When did you start wearing make-up?
It was my sixteenth birthday. My friends arrived at my party and presented me with a bag full of foundation, blush and mascara. We set up a make-shift beauty station in front of the bathroom mirror and I lost my make-up virginity.
When I looked in a mirror a few minutes later I cried, shut the bathroom door and removed every speck of foundation and eyes shadow I could see. I hated it. I felt ridiculous – like someone had painted my face and that was not the look I was going for on my sweet sixteenth.
I had an on-off experience with make-up from that point on. I never really wore make-up at school. Occasionally I’d apply a splash of blush and maybe a little mascara. Otherwise if I ever felt like I needed a ‘glow’, pinching my cheeks did the trick.
My school had a no make-up policy but I don’t think it was ever properly enforced. Most girls did wear some make-up to school whether it was to impress the boys, cover up pimples or just experiment.
Recently, a school in the UK removed the mirrors from its bathrooms to discourage 14 to 16-year-old students from wearing make-up.
The Daily Mail reports:
“A secondary school has become so fed up with girls flouting its ‘discreet’ make-up policy it has put in place a very direct solution: removing the mirrors.
The tough measure was introduced, along with a total ban on make-up, to stop pupils aged 14 to 16 from crowding in to the toilets to attend to their faces.
The school’s zero-tolerance policy on make-up has also seen teachers being given make-up removal kits to ensure all pupils obey the rules.
Girls at Shelley College in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, are now checked for make-up every day.
Some girls are said to be furious about the rules, claiming that wearing make-up helps to give them confidence.
But John McNally, head teacher of the comprehensive school, said most pupils and parents support the measures.
He said: ‘There comes a point when you need to stop teachers spending half an hour in the day talking to girls about their make-up. It is more sensible to say it’s not allowed.”
Well, that’s one way to deal with the problem. Or is it?
How old were you when you started wearing makeup? Did you wear make-up at school? How did you get away with it?
Comments
104 Comments so far
While growing up, just on special occasions/dance concerts and dress-up days. I didn’t actually start wearing it more routinely until I was 18, mostly spurred by working part-time in retail and wanting to look presentable.
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I dont see a problem with banning makeup in schools. The unspoken pressure on adult women to wear makeup (no woman I know could go to a job interview feeling ‘presentable’ without makeup) this is not a requisite for men to do their jobs/demonstrate their professionalism. Teenage boys don’t seem to need to cover up any acne they have, why different for girls??
I used to not be able to leave the house without my “face” on (from about 16-24 years, I’m now 26). I felt my skin alone and features were pale, uninteresting, that I had dark circles under my eyes.
I resented any social situations that required me as a woman to wear makeup. So when I consciously chose to try and love my face makeup free (as my boyfriend did) , it took weeks of feeling sick looking, ugly, etc. Until suddenly I started noticing the subtle colours in my face. The dark circles seemed to disappear. My eyes seemed to look brighter. It was like when you turn off the light at first you see nothing and then your eyes adjust- my eyes adjusted to the mire subtle signs of health in my face that get masked by the more obvious makeup colours.
Now I love my face clean. I still love makeup but I feel I need way less else I look fake- unless I’m onstage for dance performances and then I love going nuts experimenting with makeup looks!!!
I think it’s a good thing we give young girls more time to like their skin au natural!!
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I never wear make up to work, I always tell people I can’t save lives and look good! Haha. Plus I’d rather have 5 more minutes of sleep than do my face everyday. I like wearing it out but I do feel like I’m wearing a mask.
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Lovely¡ You’re Yes. I enjoy You and yr Verb¡
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What is deemed makeup? I wear paw paw ointment each day because of really dry cracked lips, some teachers could think it is lip gloss.
I can’t remember when I started wearing makeup, probably early teens. The girls at my school would go stupid with it, and cake it on thick. Never understood the ‘less is more’ rule. My brother dated a girl who slathered the foundation on and he always had a ring of it around his mouth haha. You would stick to her face when kissing her hello.
I don’t wear it often at all. Only when I feel like it or special occasions. My makeup lasts me years and years! (Dad hates it, he always says Mum and I don’t need it) I like the feeling of wearing it, makes me feel beautiful. Just never get time.
