Make-up...WHY?

[damselgaming]

Luckily I have skin that seems to behave itself, but when I was friends with girls they used to put it on to cover up all their imperfections, which if it made them feel better then thats fine. I only really put anything on if I go out, but even then it's only a rock/metal bar so it's not really necessary. Though I agree that it does make people look fantastic when it's done properly. My sister got married recently and she has never looked nicer than that day, and she got everything done professionally.
My boyfriend liked a lot of models until he saw them without makeup- with the celebrity ones its usually one extreme to the other- really good or really bad. But his sister is a model/dancer and damn her, she looks gorgeous all the time.

 

[StarStruckStrumpets]

OK

To prevent any further confusion, this is not about clothing or hair. Making yourself look slimmer by wearing clothes isn't being false, it's just not the same. Your face is probably the most beautiful thing you're gonna have, so why cover it in crap and make yourself look like you've come back from cyprus after an 80hr sunbathe. Putting on a 'false face' is different from wearing clothes or doing your hair. Your hair is changable by natural means, I.E combing and such. Clothes aren't natural to start with, so they don't count. You were born with your face, why change it?

THAT IS THE POINT I'M TRYING TO MAKE.

 

[RufusMcLaser]

Whenever my long-suffering wife even thinks about putting makeup on before she leaves the house, I get annoyed. I like her just the way she is.
And I feel that way about women in general, not just her in specific. The human female is a beautiful creature on her own and I for one prefer her without cosmetics.

That said, I understand that there are certain specific instances, mostly limited to stage and screen, where it is actually necessary. Otherwise, ladies, you don't need it.

 

[megapenguinx]

I like wearing simple make up....but not like caked on. Make it seem like you don't even have it on.

 

[Major_Sam]

I hardly wear it. It does make you feel a little better if you don't have too much on but when you have too much, it feels like you have dirt all over your face.

 

[Labyrinth]

Honestly? It depends on the woman and the make-up.

I'm naturally a red head, the typical milk-and-honey kind of complexion so I have really light eyelashes. When one has black hair due to dye, it doesn't fit quite so well, so mascara is my very close friend. That's all I use aside from occasional touches of eyeliner so I can better glower at the innocent, fearful public. Fear my gothy scowl.

Pancake make-up is, I believe, what you're referring to. That's the whole deal of foundation, blush, Cake-mix, eyeshadow, tar, mascara, eyeliner, lip liner, lipstick.. fuck that. It doesn't look good unless one is 50m away and squinting. When women do that I'm willing to put it down to ill confidence and indoctrination that we absolutely must have skin textured to look like it's airbrushed smooth. Oh god!

 

[sorry user name taken.]

It makes them look nicer if applied correctly.

/thread

Does it? Really?

I don't really see how putting on a false-face makes you better. That's putting it bluntly. A bit of eye-liner/mascara I can handle, but what puzzles me is when people use foundation and such. My friends called Make-up 'Face-lies', for obvious reasons. I just don't understand the concept.

indeed girls aloud (girl band) slap so much of it on...=/

not nice at all..

I think people are missing the point of what I'm trying to get at.

I'm not saying they CAN'T. Geez, i'm not a make-up nazi, but i just wonder...why?

A lot of you seem to be thinking I want to ban make-up or something. No, I just want to understand why girls wear it. Oh, and to the person who asked me "Do I do my hair."

No I don't, I wash it, that's it, from there, it does it's own thing. XD

most women/girls grow up thinking they have to put it on to highlight features on the face or its just a ''girly'' thing to do... since make up is used in fashion , music and even games (on the female characters).

i hardly where any because i dont need to slap it on as much as some women do to me less is better ...lol...actually looking at pictures it must sort of get addictive for women...

...

 

[sorry user name taken.]

OK

To prevent any further confusion, this is not about clothing or hair. Making yourself look slimmer by wearing clothes isn't being false, it's just not the same. Your face is probably the most beautiful thing you're gonna have, so why cover it in crap and make yourself look like you've come back from cyprus after an 80hr sunbathe. Putting on a 'false face' is different from wearing clothes or doing your hair. Your hair is changable by natural means, I.E combing and such. Clothes aren't natural to start with, so they don't count. You were born with your face, why change it?

