Why I hate make-up
HippieWizard 15 July 2010 at 15:04
Good stuff, and something I’ve thought about at uni when you see girls with inch-thick layers of foundation on just to go to a lecture. I suppose it shows how little has changed for gender equality if you simply scratch the surface. or that there was an offer on facepaint somewhere.
Elly 15 July 2010 at 15:45
Awesome stuff mark, thanks for writing.
Aliqot 15 July 2010 at 16:01
Good article, indeed! I can’t bear make-up either – or the fact that we are supposed to conform to some imposed ideal – at my age it’s the pressure to ‘colour’ my hair, mind!
Findiglay 15 July 2010 at 16:27
You’re right, but make-up seems to have constituted an integral aspect of ever female culture since the birth of human society.
There’s a book on this subject by an anthropologist, I can’t remember the name of it, ‘blood’ something or other – had a flick through it in the library once but never got around to reading it. anyone know what I might be talking about? :/
Aliqot 15 July 2010 at 17:05
The more I read anthropological articles about men and women, the more I wonder if I am really female (in spite of having three children).
maria 15 July 2010 at 19:30
I’ve been reading your columns now for a few days and I think your great- keep it up!
You have raised a really good point in this piece. I say this as a former makeup addicted female during my early teens (I’m nearly 20 now). I wouldn’t leave the house without masccarra on, even though thinking about, I never needed it my eyelashes are already dark black and pretty long. I’d rather not look like I have spiders sitting on my eyelids. I used to apply layers of bronzer to my already naturally tanned skin, which, looking back, seems really stupid.
I’ve sworn off makeup (including tinted moisturiser) for nearly two month now and feel a lot better. My skin is so much clearer and fresh. I never quite understood the reasoning behind makeup. You look just the same without makeup, if not better. for now, I’d prefer to let my skin breath and would recommened women to try a day without makeup and see how it goes. Chances are you might enjoy the hassle free life!
1R4M 17 July 2010 at 19:34
Men are such hypoctites
they expect us to look absolutely fantastic and groomed 100% ALL THE TIME
then they complain when we do it!
gault 18 July 2010 at 13:21
No, mark, how can you not understand: it’s a talent just to be Brian Dowling.
On make-up, I recommend this http://www.lrb.co.uk/v32/n13/bee-wilson/stuck-with-your-own-… (but sub. only)
Merryn 18 July 2010 at 19:28
I once dated a guy who hated make up when I was 17. he would rant and rave about how much more attractive ‘natural’ women are and how women who can’t leave the house without their ’slap’ on are sad. he turned out to be a violent sexist. There is nothing wrong with people changing / playing with the way they look. Sexism is a problem. Judging women based on how men rank them according to their ’sexiness’ should be the topic here, not make up! by turning the subject back on women you are consipiring with every man who will now feel he can sit back and judge all those ’silly’ women (a great deal of whom are working class) for wearing make up.
Stan Pomeray 19 July 2010 at 13:15
“Good stuff, and something I’ve thought about at uni when you see girls with inch-thick layers of foundation on just to go to a lecture. I suppose it shows how little has changed for gender equality if you simply scratch the surface.”
Oh I don’t know….in the 1980s I saw quite a few guys with inch thick layers of foundation and eyeliner on just to go to lectures…..I think Robert Smith still wears it, which is a bit sad, really (in the original sense of the word!).
Elly 21 July 2010 at 17:51
Mark, you rock. thank you. 
Mind you, I don’t think that it’s a problem with make-up per se. I think it’s wider than that – a problem with women being judged for what we look like so much of the time, as though it were the most important thing about any of us! (Or indeed, important to anybody that we’re not actually trying to attract…) And that judging is *everywhere*, much of it from men, but some from women too.
And as a result, certain things we do to our faces or bodies (from wearing make-up to removing body hair, and an awful lot in between) start to feel compulsory, even when they are *incredibly* wasteful of time, effort and money. And I don’t blame the women who do spend hours on it, not when not doing so can get such a horrible reaction from others.
Thank you for using your column to speak out about this, mark, and for being upset on behalf of the woman in the studio. may I suggest that you’d look rather good in the Fawcett Society’s t-shirt?