Still want the Beautiful Face book. My bday is next month so hopefully I’ll receive it as a gift
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My mum would allow my sister and I wear make-up on the weekend, as teenagers, not to school though. My dad didnt like it at all. Mums belief was that we would be able to apply it skillfully when we were older and it counted.
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I believe that beauty is portrayed in your actions, feeling and words spoken to others not in the amount of make up you apply to your face. What happens when you wash it off, you’re back to looking how you would normally look without out. I dont wear make up at all I can’t be bothered with it – take me how I am.
With regards to the article, no I don’t think that removing mirrors from female toilets will solve the problem
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5 for ballet concerts but in life i was allowed to wear make up on weekends at 13. I NEVER wore make up to school until i went to full time ballet and our ballet teacher told us the worse you feel the more make up you should wear. Sadly i still do this
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I went to a girls school in Tasmania (back in the 80s) and there was a strict non make up policy. I was even busted wearing clear mascara once! Where I love now I notice girls at our local Catholic and public high school wearing full faces of make up – foundation, blush, eyeshadow the works – just look like ridiculous painted up tarts. Not sure why but the other schools don’t seem to have the same problem and their girls have make up free faces – and actually look younger and fresher than their dolled up couterparts.
I rarely wear make up now (I’m 40) even though I know I look better, less tired and younger with some one. I wear a bit for work because I think it makes you look more professional but any other time I go bare faced unless I’m going out at night to a dressed up function.
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My first thought when reading this was “how pointless, they can just take compact mirrors to school!”
I grew up in a family where the women took a lot of pride in their grooming and keeping up appearances to the extent of still putting at least some foundation, concealer, mascara and lipgloss on to pop down to the shops. There’s no question, they look great (my mum especially, who regularly gets mistaken for a good 10 years younger than she is) but this rubbed off on me, whereas I envy girls with beautiful natural skin! I just don’t feel attractive without makeup on, but I am trying to wean myself off it. Unfortunately I have pale skin with a flush of redness on my nose and chin (not rosacea or anything so far as I can tell) and once a month spots, so it’s really hard to let go of foundation…
I still enjoy dolling up for occasions, but would just like to be less high maintenance the rest of the time!
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I recently weaned myself off foundation and now only wear it for special occasions. I’m the same, pale, my skin is kind of transparent and I have red in it.
What you need to do is just stop. Don’t put on concealer, no blush, no bronzer, nothing at all on your face. Wash your face, apply some moisturiser (tinted if you must), some sunscreen and that’s it. Make sure it’s a sunscreen specifically for your face, not a standard one. You’ll need the sun protection after your skin not seeing the sun for a while.
At first, it will feel naked and it won’t look all that good because your skin is used to being hidden. But it will only take about a week for your natural skin to adjust and to start looking good. Or maybe it’s just you who adjusts to seeing it because, in all honesty, those first few days no one will even notice except you!
I still wear mascara, but I’m a natural blonde who dyes her hair dark red (red hair + blonde eyelashes = weird). Day to day that’s all I wear.
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Okay Miss T, you’ve inspired me. I sort of have to wear it for work, but outside work I shall make it my mission to to be face-naked (except for the sunscreen). I really do crave to be low maintenance.
On the eyelashes issue, I hear ya. I am a natural strawberry blonde but through a cruel twist of fate, my eyebrows and lashes are just plain blonde. I tint mine so I don’t have to bother with mascara all the time. By the way, I love the colour of your hair, it suits you and I can’t imagine you blonde!
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I don’t wear make-up, but I still take pride in my grooming and appearance! I really resent the extra money females are expected to spend on grooming and appearances – especially cosmetics, when apparently everyone’s striving to look like it’s effortless and natural but they’ve actually spent half an hour making it look “natural” when it’s anything but.
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Oh Kris, I hope it didn’t sound like I equate lack of makeup to lack of grooming and pride in appearances! Quite the opposite, hence my wish to feel comfortable without it
I can see where you are coming from about cosmetics; it is just another form of altering our appearances rather than accepting our natural beauty. I think the healthy line is if it is a choice, not a need or coercion.
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I love make-up! It makes me feel so pretty! But I also love going clean-skin. I get my lashes and brows tinted and that seems to be enough for just hanging out.