THAT IS THE POINT I'M TRYING TO MAKE.

...right we get your point but people are just explaining there sides to it ....

 

[SmilingKitsune]

most women/girls grow up thinking they have to put it on to highlight features on the face or its just a ''girly'' thing to do... since make up is used in fashion , music and even games (on the female characters).

i hardly where any because i dont need to slap it on as much as some women do to me less is better ...lol...actually looking at pictures it must sort of get addictive for women...

...

That picture's quite creepy, they look like dolls, creepy dolls.

As for me, I'm not that gone on makeup, used sparingly it can be nice but when it gets out of hand it just looks odd.

 

[coldwarkid]

See, you've hit a note with me here. I wear make-up (not a lot, I don't run about with a face like a traffic beacon, it's mostly on my eyes), and when I sit down and think about it, I see my wearing of make up as confidence thing. I don't think I'm particularly attractive, so by wearing eyeliner, I can draw attention away from my hideous jowls and multiple chins to my eyes, as I feel my eyes are quite attractive.

Also, it's seen as a sort of "rite of passage", if you will. From a young age, you see your peers wearing make-up, and upon reaching high school, you decide to copy the people you've been looking up to. It's a case of hiding your flaws: your spots, cheeks that are overly red and extenuating features that we feel others don't have, and we therefore can't have too.

Another thing! Neds (Wikipedia it) wear orange make-up to look more tanned. Now that's unnecessary. They look like tangerines.

I'd also just like to add, in the most neutral way I possibly can, that European women of the upper classes started wearing lead powder, if I remember correctly, to appear paler as that's what their husbands desired. I think it's just that same idea, only translated onto a modern society.

That's what I think, anyway.

 

[fletch_talon]

It makes them look nicer if applied correctly.

/thread

How did this go to the second page when the question was answered in the first reply?

If you have flawed skin (wrinkles/pimples/freckles) then it covers them up, because all three of those are qualities of skin which are deemed unattractive to most, with freckles being the only one I've heard described as cute or sexy.
It increases eyelash length and highlights areas like the eyes and lips, eye contact seems to be an important part of attraction and lips are good for all sorts of things so if you can consciously or sub-consciously draw attention to them then its doing its job.

Its not often that people would consider excessive amounts of the stuff attractive (though it sometimes does have a certain something) but makeup is there to cover flaws and make them look more attractive, its not supposed to be noticed because the whole point is to look natural, which it does when done right.

 

[CaptainREBell]

A guy may not notice when they do wear wear make-up, but chances are they'll notice when they DON'T.
When you think of make-up as a bad thing, you're most likely thinking of inch-thick-wrong-shade foundation, or bright coloured lipstick, or people who aren't sure of how to apply it.
Make-up is used for hiding your bad features (ie. cover up for that big red spot on your chin) and/or highlighting your good features (ie. green eyeshadow to compliment your blue eyes). Make-up therefore offers you a sense of control; that you can influence your appearance. This sense of control makes girls more confident, and therefore more attractive.
Most girls do go for neutral shades and only cover their eyes or skin, and that's why guys may not notice it.
Guys also happen to look very sexy in eyeliner too.
I wear make-up about once a week, or whenever I want to make an impression, and I never wear foundation. All my friends who spend 30 minutes putting on their make-up have boyfriends.
Any questions?

 

[PureChaos]

i know someone that wears so much make-up she has really bad skin so she puts on more make-up to cover it up.

 

[VoltySquirrel]

Make-up does look good on a girl if the coloring is right and if its used in moderation. Besides, make-up is useful. Have a huge zit you wanna cover up? Slap on some of the stuff. But, if its used TOO much, it looks too bad. A girl only looks as good as they do everyday, all the time.

On a side note: Why the hell do GUYS put on make-up? Seriously, eyeliner is not designed for men.

 

[the_tramp]

Wait they have pink mascara these days? wtf ? You should explain then mens eyes are different to women. We see basic shades. Red, pink, green, blue etc. We do not have a colour chart in our brain that tells us the difference between shades.
True its mostly bullshit but it will shut her up for a while while she feels superior yes.

