I think I also feel that people who look like that would not like me. But I don't care, really. I think they might disdain me and my "like me for my insides instead of outsides" attitude. I don't have friends who wear a lot of make-up so it's hard to find someone who beats the distorted stereotype I have (it's a soft bias rather than a hard stereotype, though). I move in different circles, as you wrote. But sometimes I go out shopping and there are salesclerks who have a lot of make-up on and they can be quite nice. But of course they're trying to sell me something! I'm sure there are very fine people who wear lots of make-up--I just don't know them personally, LOL. I do have a work acquaintance who wears make-up, but it is quite subtle--a bit of mascara, eyeliner, and a neutral eye shadow. She looks great and she's a wonderful person--smart, witty, fun.

I bet you can also find some great how-to videos on youtube if you don't want to go to the cosmetics counter. Do you know what you are scared of about going to therapy with lipstick on? Do your think your T might laugh or make fun of you? Criticize you? Think you are pathetic? Think you are incompetent? Are you scared to try something new because you are comfy in your pattern of wearing no make-up? It can be hard to break out of our habits and try something different. Maybe your T would be proud of you for trying something new? You could just try it once and see how it goes. I think you are so wise to identify this fear in yourself and work on it.

I like looking at things through an Eriksonian lens too. My experience has been that if someone appears to be in one stage with something (like the incompetency stage related to applying make-up), they can still be in other stages for other things. Like a person could be in the child stage of industry vs. inferiority but also be in the adult stage of Generativity vs. Despair and still working on things in the toddler stage too, or all 3 at once. I am glad to be reminded of the stages...