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I don’t wear makeup – the only stuff I’ve really had was the free stuff on the front of mags I’ve bought. I can’t be bothered, and I’ve never had anyone say anything about it, particularly. I’ve got better things to spend my time and money on.
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I wore an oatmeal sort of concealer during my pimple years, but nothing else. When I left school I had a job that required me to wear makeup for a while and I didn’t feel like myself without it. Now I wear makeup so rarely that I have to replace it every time I do….we’re talking weddings and the like. I don’t ever want to be in a place where I need makeup to feel like ‘myself’ again. I express myself with my personality, not makeup or fake tan. It does my skin wonders and people always think I’m about 10 years younger than I actually am.
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I’m 21 and I don’t own a single piece of makeup. I love it!
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i dont recall my school having a no makeup policy – if it did, it certainly wasnt enforced!! i always wore makeup for dance concerts as a kid and teen but i cant remember exactly when i started wearing it just day to day,… sometime in yr 11 or 12 i think. i used to get pretty yuck skin breakouts and used it to try and hide those, and used some eye makeup too, but nothing extreme, mainly a bit of mascara and some natural coloured eyeshadow i think
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I have never had an interest in make-up. i never wore it to school, formals or any other event. Even now, in my mid twenties, i still don’t wear it or have any interest in starting. Each to their own
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I never wore any makeup to school. I started to wear a bit when I went out as a late teen, but have never been interested. It’s only now, at 41, that I have started wearing makeup every day to work and that’s only because I have a higher profile position and am determined to look polished and professional. I don’t have good skin, so I need the makeup to help me look polished (in my opinion). If I thought I could do without it, I’d not wear it.
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Before i got proper perscription cream for my skin i had really bad redness from acne, it was horrible i could barely stand to look at myself, i started wearing foundation at 14 (now 17). If make-up at my school was baned i probably would have been suicidal. For some girls,we just need it and i don’t think that it’s bad for teenagers to wear it. If we can drive at 16 i think we can wear make-up to school
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I wonder if the teachers are having to remove their make-up as well? I can imagine plenty of female teachers who wouldn’t want to not wear make-up just so they can work at that school.
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Teachers are adults. I think its fine on a social basis for year 11 or 12′s but really is it necessary on children? Because that is what they are.
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I don’t really think it has a place, but discretion should be used. There were a few poor girls with terrible acne at my school, and I would fully support letting them put a bit of makeup on to face the day. Any eye makeup takes it too far!
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But when girls wear makeup to cover their acne, it just looks like they’re wearing it to cover their acne. It doesn’t actually cover it up!
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Not if they’re taught how to apply it properly and proper blending techniques!
I never wore make up to school but as soon as I left in Year 12, I landed a job at a cosmetics counter (don’t ask me how, I still don’t know). Once I started working there, I obviously had to wear make up every day. One of the best things about working at a cosmetics counter in Myer was that I could teach teenage girls how to properly apply their make up and exactly what they needed – instead of their usual mask like foundation and concealer. Many young girls only need a dab of concealer here and there and I can proudly say that many a young girl has left my make up lessons armed with the knowledge on how to look fresh faced and dewy.
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I don’t think I wore makeup in high school…I was in the caribbeans and in the 90′s, it was still reserved for sluts on my island. I was very busy learning the “badass” lingo and atitude, i don’t think i even wore mascara. I started in my 20′s, i think.
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I wore makeup for ballet/gymnastics performances first and when I was 12 my grandmother (who was a beautician) taught me how to apply makeup properly and I was hooked!
Never got in trouble at school for it (my school was more concerned with punishing girls for smoking, drugs and catfights), even though at 15 I rejected Nana’s lessons and went in heavy with the glitter (accompanied by huge, dangly earrings, natch). I remember great goss sessions when crowded around the mirror at school, sports carnivals, parties etc – its kind of sad they’re taking it away!
Now I wear makeup every day, but a bit more subtle – eye shadow, mascara, under eye concealer and gloss. I feel kinda slummy without it!
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After years of being teased for having freckles, I used to use powder in the last years of high school with a lipstick very close to my own colour and the tiniest bit of eyeliner.
