i can't stand make-up-- is this an aspie thing?

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I always feel very fake & goofy when I wear makeup. A little mascara is all I can stand and I usually end up forgetting about it and rubbing my eyes. I totally don't understand how women can wear a face full of makeup. Is this common?

I don't know if it's common but I feel the same way about it. I have some that I don't mind too much, such as eye liner, anything for the lips and mascara as well. But I find that if I leave any of it on my face for too long (around half a day or so), it ends up stinging and I end up very irritated over it, particularly with the stuff on my eyes. And it doesn't help that my skin is extremely sensitive and I can only use make-up from about two brands or so.

It's for those reasons that I save the process for the rare gathering every now and then, as I just find it far too tedious and a waste of time to get all dolled up if I'm going to be all alone indoors for the most part. Some, if not most women, claim to feel naked without their make-up on whether they're around other people or not -- I sometimes feel the same in a way, it depends on the situation.

I think it's dumb. I have a bunch from when I thought I had to have it because everyone else did, but I never wore it.

I find it a waste of time. Eyeliner and mascara are really the only things I would wear. Maybe powder for a little while.

I went through a phase (adolescence, haha) where I wore a lot of makeup, but anymore I can't really be bothered with it. I use moisturizer and often wear eyeliner and lipstick, but that's it. I like how mascara looks on me, but yes I often forget I'm wearing it and rub my eyes and smudge it. I don't color my gray hairs, either - I like looking how I look (with one or two small exceptions, haha) and like seeing other people's "real" faces, with lines and character and imperfections.

If you have old makeup you haven't used in six months or more, throw it out! You'll feel so much better afterwards.

I am occasionally coerced by my sisters into wearing a little makeup for special occasions like a family wedding or a job interview. Normally, though, I can't be bothered with it. I don't currently own any. I prefer to look like the real me at all times. I find it more honest, less time-consuming, and less irritating to my sensitive skin.

If you're covering a zit that's making you uneasy, I can understand, though I don't bother doing that anymore, myself. However, what I find completely ridiculous is the ladies who freak out at the thought of their significant other seeing them with no makeup on. I know ladies at work who are Married, who will wake up a great deal earlier than their husband specifically so that they can hurry up and fix their hair and apply their makeup before he wakes up and sees her in her natural state. Is he in love with a facade? Does she think he's going to wake up and see her and go, "ZOMG! Who is this strange woman in my bed?!" What kind of crazy-ass relationship is that?

I love makeup, but yes, I agree with you, Melly. It can feel a little artificial and frivolous.

Wore more (compared to adulthood) make-up as a kid just because it was fun to play with colorful pigments & do a "grown-up" thing. Never even tried to use "foundation" (that all-over-the-face) gunk, gave me the creeps seeing it on others. As teen, regularly wore dark red lipstick, occasionally bit of pressed/compact powder, and rarely, eye shadow-but that was about it. In my 30's now & only bother w/little medium shade lipstick 1x/wk. when I go out. Removing cosmetics was something I could never be bothered with beyond wiping off lipstick.

There are plenty of reasons to dislike (or like, or be ambivalent about) wearing cosmetics, whether one identifies as "NT" or "ASD":
Sensory issues-how it feels physically to your skin, your face, and your hand-when you make contact with your face. Strange smells & the idea of having this substance stuck to one's head, and so on...
Ideological motivations, also-one can object to wearing it for sociological, psychological, intellectual reasons.
Emotionally, how it looks to see oneself, imagining how others will perceive your image (the thoughts others think when they see your face, incl. cosmetics or lack thereof). Wearing make-up may make a person feel better or worse, there's no 'one right answer'-people shouldn't feel pressured to wear it but shouldn't feel pressured not to wear it, either. Don't ask me how to make that idealized neutral social atmosphere posssible, though...

Kinda' like how I feel about dying one's hair (or cosmetic surgery)-it's easy to think about extreme "good or bad" examples, but not all people's situations are so binary/obvious/clear-cut. Started dyeing my hair before I began going grey, still do it because I like the color, even though now I'm covering white hairs, too. Feel sorta' superficial/fake for doing this-can't defend it rationally, but it cheers me up having my hair look better for awhile. It's a trade-off.

To cover the gray, but also because I can... it makes my head smell bad for a day or so and it doesn't exactly look natural, but it's kind of fun. It's as fake as makeup, but it doesn't feel as weird to me as makeup. Maybe because it lasts a month and I can't wipe it off or smear it by accident.

I very rarely wear makeup. Just for special occasions and such. I think it is too time consuming to put on every day, but I am pretty good at doing it. I really don't like the look of most mascaras. I find them really heavy and gross looking. I got a lighter looking one, and I am less likely to rub my eyes with it. My other makeup is mineral makeup.

Lipstick is the only kind of makeup I've ever used on a regular basis, and I haven't used it for years. I've used mascara, rouge and eye shadow a few times. Can't stand foundation makeup at all; it always felt awful on my skin.

I think it is a bother. I just wear it on special occasions. For work, a little cover up for those circles, a dab of eyeliner and a soft eye shadow, just to be professional. It wears off by the end of the day anyway. Besides, my mother always told me to not wear a full face of makeup because I would not look all made up and special on those special occasions.

I misread the title of this thread twice before deciding to come and look at what some male troll had set up to upset the women . I read it as "I can't make it stand up -- is this an aspie thing?". Sorry, just weird how the brain works.
Anyway, yes i don't like make-up either.
Foundation is totally yucky feeling.
Lipstick was ok sometimes for special occasions, but again i hated having something on my mouth.
Powder no way, except blush.
Mascara too much, too weird, too heavy, too bambi.
Eyeliner and shadow was ok. I once discovered that i could make my eyes look green like a werewolf , and used it for a halloween party, wearing intense red lipliner as eyeliner. It looked really amazing. Seriously.
After that i suddenly realised why so often see pinks and reds and mauves on eyes in magazines; it really is effective.
Liked wearing very pale liner too sometimes for light around my eyes. For me it was almost like drawing, in fact when was teenager and had amassed huge secret collection of make-up ( that wasn't allowed to wear, but did all the same now and then away from home!!), i went through a phase of "painting" pictures of faces with makeup.
But then i've always loved drawing faces, obsessively in fact at times. Since was about 10.

But make-up ; i hardly ever wear any more. Went once with two others for a make-over session sold as "finding your inner archetype", ( the woman running it "found it" for us. We didn't get a chance to look for ourselves!! ) Anyway she did the whole foundation and lipstick thing and yes it looked very impressive, but i'm not up for the feeling/sensation of it, or the maintenance/work involved to keep it up. There's heaps more important things to do like reading WP and staring into space thinking, between looking after son of course!

I tried it a few times but gave up when it did not seem all that necessary.

I like low maintenance hygiene. My NT children are more into the looks thing than I am.

I have gluten eyes, so concealer is a must have. I don't like ppl coming up to me saying that I look rough or asking what the matter is, am I ill, etc, so I cover up the gluten eyes.

I cannot wear makeup. Even the lightest makeup makes me feel like something slimy is smeared all over my face. It's very much a sensory problem.