks to busy in my opinion. Fringe and glasses work too I think, so long as fringe and glasses don't meet and cover eyebrows.

Oh hadnt thought of earrings - something else to experiment with!!

I have been a total slacker on the being groomed front recently (3 yrs) and i have just dug out my good everyday jewellery.

Didnt have any time this morning but will be applying some make up tomorrow and have a play.

I do have a fringe but its a tiny swept to one side one - so not a full fringe.

I still get a bit of shock every time i look in the mirror as its not my normal face

Thanks BUCKETOFCHICKEN - just bought the rimmel colour rush lip colour and omg its amazing. Such a strong colour but long lasting - it was buy one get one half price so would have been rude not to get two!

Having a strong lipstick has def balanced out my face. If i do wear lippy its usually so natural looking you cant see it -so strong lippy and glasses i really dont look like me but that feels like a good thing. I put quite a bit of eyeliner on as well and whilst for me it feels like a lot of make up actually it doesnt look like a lot iyswim.

Still taking me a while to adjust to my glasses

I tend to wear less make-up with glasses, I'm sufficiently short sighted that I simply can't do eye make-up without contact lenses in and the eyes are hidden anyway, also mascara tends to get on the lenses. Yes to all the rest though. Full fringes tend to overcrowd faces wearing glasses IMO, but a sideswept one is good. Earrings need to be small, studs or small sleepers rather than dangly, otherwise you get cluttered again.

Have you considered contact lenses? They're life changingly brilliant compared to glasses IMO, it's just like having perfect eyesight again, way better than glasses. Nothing would induce me to have laser eye surgery though.

I am not sure how i would get on with contact lenses as i am a bit disorganised and not sure how i will get on with the cleaning of them. Also i didnt realise that glasses were so expensive so now i have them i have to give them a good shot!

Thanks

Op, are you long or short sited?

Long sited will make your eyes look bigger, short sited smaller.

Obviously this will affect how you should do your make-up.

I recommend Bobbi Brown lessons for eye make up for great tips on how to do eye make up with glasses.

Make sure your eyebrows are well shaped.

Also lighter colours for eyes - otherwise hard to see them iyswim. Just looks like bags.

I have glasses and use daily disposables for contacts occasionally. So no cleaning.

I would also try carmex for your lips. Best lip balm ever - you can use it in the day.

I only say this as someone who is terribly short sighted but hates wearing glasses - I just don't like having anything on my face.

You can probably wear contact lenses if you want to. Cleaning is straightforward or you can get disposable lenses. Once you've had a contact lens fit you may be able to have continuous wear lenses that you can sleep in and just replace every month.

In the meantime, try on lots of frames as they shouldn't make you feel frumpy. There are so many different styles of frames available that there really is something for everyone.

I wear specs every day and lenses very occasionally. I have black plastic (utterly fabulous) frames, and wear a heavy fringe. I tend to stick to eye liner and mascara, with lots of lippy, but I do the same with contacts too. I know you've already bought frames, and a lot of it will be adjusting to something on your face, but if you find some you love it's never a hardship to wear them.

The rimmel lipstick was amazing, i scrubbed my lips last night and still had it on this morning! I had a quick look at contacts last night and might look into them for evenings out etc.

When i wore make up and did my hair i actually thought i looked ok - less frumpy - massively bright pink lips rocked. I think its an adjustment thing.

Thanks for all the help, you have given me loads of great advice.