I guess I was pioneering “the natural look”. When I got my first job, women (or should I say ladies) were expected to wear full makeup so I did.
I still wear foundation at least because working in the city, your pores get clogged and all my foundations have in built sunscreen.
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I went to a school that banned make up and hair product. Then would get angry when our hair was a mess……with frizzy hair and no hair product….errrmmm what do they expect! They finally changed the hair rule to minimal hair product. I think they looked the other way with concealer and didn’t seem to mind lipgloss (my lips were always super shiny!). I think high school is a good time to start learning how use make up subtly to look neat and tidy. But only if the kids feel like they want to. So many kids aren’t allowed make up in high school and then go nuts with it when they leave school. Which is not a good look if they start work or are out in the “real world” with cake face. But it all comes down to personal choice and what the parents think. I wouldn’t allow full make up at school but I don’t see anything wrong with it being subtle and neat. Especially if a kid has low self esteem because of acne!
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I don’t recall ever wearing make-up to school. I don’t think it ever occurred to me to do this. None of the other girls, that I can remember, wore make-up either and it just wasn’t an issue at my school. I did wear make-up on the weekends starting about age 14 and my friends and I caked it on pretty heavily – gold lipstick was a fave in 1997 (this makes me cringe!).
Now, age 28, I rarely wear full make-up. I sometimes wear a bit of foundation if my skin is looking rough, but I really hate the smell of foundation and I don’t like the feeling of it on my face. Tinted moisturiser makes my skin oily and feels awful to me. I wear mascara and eyeliner occasionally. I don’t own an eyeshadow, let alone a brush set. Sometimes I have my eyelashes tinted. I own one lipstick and wear it sporadically because my lips are naturally reddish in colour so I don’t need it.
Sometimes I think that I’m just lazy and that I should make more of an effort. Other women always looked so groomed and professional to me. But it’s really just not for me. Yet. Give it another few years and I may change my mind.
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I think I first put on makeup when I was very little, maybe 5? By 12 I was wearing lip gloss, 13 mascara. By 14 I was going through my goth stage – full face including dark eyeliner. I started dying my hair at 11. By 16 I was giving other girls makeup lessons.
Makeup, hair, clothes and “being girly” (as one of my friends describes it) is something you can learn, but it’s not always something you do learn. Sometimes it’s just who you are. My mum didn’t dye her hair or wear makeup, she didn’t encourage a love of clothes, it was just something I always had a knack for and the desire to do.
My stepdaughter is 11 and for Christmas this year I’m giving her a makeup brush set. If she doesn’t want to wear makeup, that’s fine, but she’s displayed an interest in it, asks to wear mine, so if she’s going to wear it I want her to learn how to do it well
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You sound like a wonderful stepmum
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Hey MissT! You sound awesome
You know what you should do for her 11th as well? Book her in for a complementary make up lesson at a young and fun make up counter like Kit Cosmetics. They can then show her how to pop on a bit of tinted moisturiser and whatever else for a totally natural look. While you’re at it, make it a “mother daughter day” 
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Are you serious????!!!! She’s ELEVEN!!!! They don’t need tinted moisturiser for god’s sake – how many 11 year olds need any help with their skin. Sorry but this makes me really mad, it’s cosmetics companies marketing to younger and younger girls to con them into thinking that they need makeup.
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I think 11 is waaaaaay too young to be encouaged to wear make up whether they have displayed an interest in it or not. I think it’s sad to be saying to a gorgeous fresh faced 11 year old that they need to put anything other than sunscreen on their faces.
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I displayed an interest in driving my own car when I was eleven … my parents didn’t go out and buy me a car. I really wanted to have sex when I was thirteen but they didn’t get me on contraceptives. It’s probably not the most wholesome gift for an eleven year old and (I hope this isn’t overstepping the line, I don’t know your situation) maybe this is something her mother would prefer to choose when she is allowed to start up with.
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Agreed! It should be her mums decision
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I actually agree with you. She is given makeup from a relative and is wearing it, so all I can really do is show her how not to look like she lost a bar fight and teach her very strongly that less is more. The brushes are for that. I don’t ever encourage her to wear it (have banned it previously) and certainly don’t tell her she needs it.