Btw, a little piece of trivia you might like: Ancient Egyptians of all genders wore kohl around their eyes essentially like sunglasses, to reduce the glare. especially the (male) workers on the pyramids, who on one occasion went on strike (successfully) because they’d run out of make-up. now *that* use of the stuff I can get behind. 
Sciamachy 28 July 2010 at 16:52
Totally agree. I hate this culture that makes people feel they have to dress, look & conform to certain narrow parameters. what can we do to counteract this?
Jane Plain 29 July 2010 at 06:13
Finally some kind of debate (in a micro way) about this elephant in the room. Cruelty to animals, the epitomy of capitalism (marketing blatantly playing on fear and sex), land-filling packaging, infertility inducing…it’s so sickening. Intelligent women buy into it. the delusion is stupefying. You can look at in anthropological terms, but this doesn’t allow the individuals involved to really see what’s going on. And it’s not adequate to see the issues in terms of men-women-sexual chase (isn’t Brian O’Dowd’s shtick that he’s overly camply gay? maybe, I’m not sure who he is).
It’s not strightforward to be a woman who eschews make-up and is otherwise ‘normal’. And don’t get me started on hair dye…
Courage, women! just be yourself, be healthy, don’t compromise your values. no amount of make up is going to make you more attractive than you already are. some women will resent you tho’ – their problem.
I’ve heard lots of men say they don’t like make up. would love to hear from any men who do like makeup and the reasons why….
kay 29 July 2010 at 06:51
What a wonderfully wise and sensitive article mark. I remember watching a channel 4 doc once where they persuaded a woman to de-slap for a day and that night when she went out to a club, a man came up to her told her she was ugly and should put “some make up on”.
I was also appalled when it became de rigeur to say that Jade Goody looked like a “pig” when she was first in the media spotlight. I can think of many other examples where people dismiss people in brutal terms for how they look. In general terms I think some women will use makeup to feel ready or smart or out of habit, and undeniably some will use it out of a fear not to live up to the elitist beauty ‘ideal’ of Hollywood/fashion.
Helene Davidson 31 July 2010 at 13:07
As some of the earliest artifacts of human civilization were make-up related, I think we can conclude the desire to groom and look as attractive as possible is a phenomenon as old as dirt. as someone who IS as old as dirt, I think it comes down to “why” and not “whether”. If you, as a woman, want to wear it, it makes you feel good bright and perky, fine; if not, equally fine. everyone is judged on appearances, frankly; it is part of our genetic hardwiring that operates below and above the radar
Marianne 31 July 2010 at 18:53
Lighten up! Kay and Dowlings comments were the only thing to make me laugh on that show. as for your comments, I’m a woman and I find your article rather patrionising never mind silly!
emilie 01 August 2010 at 12:31
the piece made my day. Almost once a week every week since I was about 14, someone has said to me “why don’t you put on a bit of makeup, it’ll really suit you” or, when I do choose to put some on “oooh you’re really pretty when you wear makeup”.
I think I’m pretty most of the time, except for when I’m tired or hungover. I like my face as it is. I only actually wear makeup when I think I’m going to see someone who might judge me for not wearing any, or if I want to impress someone – and I almost always end up feeling embarrassed that I felt I had to try so hard.
Ruth 03 August 2010 at 00:08
I went to a girls’ school where half the pupils looked and acted like they’d walked off the set of mean Girls. as a sort of rebellion against the cool kids, and because growing up I thought that you could either be pretty or clever, I didn’t wear make-up, and always dressed in jeans and trainers. It was the start of expressing myself through how I dressed, but honestly, I was far happier when I left school and realised that paying attention to how you look doesn’t mean you’re stupid. Girls, and especially young girls, need to know that they do not need to choose between being intelligent and being well-groomed because at that critical age most will chose Vogue over Voltaire. I’m far happier and more confident now because I am being true to what I’m interested in and to who I am, and that’s someone who reads fashion magazines as well as doing a literature MA.
Girls should not be expected to wear make-up. but equally we need to put a stop to this message that anyone who does is a brainless bimbo. It’s not a healthy message to send out to young girls.
stuart 04 August 2010 at 00:34
something i have always wondered about is if women did not wear make up would they be as ugly as the ordinary man on the street,or could make up make a ugly man attractive to women.
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