Make up

When I was a pre-teen my mother made me get my ears pierced. I didnt want them done. I had no choice. A very short time after that she bought me mascara and blush, and my mother and sister encouraged to me to apply it. If it wasnt enough they sent me back to put on more. When I look at pictures of me back then I found that I was not ugly, why were they so worried about my looks?

As time moved on I got more into make up because my sister and mother were. (and it was encouraged.) It got to the point I could not leave the house without it because I felt so aware on how I looked.

Everyone always said that my sister was so beautiful and I was the cute one. I felt like that was a bad thing and made me upset. Shortly after I was married I was sharing my new wedding pictures with my Grandmother (on my mom's side) and she was remarking how pretty my sister looked, nothing on me. WTH? That scared me even more.

People tell me all the time that I was a very pretty red head. I work at the local Elm school and the kids tell me Im pretty.

Now Im in my mid forties and I am becoming more and more comfortable with myself. I even put on a shade or two of mascara and some blush to go to walmart. (I cant go out of the house without as much)

Wonder if I would be so conscience if it was not so encourage? Was I molded to wear it or would it be a natural thing I would do when the time came?

Do you leave the house with no make-up, for those who wear it? I know someone that will not even go out to her mailbox without any.

I had the exact opposite experience as you. My mom wouldn't allow me to do things like shave, or wear deodorant, or make up. I was the first in my grade to need a bra and the first to start menses.... yet I was the last to be allowed to do anything else. My mom viewed me as an extension of her really, and she did what she could to prevent me from growing up.

So... I had to rebell to do those. Bought my own deodorant once I had the chance, and I stole one of her razors and shaved my legs and my arms as I didn't know any better. I didn't branch out into make up until I was nearly done highschool, because I didn't know how to apply anything and had no one to show me.

As it is - I still only wear make up on my eyes. I will go out with or without make-up, depending on how tired I am and what I'm doing.

I'm a teacher, and I make a point to have days where I look really nice, and days where I am at school without any make up. I think it's important for the girls to see that it's allowed and that I can be happy and confident with or without make up.

I think it is a matter of what the women around us do. My mother was never into make up and so it's not something I ever became involved with.

Now, although I feel I could use some help in that department I have no skills in it and so simply don't. (Besides no amount of make up is gonna cover up this much ugly. lol)

Have you heard of a British show called Snog Marry Avoid?

It's terrifying how so many young beautiful women are plastering themselves with make up (often to their detriment) because of their low self esteem.

I rebelled and got my ears pierced at 18. Ear piercing was never allowed in my family. Makeup wasn't allowed either, nor was fashion. We were not supposed to look like other kids did, and not allowed to be teenagers or to grow up. I had glasses and my family fought me on getting contact lenses, telling me that it was wrong to want to change how I look. I paid for my own contact lenses. How are contact lenses changing how you look but glasses aren't?

I wear light makeup now, and I will go out with or without it, depending on the situation. I almost never go out with glasses on even though when I do, I get compliments on my glasses. I'm told that I have a unique style, but I can't figure out what is unique about it.

I love wearing makeup, but sometimes my lifestyle (RN and Horse Trainer) does not make it feasible to do so. I end up looking like a clown at the end of the day.
But when I go out socially, I do wear it and love the way it makes me feel.

I think we all grow up in different cultural environments, where I was always looking in awe of girls my age who were allowed to wear make-up and I wasn't. Then my mom would say see how nice those girls look & I'd be all upset because I wasn't allowed to wear make-up, shave my legs, date, attend school extra-curricular activities, etcs., - but I also rebelled and as a late bloomer did everything a little late in life including plucking of my eyebrows ... but I'm just happy to have her still in my life and look at that time of my life as my mother having problems letting go and now I choose not to wear as much make-up .. it's all a part of growing up for both us and our parents.... they didn't know any better

My mother bought me some age appropriate make-up and showed me how to wear it so it looked natural when I was in the 7th grade. My lips are naturally white. I look anemic when I'm not, so I wear lipstick all the time, even when I garden. I think she encouraged me to wear make-up because she was tired of people asking her if I was sick because I looked so pale and wan, which was just my natural coloring.

I'm also a natural redhead. I would prefer to not wear foundation, but it protects my skin from the sun. My face looks years younger than the skin on my chest that was exposed through V-necks and open shirt collars on a regular basis for years. I've also had a skin cancer removed from my chest and the dermatologist says I have severe sun damage on that area and very little sign of sun exposure on my face.

As a result, I never leave the house without foundation. Sunscreen makes my face breakout. I wear sunscreen all year round on the rest of me now. So foundation and lipstick are my staples. I don't mind leaving the house without eye make-up or blush. But most days I do the whole nine-yards of make-up, hair, body lotions -- the works. It takes at least a half-hour, sometimes longer if I'm dawdling. But I don't have to do it and if I don't have time I just do what's necessary to prevent more skin cancer.

A fellow redhead. My hair is getting darker and darker as Im aging. I have a few gray hairs coming out on top. My kids joke about pulling them out, but I earned those.

Make-up was never encouraged in our house, I begged my dad to get my ears pierced for my 13th birthday and we had to do it behind my mom's back.

As a teen (starting around 15) I wore a lot of dark make-up. Idk why, it was just what I was into, and the fact my mom hated it didn't hurt. But now as an adult I'm not into make up at all. My idea of doing my make up is applying a basic eyeliner and lip gloss, and I regularly leave home without either of them.

Idk, I just don't see any need to paint my face anymore I guess. Maybe I just became comfortable with what I look like...

I'm definitely one of those people who is guilty of not leaving the house without makeup. I wasn't particularly encouraged or discouraged to wear makeup when I was a teenager, but I've always been hugely self-conscious about my appearance, and wearing makeup definitely helped me. Occasionally I give myself challenges like wearing no makeup in front of friends or wearing less makeup than I usually do (and I'll admit that I usually wear quite a lot) when going somewhere casual. On some days I am able to complete my challenges, but on other days I end up getting way too anxious and having to retreat for the rest of the day.

But aside from makeup aiding my personal comfort, I honestly really do love makeup. I love the art of it, and I love testing out new products and experimenting. I just think it's really fun. Sometimes my friends and family members will ask me to do their makeup for them if they have an occasion to go to, and I get way too excited about it, haha.

As a small child I watched my Grandma apply her make up, she was rarely seen without it. My Mum however went without after having a nasty reaction to make up despite having used it for several years before hand, her lips turned green'ish and her skin had red swollen blotches. Since then all make up makes her itch and then burns her skin

So I guess that influenced me, I wear mascara and face powder maybe a little lipstick when off out on the town but would never apply it to go to work or shopping

My mom is the complete opposite of yours, actually. She encouraged me not to wear makeup and to not shave my legs for as long as I could. Of course, due to being bullied by my classmates, I felt the pressure to do so.

Nowadays, I'm pretty comfortable without makeup, mainly because my skin has become much clearer since middle school. I do look several years younger without makeup, however, which does bother me a bit, but not enough to put makeup on. It feels so good not having to remove makeup at the end of the day.

I've been out 2 nights in a row and worn make up for both, I actually found I was more self conscious about my appearance than if I hadn't worn any, but because of my extremely fair hair, eyebrows and eyelashes I felt the need to wear makeup it so that they would be visible in the hundreds of photos being taken. Maybe I go back to having my eyelashes and brows dyed because that does not seem to affect my confidence