Whenever a girl argues the difference between two shades of a colour I always repeat the same phrase:

Men live in a 16 colour world, 32 if we're lucky.

 

[goater24]

I've been trying to get my head around this for quite some time. Girls/Women, why do you wear it? I don't know a single guy who actually cares, and apparently it's proven that guys only notice it when there is too much on. I for one, don't care what-so-ever. I just don't understand why it is worn. The most common answer I have is:

1) It makes people feel more comfortable with themselves.

This one is NOT TRUE. I mean, if it's only noticed when there is too much and it looks awful, how does that make you feel better?

Please explain to me! I don't understand! I'm crying for help! I need this problem solved. It's been in my head for a loooooooong time.

Well you can't "prove" that guys don't notice because that's just ridiculous. If you use your eyes then you can.

Also of course it can make people feel more comfortable with themselves, some women no doubt look happier if they have "flawless" skin when they look in the mirror.

Then there is stylised make-up: Gothic, Glam etc. which can completely change the look of somebodies face.

I also fail to see how this is a "problem". It's no different from styling your hair, or wearing clothes you like.

Seconded, make up can be used to express yourself as you mentioned. Have a look at the crazy colours that MAC produce and tell me thats not making a statement about yourself? Makeup when applied correctly can turn skin into art and as a guy that loves freedom of expression 'go' those that choose to use it.

Also the fella who said that woman don't feel comfortable wearing makeup is so far of base its untrue. My partner has naturally red cheeks which she is uncomfortable with, so she applies foundation and she feels more confident within herself.

Alot of comments being made on this thread seem to be sweeping statements from men who resent woman who like to dress themselves up abit. Whats wrong with people wanting to make themselves look good, and if you don't agree then you're probably not the people that they were trying to impress in the first place.

 

[Zombie_Fish]

I've heard that it makes women feel more secure about themselves. Something about hiding flaws.

 

[Avatar Roku]

Whilst I've heard the 'if it's applied correctly then they look nicer' argument a million times and for the love of science I still don't see the fascination... even when looking out for it. I think it's the over-dependence that annoys me the most.

I live with a girl who is very very self conscious and no matter what myself or my other all male housemates say she still insists upon it constantly. We live opposite two corner shops and a fish and chip shop and she insists upon putting on makeup just for the 2 minutes that we'll be at any of the three places.

The funny thing is that I look at her sans makeup and then with makeup and I honestly don't know the difference. She's always on about her imperfect face, her blemishes and all of the other crap that 99% of teen/20somethings come out with and I just laugh because she doesn't have any of the problems that she says, I tell her this and she doesn't believe me. Hell, I even tell her that my face is a lot worse (acne + minor scarring as well as several dents from injuries as I've been growing up) but she doesn't believe me. I think she might have maybe... one spot on her face.

I know what you mean. There's a fairly good looking girl I'm friends with who came in one day looking...different. Note she didn't look bad, I actually think she looked better than usual, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was for 15 minutes. And then it struck me: she wasn't wearing makeup. I mentioned to her that I thought she looked better this way, and she didn't believe me. An odd thing I noticed, however, was that her personality was also different; she's usually a center-of-attention type, but on that day, she just quickly went to the back of the room and barely said a word.

 

[tomtom94]

I can sort of understand why women would wear make-up but not why they would pay quite a lot of money for it.
Then again I suppose it's quite similar to wearing deodorant in some ways. I love contradicting myself.

 

[Florion]

1) It makes people feel more comfortable with themselves.

This one is NOT TRUE.

... you would know this, because you wear make-up? If you're self-conscious about yourself and concerned with beauty, then maybe you just don't want to see all the pimples whenever you look in the mirror. ("you" in the colloquial "one" sense, here.)

In a more extreme example, I get anxiety attacks if I go out in public and the scars on my wrist aren't covered up, either by sleeves or make-up. If you don't see it, you don't worry about it. Make-up may not even be about beauty, but flaws (a brilliant marketing plan, given almost everybody sees flaws in themselves.).