Who influenced your make up choices when you were growing up? Share!
My best friend during high school – she was into Benefit and MAC, and those were my first two brands I bought from. She was way, way more knowledgeable and into makeup and hair than I was. I didn’t catch the bug until college!
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My parents — in that I wasn’t allowed to wear any! I didn’t start wearing makeup until I was 18. At that point, I was very inspired by youtube vloggers, as they were whom I relied upon to teach me how to apply makeup.
My mom. She is a Clinique devotee and always has been. My first makeup items were Clinique and I used almost exclusively Clinique (mostly the stuff my mom would give me that she didn’t want from her bonuses!) until I discovered Sephora after college. I didn’t really dabble in drugstore makeup until recently when I started exploring beauty blogs, YouTube, makeupalley, temptalia, etc.
Also, I have always been scared to step foot in Mac until a few months ago! I never knew how to explain what I wanted or was looking for, so I didn’t want anyone helping me! But a friend of mine works at Mac and I went in for an appointment and now I love it. 🙂
My aunt Peach (not really an aunt, but my grandmother’s best friend and a wonderful lady) told my sister and I when we were perhaps 6? that we should put off wearing face makeup as long as possible, because (she said) the putting on and taking off of it makes you look older faster. We took that very seriously as she always had a full face of makeup on!
I was not into makeup at all.. DIdnt even knew how to draw eye liner untill i passed college.. after that one of my close friend started using eye liner and there I go.. She inspired me to start with liners and thenI stumbled upon some beauty blogs like yours.. rest is history now!! 🙂
I was quite a chubby dark-fashioned teenager and my sister was a popular girl with a skinny body and blonde hair. She wore pale lips and too dark a foundation, and I grew to hate her so much that I went the opposite direction. Of course, I don’t hate her now but I have a penchant for bright colours, foundation done properly and dark lips. I had my favourite idols that were partly my favourite because my sister didn’t understand them – alternative girls like Amelia Arsenic, Amy Doan and Ophelia’s Overdose. I still retain that love for them and I’m infinitely grateful for being inspired to be creative with makeup at an early age, even if it used to be a filler to make up for what I lacked. (That wasn’t a pun)
I didn’t really have a distinct influence – my mother didn’t wear makeup in my teen years, and my sister had a very distinct look that she wore every day. I didn’t start wearing it myself until I was in my mid-twenties. But, oh, it was all down hill from there. XD
Definitely Gwen Stefani and Shirly Manson.
My mom – she rarely wears makeup so I didn’t either, until about a year ago. For us, makeup was for special occasions. In addition, my father wouldn’t let me wear any while I was in school. So I really didn’t know anything about makeup while I was growing up, nor did I have much interest. I have sort of awkwardly figured it out over the course of my life, and now I read a lot of blogs and magazines! As I started getting older and losing some of my youthful luster, I did feel the need to put some color back in my face, hence my newly discovered interest.
My mom still doesn’t wear any. She doesn’t need it.
By far it was my Aunt. She always always bought me very expensive makeup for Christmas. I learned at an early age (15) to appreciate the differences (not in everything though). But when I was a teenager we didn’t have Sephora or the internet. And I also couldn’t afford the higher end makeup, so I was very appreciative of her introducing me to the finer lines.
My mom and my family members were never really into makeup. However, my mom was very supportive of me wanting to experiment with it. I wasn’t as daring with color at the time, and mainly wanted to enhance my features and cover blemishes, so I think it made it easy for her to allow my to try higher end brands and play around.
my cousin’s girlfriend…always dolled up and the my classmates in high school…I went to all girls catholic high school…cant imagine how much makeup some of them piled on…watching them wear makeup got me hooked too…but I think I love the compacts, the design, the color etc…and still hooked on makeup…now lusting for all the Japanese brands at Ichibankao
Mostly online bloggers and youtubers. My mom wears makeup once in a blue moon. She does love Revlon and berry colored lipsticks when she does wear makeup, so I do too.