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My 2 year old has makeup… She watches me put mine on and puts her own on herself. Then paints her dolls faces. I dont see the big deal at her age, it’s painting/self expression.. When she is on her teens if she wAnts too , I’ll teach her how use it properly, especially if shE has horrible skin like I did at that age.
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So will there come a point before her teens when you won’t let her wear it? My 8 year old always wants to put my make up on and I have never let her, I can’t even bear seeing kids with nail polish on. There’s plently of time for that when they’re older. If your 2 year old wants to paint and ‘express herself’ as you put it, why not buy her a set of paints and pencils and some paper like most other two year olds?
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Our school removed all the mirrors in the female toilets, but it hasn’t done anything- girls just no longer apply make up using the mirrors in the toilets…
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i started wearing make up around the age of 17. Make up was always off putting to me as i spent most of my childhood doing gymnastics, calisthenics and dancing where heaps of make up is packed on for each performance (i still can’t handle fake tan). I only wore tinted moisturiser and mascara and that was about it. No one ever really noticed as it was more for my own confidence and benefit. However i was always told off for nail polish. i loved my nail polish in high school and was constantly having to scrape and peel it off!
even now make up wise i don’t use much. i’m still using tinted moisturiser for every day, i wear mascara, lip gloss and occasionally i’ll wear brown lipstick. Even when i go out all i add is a mineral foundation and maybe some eye shadow but rarely more than that.
i think make up at school is fine provided that it still looks natural. most of the girls in my high school (strict, catholic private school) got away with make up because it was natural looking. only the girls who were heavily made up where made to remove it.
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On a make up tangent….Just went to DJs and saw that they have 20% off Rimmel products, plus a free gift, which includes eye shadow, mascara, eyeliner and lipstick (full size) if you spend $20 or more.
I was so excited, I’ve got to tell EVERYONE!!
Just got one of their lipglosses, which looked to be coral in the sample, but deffo has come out a dark pinky colour on my lips. Desperately want a coral lippie!
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Thanks!
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No probs, that new maybelline fit me make up is about $13 at big w at the moment, and some max factor is 50% off at big w too! Love cheap make up!
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Thanks for sharing whippersnapper! I quite like Rimmel and will be heading to DJs over the weekend to see what goodies I can find for myself
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Yeah I like their mascara and that new cream gel foundation that is supposed to mould to your skin tone and type, it is great! Their little cheap nail polishes are good when you want a cheap beauty pick me up! I got their primer today, is it any good?? Hope so. Try big w for some cheap max factor and
Maybelline ATM too!
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I didn’t realise that DJ’s actually sell brands like Rimmel – I thought they were all about Lancome, Elizabeth Arden and the likes. I’m surprised but I also like!
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Is it only 14-16 year olds? then I think it is a smart policy. Girls over that age though should be allowed to were a small amount, being discreet about it. Thats just because I started wearing makeup around 16/17.
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My mum has never worn make up.
My sister bought me my first make up kit when I was 15 and she was 17 and working. The high school we went to had a no make up policy, and every school I’ve worked at (up to number 6) have all had no make up policies.
My daughter asked for her first make up set at 5! and I bought her one….
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I never wore make up to school and I can honestly say it never occurred to me to put any on. I don’t remember any of the popular girls doing so either. Of course, I went to school during the Dark Ages so maybe I’m a bit out of touch.
I really don’t think make up is appropriate for school and I certainly wouldn’t be allowing my daughters to wear any.
Recently we had to have a discussion with my eldest about when and why we wear make up. Because she dances competitively, she has to wear make up for performances (which she loves – to her, it’s all part of dressing up). But she was starting to put on play make up to go to the park or to the shops so we quickly put a stop to that idea!
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when i was 14 my mum allowed me to wear clear lip-gloss and eye-liner (brown, not black) and that was it…and she also bought me my first tonic/moisturiser set… nowadays my make-up is still pretty natural looking … i think young girls need to be thought how to wear their make-up so they don’t look like clowns… i am thankful my mum did that to me and my sister
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I got a makeup case when I was about 13, and it was full of blushes, eyeshadows, lippies etc, but I never really used it as I felt like a bit of a clown. Throughout highschool I wore tinted moisturiser, mascara and lipgloss, but that was about it, most of the time people didn’t even think I was wearing it.. It’s only now that I’m 21 that I’ve really started branching out and have taken quite the interest in beauty products and makeup, I think it’s fun, I like experimenting with the trends and different looks.. It’s a good way to express yourself and enhance your features.
