My husband tells me I don't look better with makeup. It's possible I've never found the right thing?

But hair I need to do something with. Mine is 2B-3A (depending on the layer) wavy. Actually spending a few minutes to plop it overnight and style it in the morning goes a long way.

I think I look better withOUT make up (which is not a compliment to me 😆). Maybe it is because I’ve never really known “how” to apply makeup properly, not sure. But it always looks fake/caked on, no matter how lightly I apply it or what blenders, brushes I use (for examples, even natural colored lipstick looks “off”, mascara is always clumpy and flaking, LM tinted moisturizer and concealer always settles into the fine lines under and around my eyes, etc).

At age 30 I could get away with not wearing makeup but at age 54 not so much …

Anonymous wrote:I’m a brunette but I have blonde eyelashes and eyebrows. I really look different when I have no makeup on. Even dh does a double take. I think the vast majority of people would say I wear very little makeup, but they’d be wrong. I think I’m beautiful with mascara and eyebrows powdered. Under eye concealer goes a long way for me too.

People who have seen me without makeup comment that I look sickly. Sigh.

I could have written this. How in the heck did I end up with near black hair and blonde eyebrows and eyelashes!! It's still a mystery to me. I wish it were the other way around. Mascara, eyeliner, and eyebrow pencil takes me 3-5 minutes but makes 100% difference to my appearance. I'm fair skinned so I look completely washed out with no makeup

i dont leave the house w/o gloss & eyeliner
my hair? umm

For me, I think it's more like, if I brush my hair, I look sane, and if I put on makeup, I look like I have more money and power.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I put eyeliner on and my own FATHER said to me "You look beautiful! A little makeup sure makes a big difference." OMG

When I was 15 my mother told me that I should always wear mascara and lipstick, and that I was not one of those girls who can get away without makeup.

Once her friend was over and said "Your daughters are so beautiful -- they don't need a speck of makeup!" And she responded, with us sitting there, "Oh trust me, they DO need it!"

Horrible, but honestly she wasn't wrong. I look sick/dead without a little makeup, and pretty good with it.

Are we sisters maybe? My mother used to say this when I was about 15 or so.

She was wrong then (1980ish) but she was stuck in her 1960s ways, complete with AquaNet. I had beautiful high contast coloring and lashes that looked fake. And fat lips before that was cool.

Now though, I do need that mascara and concealer or I look like Covid

Anonymous wrote:I put eyeliner on and my own FATHER said to me "You look beautiful! A little makeup sure makes a big difference." OMG

When I was 15 my mother told me that I should always wear mascara and lipstick, and that I was not one of those girls who can get away without makeup.

Once her friend was over and said "Your daughters are so beautiful -- they don't need a speck of makeup!" And she responded, with us sitting there, "Oh trust me, they DO need it!"

Horrible, but honestly she wasn't wrong. I look sick/dead without a little makeup, and pretty good with it.

I am pale with light hair and eyes and I think I look fine without makeup but I definitely look better with a little mascara and lipstick.

A hack I have for this is to wear a very flattering pair of glasses (which I need -- I am horribly nearsighted). Even without makeup the glasses provide some contrast on my face that I don't naturally get from my lashes or brows.

I also have some very fast updos that look more polished but take no effort and work even when my hair is frizzy. Wearing my hair in a top knot is like a mini face lift.

I definitely look better if I take 10-20 minutes and do a proper face of makeup and style my hair but since this is apparently too much for me most days the glasses and a bun look actually works okay especially if my clothes are also flattering.

There is a phenom I've seen at the office (and other places, but I'm there most). You're either the "wow you clean up nicely!" when you don't wear makeup so people know what you actually look like, and when you DO wear makeup its like youre some glamazon

or the

"Wow are you feeling ok? You look sick/tired/etc" the one time you head in without wearing makeup.

I decided long ago that I'd rather be in the first category haha. This is what I look like 95% of the time, may as well get used to it. I do love a nice excuse to get dolled up, but aint no way I'm doing it more often.

I put eyeliner on and my own FATHER said to me "You look beautiful! A little makeup sure makes a big difference." OMG

Anonymous wrote:I’m a brunette but I have blonde eyelashes and eyebrows. I really look different when I have no makeup on. Even dh does a double take. I think the vast majority of people would say I wear very little makeup, but they’d be wrong. I think I’m beautiful with mascara and eyebrows powdered. Under eye concealer goes a long way for me too.

People who have seen me without makeup comment that I look sickly. Sigh.

Yes, I think this is it for me as well: eyebrows and eyelashes. Mine are very fair. Even if I do just those two things I immediately look much, much better.

I'm sort of like the 2nd poster. I have medium olive skin, dark hair and high-contrast features. Makeup, especially when I was younger, does very little to change my appearance. Now, if find that adding a bit of blush makes my middle-aged face look a bit more alive, but the difference is subtle. My hair is somewhat fine, but wavy/curly and tends to get frizzy. Blowouts look nice, but take FOREVER, so I never bother and learned how to (lazily) style and love my curls.

I’m a brunette but I have blonde eyelashes and eyebrows. I really look different when I have no makeup on. Even dh does a double take. I think the vast majority of people would say I wear very little makeup, but they’d be wrong. I think I’m beautiful with mascara and eyebrows powdered. Under eye concealer goes a long way for me too.

People who have seen me without makeup comment that I look sickly. Sigh.

Some people are like that, OP. It doesn't signify much, except that your hair can be easily restructured from its natural state, and your face is a blank canvas.

I don't change much: my Asian hair will not curl no matter what (except on really humid days like today where it takes a little more volume!), my face already has dark eyelashes and full lips, and my skin is fine as it is. Putting on stuff is a waste of time.

For fun, sometimes, I do stuff - usually sparkly eyeshadow. I love sparkly eyeshadow, probably because it's the only thing that actually changes my face. And gloss, but not if I'm going to drink or eat anything.

I go from awful looking to pretty good looking with a 5 min hair routine and 5 minute makeup routine. Would you say it is normal to look so much worse without hair and makeup?