Does Make-up Make You Beautiful?

[illusionist]

I think intothelight is right. Have a look on YouTube....there are loads of tutorials on make up...experiment in your room, I still do it yet and I'm 50. You can always take it off and try somethings else if it doesn't feel right for you. In fact, learning about makeup does help you see the physical beauty you do have...it's all about emphasizing.

Not that long ago I was looking at applying makeup to high cheek bones, I'd never seen them, or thought of them as being beautiful I just knew I had them. The tutorial showed me that they were in fact, an attractive feature. I asked my partner and he said yes, they are very attractive and that some of the most beautiful woman in the world possessed them...news to me! I would never see myself as one of the most beautiful women in the world, but I do see my attractive features.

I would not worry about ageing your skin....you don't have to wear it every day if you don't want to, I don't....and it hasn't aged my skin.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

I almost always wear makeup when I go out. However, I have a lot of scarring and imperfections on my face thanks to my Scandinavian heritage coupled with sun exposure when I was younger (and not having the importance of sunscreen stressed to me as a kid.) I don't wear makeup in order to look "made up". In fact, most people don't even know that I wear makeup because I go for a very natural look. I wear BB cream and powder and mascara, and that's it. If you walked by me on the street, you wouldn't think "hey, that chick wears makeup!" And truth be told, when my face looks better, I do wear less or go without.

I feel that there is no acceptance in this world if you don't have layers of foundation on your face and you won't get any guy liking you because you can't beat those artificial beauties.

Yet I feel exactly the same when it comes to weight, that no guy will want me unless I'm stick thin. (There's a whole back story to this one.)

What about those girls from everyday life? I mean not the media women but general public? Do they also do photoshop?

Yes, they do. Many people photoshop their images before posting them online. You can't trust images at all these days, especially since there are photoshop apps you can have right on your phone. (I have it and while highly simplistic, it is enough for people to photoshop their images and make themselves look better.) Heck, even my Android has a face slimming feature! Go figure.

We live in a society that has a highly distorted view of beauty. And it practically changes every week. Also, no one seems to have the same opinion, it is personal taste.

Yes, society does indeed have a distorted view of beauty. There are those men who prefer a woman who isn't natural, but take it from me, stay away from these guys! You'll find that these are the same guys who don't take even BASIC care of themselves, so its a bit hypocritical of them to want a woman who "distorts" her natural state in order to please a man. And I say this not in regards to just makeup, but EVERY/ANY aspect of physical appearance.

There was social experiment done, if you can find it, that took the same photo of the same woman and sent it around the world with instructions to photo shop her to make her more beautiful. The results are fascinating.

I saw it and the results were very fascinating!

My T, who's male, says that women apply makeup for each other. That men don't notice and don't care. I'm not sure he's right, and there are probably exceptions, but I'd bet he's CLOSE to right, at least.

I'd say he's not that far off the mark. Guys have never commented on my makeup but other women most definitely have. "You don't wear makeup!" Uhm, yes, I do, I just don't like looking like a 10 cent whore. And again, with my features, I simply cannot wear some of the dominant "hot" makeup looks. That stupid smoky eye look? Ugh. Raccoon city! It was hot 10 years ago, and I don't understand why people still do it now. Which brings me to this....have you ever noticed some of the "in" makeup looks? They look TOTALLY ridiculous but because they are "in", everyone wears their makeup like that. Some do that "wing" thing to their eyeliner, and its just distracting. I remember recently I saw someone who wore their eyeliner like that so the ends of the liner went out onto their face to have a "wing" or cat eye look or whatever you want to call it, and for the life of me, I only remember her stupid makeup....I don't remember the context in which I saw her or what she had to say, all because her makeup was distracting. Do you really want to be remembered for your makeup? LOL, I didn't think so... Much better to be remembered for your personality, your NATURAL features!

There are SO many guys out there who prefer a natural women. (Huh, gotta remember to remind myself of this!) Did you know that some people actually make pre-marital agreements that state neither partner will engage in plastic surgery? Yep, I read about this a few years ago! Ok, so a bit of a tangent, but my point is that yes, there are people out there who prefer a NATURAL person, whether that be no makeup, no plastic surgery, no whatever.... And honestly, I don't look at those overly made up, sliced and diced people and think "whoa, so beautiful!"....I think "dang, so sad."

 

[Chava]

So far I am making some progress trying to accept myself but self-love is still not making that much progress as it needs to be.

Changing some things is a slow process, so be patient with yourself. Some of my patterns are very stuck...even if I know they don't make sense. I'm getting a little better at not judging myself too much, but that's hard too sometimes.