My school had a wavering strictness with makeup, usually when the teachers had enough of the oompa loompa look some of the girls were sporting they would wait at the gates with makeup remover for about a week and the cycle would start again. For some girls it isn’t necessarily about vanity but confidence, my friend had severe acne and would literally be close to tears if she had to remove her makeup, thinking she would be ugly without it, so it’s a bit tricky.
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Won’t they all just start bringing hand mirrors?
I think when I started high school I would sneak some of my sisters concealer for my under- eye circles, but when I was 14 I did a deportment/ modelling course. I was never interested in modelling, but I think mum thought it was a good idea for me to learn how to do my make up properly etc etc. I never wore much make up to school (just concealer and maybe a tinted moisturiser) but in hindsight I did wear a lot of eyeshadow to parties when I was 16/ 17! I have generally subscribed to the less is more mentality when it comes to make up.
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I started wearing make-up at about aged 5. My mum was a ‘lippy’ only lady, but I loved all of it. I still do, I wear a full face everyday, if I am able. I have one daughter who loves all the ‘Girly’ things, especially make-up. But, my other daughter can only handle lip balm and is not ‘Girly’ at all! I use to waer make-up at school and I got away with it because I learnt very quickly and at a young age, how to wear make-up to enhance rather than cover up. I love and always will! But, now I only use chemical free, toxin free make-up by Melaleuca. And, I totally love the range, it stays on, doesnt clog the skin, and stops the effects of ageing and damage to the skin. Beauty and health in one!
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I was like 17. I like makeup, it’s fun! I don’t think of it as a necessity, if I don’t feel like it I only wear sunscreen, and maybe some light foundation so I don’t get all shiny and greasy with the sunscreen.
I like the no mirrors policy. Part of me disagrees with the ‘no makeup’ rule but, I hate how high schools try to make everyone the same. But I suppose there are reasons for that as well.
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Ive been told (rightly or wrongly) that it was originally because if the have set hairstyles, uniforms etc then you are able to immediately recognise students from the same school. Also, it teaches kids to care about how they look – hairstyles you would wear to work, looking after uniforms and taking pride in them etc. Ive heard that these days it can also minimise bullying etc…the uniforms means that no matter how new/secondhand/etc your clothes are, or what style you do or dont subscribe to, at school you are the same as everyone else. Same with makeup – you dont get teased with how you wear it or dont wear it.
I think its mostly about respecting the environment you’re in – there are different ‘dress codes’ for different places and situations. At school, that dress code is modest hairstyles, natural or no makeup and uniforms.
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I played with mum’s lipstick, blush and heels at around 10.
Only in high school did I try it properly and it was mainly glitterly eye shadow and glitter gel my friends and I used, it was for fun only.
Some girls wore heavy foundation due to very bad skin, the popular girls didnt wear much besides mascara and some lipgloss.
Though I think for today banning it isn’t the worst idea as most teenagers are SO overdone! But I feel sorry for the girls with acne etc, they should have some options to cover up.
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I’m a high school teacher and former MUA. I started lecturing my students (year 8s) about ‘less is more’ and they wore more to egg me on. I started make-up classes at lunch and try to steer them on the right path as far as hygiene goes(Don’t share mascara!)
My advice to my students is, your school is a workplace, not a nightclub, so wear your makeup accordingly!
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The make up classes at lunch are such a good idea! I wish all schools did that. Good on you
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When I was in year 12, I helped co-ordinate a multi-faceted anti-bullying campaign for year 8 & 9 girls, part of it was providing them with something to do in lunchtimes- one of the activites was a series skincare & make up classes for $3ea and they went OFF! Good on you!
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I started wearing tinted moisturiser around age 12, mainly because of bad skin. I think it is completely understandable when young teens want to, because I know that when I had a huge pimple that I attacked and made it look worse and hence wanted to cover it, makeup definitely helped.
