I Don't Understand Why People Wear Make-Up.

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I'm a woman, and I don't understand make-up at all. I mean, I know how to put it on (most every girl has that beaten into her head, I think), but I don't understand why women wear it. It doesn't change your face, it simply covers what's there (I believe the NT code phrase is "accentuates"). Why would you wear it on a date? You want to show who you are, not how much money you can slather on your face. If you want to attract a partner, why not simply show who you are all the time? Perhaps it's just me. I'm queasy at the thought of dating someone so shallow they are only attracted to me if I bow to advertising pressure and spend hundreds of dollars on chemicals to temporarily change how my face looks.

I just don't get it.

BTW, I am happily married, and my husband doesn't understand the make-up phenomenon either.

I don't get it either. It does make you look better if you do it right but I can't understand why anyone would justify the cost and the bother just to look a little better unless she was really ugly like if her face scared people or if she was super insecure. And the funniest thing is that the best makeup applications are the ones that make you look like you are not wearing any. Go figure.

i wear makeup because im pretty ugly, and i used to be bullied about it a lot, but less since i started wearing makeup

If you changed your behavior in order to please the bullies, such as using make-up to look prettier, then didn't the bullies win?

I don't understand why people would decide to wear it for the complicated purposes that they do. If I ever consistently wore makeup, it'd probably be for a similar reason to why I might decide to wear clothes of a certain color, or a necklace with a mini clarinet figure on it. Maybe some people just are amused by the way makeup appears, just like necklaces, or the color yellow. It makes sense to be amused by it, because it's just what amuses someone, but it doesn't really make sense when the reason comes down to people saying, "I can't go anywhere without makeup on! Nobody shall see me without my face covered up in makeup like I'm a European woman in the 1200's whose hairs shan't bee viewed by anyone, because it's the law!" It really all comes down to people relying heavily on opinions rather than facts and deciding to assume that they will be hated by the human race if they don't draw all over their face. Since that's what it's all about, there really isn't anything TO understand, because there is no logic actually involved.

If she enjoys wearing makeup and it makes her feel prettier to herself than that is what is important and she should wear it if she likes. I don't think the bullies win if she is doing it for herself. I don't see the point in it for myself but I can certainly respect her about it if it makes her feel more beautiful. And I think the bullying may also be lessened because if she feels more beautiful she may be showing more self confidence and that is a great way to deter bullies. It's not about whether they win or lose but more about if she feels good about herself and lets that show. And if makeup helps her with that than by all means, go for it.

I knew girls whose boyfriends and husbands had never ever, not even once, ever seen them without makeup even after years in the relationship. I knew a woman who would get up super early in the morning and go to bed super late just so that she could put on or take off her makeup while her husband was asleep. That, to me, was ridiculous.

oh well i started wearing it when i went from elementary to junior high, and that whole change thing was pretty hard for me, because i didnt know anybody and i knew i was weird so i just wanted to be pretty, if you know what i mean? also i had a small group of people to hang out with then but i got a lot of social anxiety

but back when i was younger id just fight anybody that called me names, but i didnt want to be the psychopath anymore so i could just ignore the minor comments that i got every once in a while, but its better now

so um yeah im guessing im using it bc it makes me feel better about myself and it can sometimes be fun to put it on, but this summer im going to have days without it bc i hate removing it

I'm not trying to be a jerk; I'm just trying to understand.

Hundreds of years ago, it was a societal standard that men wore just as much make-up as women; now it's a societal standard that men don't wear it at all. My point is that make-up is worn as an arbitrary societal whim. If wearing make-up makes you feel good, why? The only thing being affirmed is your adherence to a societal standard that may change at any time.

I think it's awesome that you chose to stop fighting and found makeup a help to you. And I can't imagine that you are really an ugly girl. You are probably a lot prettier than you realize.

I used to have to wear makeup because I used to sing and perform and I always hated having to take it off. The worst is stage makeup because it is so incredibly thick and heavy. But even light makeup for little performances was a pain to remove. But you are right about it being fun to put on sometimes. I put on makeup after not having worn any for over ten years when my sister got married and I was her matron of honor. I went to a natural makeup store and let the lady put it on me to show me how to do it. It was a lot of fun. I looked lovely for the wedding. Neither my sister nor I wear it usually but we had to for the wedding because of the photographs. It was fun doing it that one day but I don't think I could ever do it every day. I had to buy a little bit for the wedding and I never put it on again after that. I don't even know where it is and I am sure it has gone rancid by now.

But I am glad that it has given you a little confidence in yourself. There are sure worst ways for people to make themselves feel better so if makeup helps you than you enjoy it girl.

I don't wear makeup. I don't like the way it looks.

I just started wearing it last year. before that, it was only lip gloss, and until my 20's, not even that.

I think it's fun. Maybe that's why. It's like playing dress up as a kid.

It feels like fun dress-up to me too. I have worn eyeliner and mascara before, and before then, I didn't really have any opinions of makeup pertaining to myself, but I've discovered that it's kind of fun to wear sometimes. A lot of people that I know do not experience it that way, though.

Well, I do, and you do, but a lot of people don't. They actually do want to appear to be someone they are not, at least for the purposes of attracting a mate. For a lot of people that's the whole point of dating, or clubbing or hooking up or whatever it is they do, they want to escape reality and pretend to be someone else for awhile. And a lot of people have the mentality that they will keep up that false persona with a partner until they get married.

But what about men who wear makeup (trans/drag), and they doing it to hide who they really are, or to appear more like how they feel inside? Is there a different standard for women who wear it?

Makeup basically imitates signs of sexual arousal, by making the lips appear reddened and fuller and putting color on the cheeks. So does wearing high heels, which points the toes and arches the back as would naturally happen during orgasm.

I've never worn makeup, except for concert performances where I would be under lights. I just don't like the way it feels on my face. To my way of thinking it is good for stage performances but not for real life, especially not for being out in daylight.

I can understand why a person would use makeup to get through any kind of "stagey" situation in real life, like a job interview, or to go to court, because it makes it easier to put on a persona and play a role. But the mask has to come off sometime. I mean if a person wears a lot of makeup, and never wants to be seen without it, I'd wonder if they are afraid to be vulnerable.

I've seen woman on talk shows who think they look horrible without makeup and they go for a week without any on. It would be like pulling alligator's teeth to make me go for a week wearing the gunk! I remember once having the absolute gall to ask a girl back in junior high, "Doesn't lipstick feel all greasy?", and she said it made her lips feel all soft and beautiful. And then I heard about cosmetics being tested on poor animals and I thought, "What a great excuse not to wear it!" I did start to wear makeup, however, because I was tired of some people saying I looked pale and unhealthy all the time. In fact thought I was unhealthy because I have fair skin. I really don't care If I do anymore. I don't care about my boobs sagging to the ground because I don't wear bras every day, I don't care about dressing up and people saying I look nice only because I'm not wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and I don't care about putting my laundry away after washing it or leaving a pile of dishes on the counter after washing them even if sometimes a plate slides off and breaks on the floor, and I don't care about mopping my floor because it never looks clean afterwards anyway and I even have dried spots of cat spit-up in some places.

I wouldn't be able to live happily at all in a place where the floors are not mopped/swept, more so swept, because I can always feel the crumbs on the bottom of my feet, and I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate feeling crumbs stuck to my feet as well as wet grass.