I wear some make-up but that's not where my concept of beauty comes from. I used to wear a lot of make-up, tan, all that...and felt very disgusting anyway, if not invisible. So it really is an internal thing...keep working on your self concept and self compassion. Little things like a new haircut or a shirt in a color that looks pretty with my skin tone feels nice though. I have no problem admitting that.

If you are curious, could you go to a department store and ask for help with something that interests you, like eye make-up or different lip colors? Just to try? The women in the make-up departments are usually very friendly and helpful. I always need help matching foundation to cover some splotches on my face. Or schedule a make-over somewhere just for fun, something different? There's nothing wrong with it. But I don't think it's really what makes people beautiful. I'd say too much make-up has the opposite effect since I'm more drawn to naturalness...and qualities like appearing peaceful and friendly...like radiating softly from the inside.

Another thought...I'm not far down the ancestry line from one of the world's indigenous cultures. I've studied that culture some, as well as other indigenous cultures. These women are very beautiful to me. I think because they appear more natural, genuine, free, and embodied...vs disconnected from their bodies or trying to appear as some other or more polished version of themselves. So, as you grapple with this question for yourself maybe take in lots of ideas of beauty...get away from fashion magazine and pop culture ideas of beauty because they are very limiting and relatively superficial and uncreative. Study many cultures, many traits of beauty....like authenticity, grace, confidence, poise, softness, strength, sparkly eyes (I personally want happy eyes that twinkle and hope that comes through eventually feeling less shut down)...whatever appeals to you beneath the surface.

 

[Friday]

I may be answering my own question, here. If you hadn't said at gym/work this would be the first place my mind went...

"Facebook".

If you're looking at photos of people? Photography is an art form. Lenses don't capture the world as it really is. In order for a person to look like they do in real life? They have to be wearing makeup (or the photographer has to be genius). It's a mechanical issue. Not only that, but not all kinds of makeup photograph well. The kind of makeup worn by models and actors? Is not what those self same models and actresses will wear on the street. It would (and does) look clownish.

Unless you have a very skilled photographer (with tens of thousands in equipment, which is why I sent you to the Nat.Geo.Soc images... Because those are some of the few people who can manage it with a combo of both equipment and skill)... Anyone without makeup on will look terrible. Skin goes splotchy and marked up. Features our eyes alight on in real life are less prominent than the features the lens brings to the forefront. Even prisoners of war look "fat" (compared to real life, and that's pretty horrifying in and of itself). Cameras simply don't capture things as they really are, much less how we see them. And that right there is why photography is more art than science. The best 8k camera, with 20k in lenses? Won't show you the world how you actually see it. The photographer is the one who captures spirits and moments in time. Who is able to get on film what we actually see.

Skilled makeup application, however, with the right makeup... Saves about 15k in equipment. FaceTune is an application which will do so, also. Even a selfie with no makeup, after it's been FaceTuned, will look as if it's been shot with a great camera on a face painted in pigments the camera can actually pick up.

Anyhow... Since you have an analytical mind,,, that might be what it's trying to tell you. That the factor involved between great picture, and a cringe-picture, is makeup.

Makeup doesn't = beauty.

It does = beauty even a crap camera operated by a chimpanzee can see.

 

[shell]

I don't wear make up unless going out somewhere special, and then it is very minimalistic and natural looking.

At work I am surrounded by those who feel the need to talk about the need to wear makeup, and I have come to realize they use it to cover up their own insecurities.

My husband dislikes makeup, so I have never felt the need to change who I am, because I think it is true, that males don't alway find make up attractive.

 

[ihateusernames]

I responded the same in the other thread, but I'll say it again- most guys don't like all of the fake, made up stuff. (Not to mention, so much of it is fake even in person. One of my best friends shaves all but a strip of her hair and has fake hair sewed in. UGH. I love her, I will not begrudge her her strange beauty rituals, but that isn't in the same universe as my definition of beauty.)

I hung out with a girl once who was plagued with insecurity and bitterness. She would go around complaining about every girl she knew- I know that she was also complaining about me in the same way and would make little comments to allude to it. Why do guys like her? Her teeth are weird. Why do guys like her? Her ass is so big. She's flat chested. She's so plain. I would tell her and it would never ever sink in for her- their personality is beautiful and it shines far brighter than perfect teeth and cleavage do. She's one of those perpetually hair bleached, 6 layers of mascara sort of girls, (and I definitely don't mean to degrade anybody here who dyes their hair and wears mascara, I do those things sometimes, too), and eventually went on to get breast implants and who knows what else, but I'm sure she's still the same underneath all of that. Feeling inadequate and jealous despite her straight teeth and protruding breasts.

Beauty that attracts and keeps a partner just isn't about all that stuff. It's about the person underneath that stuff. What you're talking about is akin to a pretty picture hanging in the living room or a pretty throw pillow or... I don't know, pretty cupcakes. It's just decoration. It's nothing of substance.