Nowadays, I pretty much wear the same look every day, Lauren Conrad-esque makeup.
I really enjoy putting on makeup in the morning and I definitely prefer the way I look with it on, but I’m not against out makeup free.
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I started work in an insurance office when I was 15. I didn’t start wearing makeup until I was about 16. The first time I started wearing it my Dad was very disapproving so I gave it a rest for a while thinking he would forget and not notice when I recommenced with the foundation and the lippy. How silly of me but he didn’t forbid it this time, just told me I didn’t need it. When I was 17, Mum thought it would be a good idea to put an auburn coloured rinse through my normally mousy coloured hair. One of those Napro Highlighters it was (hey we’re talking 60s here kids). I was a bit fearful of Dad’s reaction but Mum said not to worry it was hardly noticeable. A few days passed at the dinner table with no reaction from Dad. Eventually, the inevitable happened and he brought it up. Both Mum and I copped it (in Dad’s mild-mannered way), mainly for thinking that he wouldn’t notice. He got used to makeup and hair colour after a while but over the years reminded me with “I don’t know why you want to put that stuff on your face, you don’t need it”. Same response whenever I coloured my hair. Ah Dad! You were so loveable. Ah Mum! What an ally.
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Um… 27? I hardly ever wear make up, althought recently I have started using a tinted moisturizer ( but more for the SPF then anything else) even when I do wear make up it is normally mascara, a touch of eye shadow and lip gloss. Lipstick if I am being really fancy . My husband hates me wearing make up, and refuses kisses if I am wearing lipstick.
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My mum was super strict, so I got to wear nailpolish at 15 (a bottle of pink Revlon as a present!) and makeup at 18. And it took me at least 5-6 yrs to get it right. First makeup I ever bought was this hideous, cheap Priceline bright pink 80′s stlye lipstick and blue eyeshadow. And it was 2001. Ugh.
Don’t think I would do it too differently with my own daughters, might let them play with nailpolish a little younger as I think that’s pretty harmless. But nothing worse than seeing little teenagers with caked on (and usually poorly done) makeup.
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I first started wearing make up in grade nine. Most of the girls in my grade were wearing foundation and I didn’t like my skin. We were at a strict private school and make up was not allowed, but most of the time we got away with it by saying it was ‘tinted moisturiser’. However, if any eye make up was visible we were sent to the bathroom to wash it off.
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I wore eyeliner , mascara and lip-gloss as a 14 year old, under duress from my Mum, she didn’t cope at all, but all the girls were doing it by then, even in the bush.- it was the late 70′s early 80′s and purple eyelashes were IN. But I only started using foundation when I was in my 20′s and even then I barely needed it, in fact I doubt I needed it at all.
I think it’s sad that young girls feel the need to hide their beautiful skin- young, fresh skin the first thing I notice in the young- it is a beautiful asset.
If I ran a girls school I would have a make-up class as part of health, early in the year, and a refresher every year,showing them how to play up their assets and cover zits properly; how to wear minimal make-up and look their best, (as in to appeal to their sense of self-esteem, not glamour).
Glamour and overtly sexualised images are a hard fact of life, difficult to negotiate around, and unless you are running a nunnery, you may as well accept MOST teenage girls are wanting to look glamorous. ( Not all I realise!)
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your mum made you wear it?
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Ah – my teenage skin was NOT pretty! I was so mortified and ashamed by it, I had to sneak around my mum to wear foundation to cover it up.
Puberty is a tumultuous time enough without someone saying you can’t hide behind a little makeup to help your self esteem. Having my mum not support me in trying to cover my skin (or even refuse to take me a doctor about it) wasnt helpful! I felt like I was getting trouble for something not worth being in trouble about!
Girls grow out of wearing too much eventually!
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Completely agree Lorren, I had problem skin as a teen too and used a bit of concealer and eventually mineral makeup to mask the horrible patches of redness. There’s nothing wrong with teens using make up to boost their self esteem if they have acne or whatnot.
