For Women: Makeup and Fur-Ripping

I use a "crayon" type. It is in between a liquid or gel and a pencil so it goes on easier, but not smudgy - also like all this stuff it takes practice - the more you use it the quicker and easier it gets. I have green eyes and am frequently (at least when I was younger and cuter) told how beautiful my eyes are so I always take extra time and work on them - maybe to take notice from other features that are not quite so attractive.

Sure - I actually copied and pasted it from an email I received from a co-worker. We both we having bad days so she thought I would appreciate it.

I do look nice when I leave for work, but by the time the day is over, I look 10 years older and horrible. That is due to the stress and crying each and every day.

These are waters I've dipped a toe into, but I don't like the temperature. I'm still hanging around on the perimeter for now.

I didn't do anything at all until my mid- 20's. And I really mean that. Lip balm in the dead of winter was about it. No facial moisturizers or special cleansers, hardly any sunscreen even (sometimes). I had, at the time, very good skin and coloring and my eyebrows were of the era -- Brooke Shieldsian, though turned down a notch or two -- without me doing a thing to them.

I'd occasionally shave my legs and armpits. And then occasionally I wouldn't. I hung out with a punk/ alternative demographic who tended to not shave much (unless it was their heads). I cut my hair (into a bob) when I was 13 and then basically didn't touch it again until I was 20, when it was bothering me because it was too long. Would get trims up to the waistband of my jeans for a while after that.

Then when I entered the professional world I started with "real" haircuts and with lipstick and the occasional mascara -- but again, that's it, really. No foundation, no powders, no blush, no eyeliner, no eyeshadow, no nothin'. I'd shave my legs though.

Then I became a mom and went back to doing basically nothing at all except for summer shaving.

I had a professional photographer come to my house to do a photo shoot about six years ago, and a professional make-up artist did her stuff beforehand. She was good, and that made me go "hmmm" about my general anti-makeup-ness. I didn't look garish, just looked a little younger and more awake.

Then my eyebrows started bothering me -- partly they were just dated (too 80's, in their natural state), partly my pregnancy seemed to re-set various aspects of my hair. (My head-hair changed texture, and other-hair seemed to get more... robust.) So I started plucking 'em into shape. (Nothing major, just not so 80's.)

That's mostly where I am now -- tweezers for eyebrows and other strays, and some experimentation with makeup which amounts to one thingie of eyeshadow (four colors), one eyeliner pencil (dark purple -- I have brown/ almost copper eyes, makes 'em pop but "reads" as black), some lipstick, and some lipgloss. And nice haircuts every six months or so. I went to a fancy-pants award ceremony recently and got more dressed up than I had for ages and actually put on a fair amount of makeup, and was pleased with the results. So will keep experimenting.

Oh and I had my first pedicure a bit ago! It was a birthday present for a friend, and we (two other friends) went with her. I liked the end results, but not sure how much I liked the process or the cost. I've re-done my toes myself since, (just clear polish), might keep that up, dunno.

oh to be a natural beauty, like soz.

post a pic.

well, i useta be maybe.

now, not so much. hence increased interest in "beauty products," but i'm still scared of them.

by the way cycloptichorn, don't relax too much. men are the next big growth market, and expectations are getting higher and higher.

Ohh - pedicures are the best!

I used to get manicures every other week. I had a standing appointment every two weeks. I had the most beautiful nails.

Then I had children and with all the washing and stuff, my nails are a mess. Now that the kids are beginning to get older - I might just have to go back to a more regular routine again.

Like most blondes, I've always envied people with great natural coloring. Without makeup, I look featureless...a completely blank canvas.

I have that typically pale Irish-English complexion with some freckles that tends to age early and not well. Despite this, I have really good skin for someone in their 50s. I've avoided the sun, never smoked, and I've used good skincare products since my late 20s (Shiseido, expensive but looking at the other women in my family who haven't taken care of their skin, it's been worth it.) Skincare takes me about 5 minutes once a day.

I wear a little less makeup now than I did when I was younger. Typically, that's a light foundation or tinted moisturizer, (no concealer), blush, light brown eyebrow pencil (a must...my brows are blonde, thin and invisible), golden-brown eyeshadow with peach highlighter (my eyes are a changeable blue-green-gray), soft black eyeliner pencil, brown-black mascara, and coral lipstick. Takes me about 10 minutes.

I have a pedicure once a month during the summer (sandal season.) Ignore it the rest of the year. No manicures. My fingernails are very thin, so I keep them relatively short. I don't like spending a lot of time on them.

I'm one of those who doesn't have to shave very often. Body hair is very fine and blonde...barely noticeable. I may shave my legs once every 3 weeks or so...even less in the winter.

Soz, hon, I really don't think so! I saw one photo of you once for about 2 seconds, and still feel a bit stunned at your beauty.

I started full-time Corporate work when I was 20. At the time (early 1980's) virtually ALL of my female co-workers wore makeup, and plenty of it.

Also at the time I had bad acne, which I really wanted to cover as much as possible. This didn't go away until I took Accutane in my late 20's, and it never really did come back, thank goodness.

Anyway, I got so very tired of my morning routine after almost 20 years of it.

It was, frankly, glorious to go without a speck of makeup for some 12 years. I rinsed my face a lot, esp. at work; it was so very refreshing! Like pressing a "reset" button.