My grandmother! She had worked at a Merle Norman for a long time and was into skincare and makeup. She bought me things from Clinique, told me that I should file and paint my nails regularly (and did it with me), and would take me to nicer hair salons. My mom wasn’t as interested in all of that, but did encourage me to wear mascara. She told me when I was pretty young that every woman should wear mascara, and I took it to heart. I always felt pretty self-conscious without it because of this.
My older sister. She is six years my senior and she was always very girly. I was always the tomboy/laid back girl. When I got into high school and started to like boys she helped me apply makeup and do my hair. I used to borrow a lot of her lip glosses. She’s the one who got me into Cover Girl. Funny how things turn out though because now I am teaching her about makeup. I fell in love with makeup and ending up learning a I could about it. I discovered youtube videos when they barely came out back when webcams were high quality 😀
The French-Canadian brand Lise Watier. Mrs Watier had a show on tv giving make up tips. I also received a free tutorial DVD with a purchase. My eye quad “les prunes” is the first big make up purchase I ever did. That’s how I learn how to use more than one eyeshadow color.
Later on I got big time into Make up for ever. The make up artist there was always doing my brows for free because I was a good costumer.
My mother. She’s always used solely Chanel (it’s still mostly true these days), and one of my earliest memories is deciphering the name on the brand on a ribbon. As far as I remember, I’ve always associated Chanel makeup with elegance because of this, even if I got into makeup rather late. So naturally, I gravitated toward Chanel when I started wearing makeup, and I can’t seem to get rid of a certain fondness for the brand, even if they do mess up pretty badly sometimes.
I didn’t have any particular influences. My mother wasn’t much of a makeup wearer and her small collection of ancient (like 15-20 year old) typically dusty and broken Clinique products never inspired me to wear makeup- though she did give me a healthy interest in getting those gift-bags with purchase that department store brands do (I don’t know what she bought to get them, or when she ever used the products she must have bought. She’s always been a natural beauty type).
I guess I started to wear makeup as a young teen, in the vulgar way a lot of teen girls do (no base/too much lipgloss and eyeshadow). Then eventually I found my own style, which I guess I’m still refining now.
If I had to name one specific person, I guess it would have to be my mother, since she never hesitated to tell me that something I was wearing “just doesn’t look good!” Then my sister would be telling me, “Don’t pay any attention to her – she’s out of touch with the times.”
So, I really didn’t get a whole lot of useful guidance at home. But I read Seventeen magazine religiously, followed the advice of its beauty editors, and if my friends approved (read: didn’t jeer openly), I went with it.
In time, I developed my own tastes and techniques, and people started asking *me* for beauty advice.
Nobody influenced me … but now when my mom see me she says …
you were able to apply lipstick with so much precision even when u were 5 -6 yr old ….
I think my mom was my role model 🙂
she is so perfect in every possible way … be it clothes … decorating house … cooking …
Still I can easily say … not when I was growing but when I crossed my 31st spring it was temptalia who influenced me …
whatever I Google the result landed me here … I would be honest here
I didnt knew what all blogs are but our interaction n now there is no looking back .
I need one suggestion dear n sorry for writing here ….
pls suggest me …
at thissss point of time what would one should pick (that one is me )
from sephora if she has 50 to 100 dollar budget …
I liked hourglass palette n tarte off the cuff but need your honest opinion 🙂
I would say the Hourglass, because Tarte blushes come out with sets and kits and go on sale all the time (15-20%) off but Hourglass is harder to get at that price point.
Thank u so much dear for reply 🙂
Primarily my mom (who had a massive collection of makeup), my best friend, and whatever was available at the K-Mart in the small city I lived it. It wasn’t until I was in my 30s that I started trying actual beauty counter brands (Estee Lauder, Clinique, Lancome, etc.), and I only discovered Sephora about two years ago.
For me, way back in the 60’s/70’s, it was models and magazine ads/articles far more than any person I actually “knew” and decades before youtube. My mom wore makeup but it was “older lady” makeup and I was far more interested in the looks for teens and a much different look than grown women wore. And my friends were less into makeup than I was so I didn’t really have any influences among my own circle.
My mom. She introduced me to Clinique.
I can’t really think of anyone who influence my makeup choices when I was very young (like those awful middle school years). But my mom was always into Estee Lauder, so as I got older, she definitely influenced my interest in high end makeup.
