I may be different here, but from an early age, I have had difficulty appreciating makeup. This may be because I would get increasingly frustrated when I’d hear people complain about how they felt “ugly" or “incomplete” without it. To me, seeing people without makeup gave them an aura of confidence (even if they didn’t feel it) that I felt was far more attractive than any product.

So, I decided to do a little bit of research on makeup and how people see it. I surveyed both users and non-users of makeup to get their thoughts, and to try to gain a deeper understanding of their perspectives.

Volume I:
Makeup Users

When does makeup use start?

This varies per person, but based on the survey, there is a huge spike in makeup use right around the age of thirteen. All I can account for is my understanding (which comes from television/media), but it seems that once one becomes a teenager, makeup use becomes a right of passage. In these depictions, many a young lady begins hounding her mother for the right to wear makeup only to be told that they have to wait until they are at least thirteen to start.

What impact does makeup have on self-image?

When it comes to the impact makeup has on self-image, more than half of makeup users responded that yes, makeup improves their self-image by over 50%. However, those that felt that way varied greatly in terms of the amount of money that they spent on makeup per year. The same variation in financial spending also applied to those that feel that makeup only improves their self-image by 20% or less. So there seemed to be no direct correlation between the personal value of makeup and financial spending, which I find to be interesting.

How does makeup impact public image?

When asked if makeup users feel that makeup improves their public image (how others see them), 43% of survey takers actually felt that their public image improvement was less than their self-image improvement while wearing makeup. Meanwhile, 19% of responders felt that their public image and self-image improvement were about equal. The remainder of responses showed that their public image increased more, some by double, in comparison to their self-image improvement with makeup on.

Going out without makeup

I asked the survey takers if they ever go out in public without their makeup. Only 16% rarely or never went out in public without their makeup. 38% claimed to go out in public without makeup the majority of the time. The remainder of responses were generally situational, wearing makeup when going grocery shopping, meeting friends, going to the gym, etc., but claimed to spend roughly 25% of their time in public without makeup on.

Why makeup?

After reviewing the responses, I was faced with the reality that I know zilch about makeup and the self-image of those that wear it. Big “surprise”… people are different. Although they share some commonalities, their experiences, and reasons behind using makeup all differ. Then again, that is part of the reason I started the survey— I have a very limited scope of understanding of makeup use and it shows.

Fortunately, the last question of the survey was, “Is there anything else about makeup that you would like to say, particularly about how it impacts your self-image?” Here are some responses, which may help create a better level of understanding:

“I just think it’s fun to wear.”

“I wear makeup primarily for work. As a teacher, I need to make sure my image represents my school, and I worry my adult acne isn’t super professional looking, or that it makes me look younger than I am. I feel more confident and more adult with simple makeup (concealer, light powder foundation, a little blush, and maybe mascara if I’m feeling ambitious!).”

“It's fun to be able to change your look as you like. I know it really doesn't make a difference to others, I wear it for me.”

“My mother always said that we should show our best selves to the people that we love, and that’s why she did her hair and makeup every day. I see myself taking that line of thinking, and taking a little extra time to show my best self to my son, my students, etc. I hope they give their best back to me. That’s what makes me feel beautiful.”

"Sometimes I call putting on makeup ‘putting on my armor.’ It helps me feel confident and flawless so I can face certain social battles.

“I also don’t wear makeup every day. First off, it’s a lot of work. But secondly, I don’t want people used to seeing me with it and then when I don’t wear, they think ‘oh, she’s got pimples and dark spots (flaws),’ i.e. ‘she’s not as pretty without makeup’. I want my made-up face to be for special occasions and not the norm. People aren’t perfect and I would never want perfection to be the expectation. Natural Beauty is the goal, makeup is just a heightened form of it when the occasion or my self-image/confidence calls for it.”

“I wear it when I want to look put together. People often ask me if I'm not feeling well when I don't wear it.“

“One thing I don’t like about makeup is that once you start wearing it, you feel the need to continue doing so. If you put that face forward and people are used to seeing you with makeup, they then think it’s weird when you don’t wear any. Most people will say something like ‘wow, you don’t sleep at all last night, did you?’ ‘You look exhausted.’ No, I feel great. I’m just not wearing makeup. So I feel that I look much worse without it. If I never started wearing it, it wouldn’t be an issue. But because I wear it much more often than I don’t, it becomes the new normal. It makes it difficult to stop.”

“I wear makeup for me. Even though it boosts my confidence and I think helps my public image, I feel good about myself with a little mascara and blush on. I don’t wear makeup to impress or please other people.”

“I used to wear makeup all the time as a self-image crutch but over the last few years (once I turned 20-ish) it's turned into a hobby and art form for me. Now I only wear makeup when I'm interested in pouring some love into myself and creating art that enhances my favorite parts about myself.”

“I’ve always believed makeup is there to enhance your natural beauty. Even though I have pretty low self-esteem, I have never felt like I HAD to wear makeup.”

"I know that makeup is not essential to my survival.  It is a choice I make to wear it.  It is an art form and it makes me feel so much more confident.  It’s plain fun.”

“My make-up use has definitely decreased as my confidence in my self overall (as a student, friend, girlfriend[…] person in general) has increased. I also never really enjoyed wearing makeup outside of theater so for me, it was always about trying to look more socially acceptable.”

“I wore it for almost a year straight, and there are times where you forget what you look like without it, which can be pretty shocking.”

“[It] Makes me seem more professional.”

“It is an opportunity to be expressive more than it is about presenting yourself to appeal to people.”

“I wear it for me. I’m on 7 days right now with nothing other than mascara, but I’ve got a Sephora order coming tomorrow that I’ll for sure wear.”

“Makeup allows me to stop worrying about whether people I speak to are distracted by my skin/imperfections. It makes me feel more put together and beautiful.”

“I hate that I feel that makeup is essential to make me look good! I've been trying to wear less, it [is] so time-consuming and expensive.”

“I feel more professional when I wear makeup as it evens out my skin. I don't wear a lot, keep it natural, but like a little something.”

“I find that people who wear makeup all the time become dependent on it, and it is much more noticeable when they are not wearing it. I would rather wear it once in a while and have someone compliment me, versus wearing it all the time and people around me notice when I’m not wearing it, causing comments to be more along the lines of ‘you look tired, you look sick, is everything OK, etc.’”

“If I am feeling sad or self-pitying it can turn my mood around to put makeup on. It can make me instantly feel more confident when my natural confidence is faltering a bit. This is not to say I don’t feel confident without it usually but we all have our moments. Especially a bold lipstick because it forces you to stand out when you want to hide away.”

“For me, I like being able to express myself through makeup, it's not a necessity, rather, an accessory.”

“I'm a quiet person and makeup is a comfortable nonverbal means of communicating with people around me. Also, I have terrible rosacea and it helps me feel like a human (as opposed to a monster).”

“It just gives me a slight boost, like, ‘wow, I did that with my eyeliner.’”

“Earlier this year, I broke out a lot on my face. It made me feel better to wear makeup because of this, especially at work. To me, it made me feel extremely unprofessional.”

I would love to go back and ask survey takers to add why they started wearing makeup when they did— I feel that would yield even more interesting information. I would ask survey takers why they started wearing makeup when they did, why did they want to start so badly, and why did they have to wait until thirteen?

Makeup users— I’d love for you to comment below and let me know if this stereotypical television plot is close to your experience, or if yours was totally different!

Up next in Volume 2, we'll look at perspectives of non-makeup users.

Whatismyhealth © 2018