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We werent allowed to wear makeup to school, but some girls wore coverup and mascara, which I dont have a problem with if it covers their pimples and makes them feel better. I started wearing it around 18 when I went out and then basic foundation, lipgloss and mascara to uni. Basically because I became friends with a girl who wore foundation to cover her freckles. Covering my freckles hadnt occured to me, so I started wearing foundation too thinking my freckles were ugly
I love them now!
I’m really surprised how much makeup girls today get away with wearing to school, even when their school supposedly has a no makeup policy. I’ve seen some girls in my neighbourhood who go to a supposedly strict and prestigious private girls school and they wear more makeup than I do for a night out!
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I started wearing makeup once I left school. I was 17. This was only because I was out of the reach of my parents rules. As soon as I finished school, I left home and went to uni….. you see my Mother was one of the strictest Mum’s I know. She would have been a great candidate for World’s Strictest Parents!
No wearing make up, no hairspray, no wearing black, no going to parties or school dances etc. It was smothering!
Though having said that I won’t allow my daughter to wear black (having said that she is only 2!)
I guess me not wanting to wear make up all of the time now was born through having to apply a full face every day for 15+ years working in the corporate world.
I am quite happy to go to lunch with my girlfriends, out to dinner with my husband, out grocery or clothes shopping without an ounce of make up on, and now when I do apply make up, I find it rather fun
)
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I had two friends whose mothers never let them wear black either and I never got to ask them why not. Could tell me your and your mothers reasoning behind that decision? This is a genuine question, I’m just interested
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My mum didn’t let me wear black either! It was weird and I think her reasoning was that it made me look old or something, but I never really understood why.
I also wasn’t allowed to pierce my ears (she eventually relented when i was 11) because she grew up in an era where ‘nice girls’ didn’t have pierced ears.
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I wasn’t allowed to wear black either. Reason given was “Its for adults”. Maybe it was the connotations with sexiness? Who knows.
On the other hand, my ears were pierced at 4. Go figure.
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My mum was really strict so i didn’t wear a lot of makeup and I really never got into it. i’ve always had good skin so i guess that’s a big part of it. i’m not good with makeup so i don’t feel confident that when i’m wearing it, it looks good or is applied properly. I get my lashes tinted so i don’t have to wear mascara to work, i hate the feeling of not being able to properly remove makeup at night and often find the makeup removers harsh on my skin, even the gentle ones
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I only started wearing it to cover my acne. I never really cared about wearing the stuff before and I only really used concealer.I was very self concious of the acne around my chin and mouth so it was basically just to make me feel better, not to impress anyone else or anything. Now I enjoy wearing makeup and experimenting however its still fairly natural and not too heavy.
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Interesting to read how many people wore makeup to cover acne, as though it is necessary to cover it.
Though I had acne all through my teens and beyond, I don’t think it occurred to me that it was important to cover it up. I didn’t like it, but I didn’t allow it to affect my self-esteem.
I was probably about 22 before I started to wear makeup. And it’s taken me a good 10 years to work out how to apply it properly.
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I dont know what triggered for me but all of a sudden I was embarrased by the pimples and reddness over my face so felt I had to cover them. I guess its hard when not every kid has bad skin. I always felt yuck next to my best friend who had the most amazing skin you have ever seen. I wish I could have been as confident as you Sparky but alas the oily mountains on my face got the best of me haha!
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Hi bee – believe me, I understand! All my friends had perfect, perfect skin and I was very aware that mine wasn’t even a distant cousin-by-marriage to perfect. Nor is it now.
I am a lot more self-conscious now, though I try not to be. Glad I wasn’t so much back then
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For me it was the fact that my acne flared up a good 4-5 years before most people my age. And it wasn’t the dozen pimples a month type. My whole face was covered in pimples non-stop for years.
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I very rarely wore make-up at school, I just didn’t feel the need for it – I had great skin as a teenager and was the envy of all my friends who were all worried about pimples, blackheads and whatnot. However after over a decade in sunny Australia and four kids later my skin is terrible
My aunt once advised me not to wear make-up all the time because I wouldn’t be able to feel special on the occasions I wanted to be special which sort of made sense to me.( I remember vividly certain girls at school who looked the same no matter what occasion – Yule Ball or Final Exam.)
I still live by that rule – as a SAHM I don’t feel the need to put make-up on on a regular basis but if I’m doing something special I will.
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