I've worked at the library for 2 years now, and only started wearing any makeup at all in the past (lemme think) 4-5 months.

Since I'm only wanting to cover the really scary bits, nobody has noticed: not co-workers, not long-time patrons... nobody, except for one 18-year-old coworker, who said "OMG you're wearing makeup! It looks great!"

For work I almost never wear eyeshadow or eyeliner. I'll cover my (SO dark) eye circles with my "lavender" concealer, then I'll use (powder/mineral) foundation, a very nifty bronzer from Everyday Minerals that has sunscreen, and I am done!

Anyway, Ladies, I really think Soz didn't/doesn't wear makeup because she doesn't need it.

There really are scary products out there. Expensive, skin-damaging, troublesome, and uncomfortable. Your caution is completely understandable.

Since I've discovered this Mineral Makeup fad (yes, I know, I'm WAY behind the times here) I feel a lot better about wearing makeup.

You know I've never had one?
And I've had two manicures in my entire life.
I think I'm just plain cheap!

A natural blond! I understand there are at least 2 or 3 of them in the US.

Jeez, just the lack of Fur-Ripping would be delightful! I'll think of you the next time I shave my mustache.

Oh, has anyone else tried those fairly-recent inventions, the all-day lipcolors? Lots of companies make them now.

They usually have one end with the color... you put it on your bare lips, wait 2 mins for it to dry, then put on the other end, which is clear.

Seems to me that all the brands I've tried so far leave my lips feeling really dry, no matter how much of the "moisturizing" bit I apply.

And you can forget about the 12/18-hour promises. Mine stay on 2-3 hours, tops.

The hair on my head turned light brown when I was a teenager, but the rest of me kept the blonde coloring. Even light brown is too dark for my complexion. It makes me look very tired. So I've colored my hair ever since. Right now, it's very similar to my avatar. (I go every 6 weeks. I stopped doing it myself about 15 years ago when I got a bad box at the drugstore that turned my hair green.) I understand from my stylist that I have quite a bit of gray now, and I may stop coloring my hair once it all turns gray. I don't care for half-gray hair, but full gray can be lovely. (Probably needs to be colored for that effect...would be my luck.)

I've never thought of you as having any kind of blando face, Eva.. Of course I've seen you with makeup, but still.. character shows.

On the grey, it's taken me a long time to gray (in contrast to an aunt and uncle who turned white in their twenties) - and I've still got a lot of brown hair but now with some grey/silver streaks or swaths. I've always sort of liked that streak look, though mine is not as prominent as, say, Susan Sontag's used to be.

I'm pushing seventy (although not shoving just yet), so I'm real aware of the clown like brightening (in one point of view) that older women can use. Some do it with flair. I remember the Courtesy Lady at the hospital I worked at as a teen - she must have been in her mid to late seventies. She dyed her hair red, wore purple crepe or royal blue dresses, with scarves to match, and had very rosy cheeks. Much as I/we all loved her, this is just not me. The kind of semi-quieting that goes with a really aging face makes sense to me - as long as it's semi. Hmmm, once I turn all grey, maybe I'll patch in a brown streak..

Yes, I have! I tried quite a few of them and the only one I liked was from
Covergirl - has the lipstick and a separate chopstick to keep the lips moist.
I only use that brand now, the others are too dry on my lips.

Covergirl # 598 which is a sort of nude color suits me the best.

I use Max Factor.

It IS a bit drying....but who in the name of perdition has time to worry about their goddam lipstick once it goes on?

I've got similar issues to Eva -- was blonde as a lil jes, then it turned mousey brown, then steely greyish and it just looks awful with my coloring. Hence I am a suicide blonde.

Plus she and I could probably trade makeup. Peach, pink, gold and champagne colors usually work best on me and usually in that order. I don't use much lipstick but when I do it has to be some sort of a peach shade.

I use a foundation and the last one I bought was a shade darker. Big mistake; I looked a good 10 - 15 years older. Back to the older kind, even with a tiny bit of real tanning, it still looks better on me (ivory or cream beige is my color, not natural beige). Eyebrows are going because of low thyroid, but I don't paint them too often.

On a daily basis, it's usually: ivory foundation, brown pencil type eyeliner, dark brown mascara (sometimes blue for both of these), peach or pink or light brown shadow, then a peach or light coral blush, plus clear or slightly tinted lip gloss, with the lipstick added if I am going out or on a job interview. Never do my nails (top or below) except to clip them. I think I have a sensitivity to polish.

Oh and lots of moisturizer these days, in pretty much every place you can think of, but it can be overdone and I can still get acne. Always a delight to see crow's feet and acne together. Ai yi yi.

You're right, we could trade make-up!
I also use ivory foundation and warm, peachy-coral shades. Cool colors don't work for me, with the exception of a little blue-green around my eyes.

Oh, and thanks, Osso...but you haven't seen me without make-up (and won't, if I can help it!) Whenever I've gone in for cosmetic makeovers, they remove my makeup and just stand there, lost. I have to remind them they can put whatever features they want pretty much anywhere they want them. I really am a blank canvas.

It is worth it. I know only go here and there - usually before a vacation where my toes will be exposed. You need to go where they soak your feet in a whirlpool type tub and many have those massaging chairs as well. They massage your feet it is heavenly.