My mother. She helped me pick out my first lipstick (Twig Satin from Mac), which is still one of my HGs.
She’s also a distributor for NuSkin, so I learned a lot about skin care from her as well.
I only started wearing makeup at late 17 – before then, I’m afraid I associated it with orange cakey foundation and raccoon eyes. My mum doesn’t wear makeup – I would not be exagerrating if I said my dad knew more about makeup than her, and most of my friends wear very minumal makeup (like just mascara and eyeliner). So I’m going to say beauty blogs like yours Christine, have been a big influence on my choices. Thanks for all the help!
that dad comment was funny as hell
Magazines, period films (esp. 18th century) and goth bands were pretty much where I started – no one in my family was really into makeup at all!
My mom and sister, I guess. Though it wasnt “LOVE” for makeup that they started but they did instil some basic hygiene clearly setting boundaries that we dont use someone else’s (meaning my sister’s stash) cause thats unhygienic!
I still remember mom putting light lipstick stain for me and my sister and using the lippy as blush too – but only for very special occasion like wedding or a party!
I was an “only eyeliner” girl for years – coz thats what my sister used. Then my sis did a makeup course but still did not take too much interest in it. My interest increased (though was still limited to basics) when I joined the hotel industry – which demanded full grooming in terms of fully touched up makeup at all times. Post leaving hotels, I was on a “no makeup spree” for a couple of years – it was just the freedom of not HAVING to wear makeup as a necessity/rule!
Mostly my friends. My mom never wore makeup, and I only wore lip gloss as a preteen through high school. When I went off to college, my friends there wore makeup consistently so my curiosity was peaked, and I started to learn the basics from YouTube gurus’s videos. I’m no pro now, but I can pretty myself up when I want to thanks to my friends and YouTube tutorials.
My mother and grandmother influenced my makeup choices. My grandma has always kept a vast collection of makeup that I would experiment with. My mom began to buy makeup for me when I was in middle school, although she has never been into it herself, with the exception of her affinity for weird brown lipstick. (I gave her MAC Spice It Up! recently to get her out of this rut.)
Siouxsie Sioux and Poly Styrene — I wanted so bad to be a fierce punk/goth-y girl somewhere between these two. It looked a little funny since I was in middle/high school in the late 90s/early 2000s, not, y’know, the 70s, but I think rocking a really out-there look helped me to become more confident.
Siouxsie was 80’s, so you would’ve fit in there LOADS better than in polyester and bellbottoms for the 70s. 😀
In general, alternative girls with the crazy hair and bright makeup. They still continue to inspire me almost 6 years later. Mainly Leda from YT in particular, I’m still jealous how she can pull off every hair color imaginable and match her makeup to it flawlessly!
Magazines like Glamour and Seventeen and store displays.
The Mary Kay lady who taught us to do our makeup for a “Junior Miss pageant.” I was 17, and my mom didn’t wear makeup, so I never learned how to do anything, and wore very little.
Sadly, the girls around me at school. The ‘popular’ ones. They wore too much fake tan and a bucket load of eyeliner and mascara. My mum, of course, influenced me a lot. And magazines!
I think I learned most from experimenting. I also read magazines and did stage make up in drama club at school. I drew faces on paper then applied “make up” to the drawings.
Magazines and tv commercials. My mum was still very much into “60’s” make up with blue eyeshadow and all that stuff so I was paying much more attention to the media to follow the trend. Thanks God for that…!
The person who had the most impact on me is South Indian actress Rekha, who did a lot of movies in the 70s. When I was a child in the 90s, I used to read magazines and the back section of newspapers with photos of the actresses and nobody’s style impressed me as much as Rekha’s – and she was already a mature woman by then. She has this signature dark lip that I always associated with being a mature, confident, strong woman – and those were the type of roles she always played! Now I feel like that whenever I wear a dark lip. My favourite blush (Sleek’s Sunrise) also has this effect on me – I feel older, more womanly, very very very powerful.
My family also had a great impact on me, since in my culture, women don’t wear any makeup – except for one thing that I don’t really think of as makeup: eyeliner. We wear a creamy black eyeliner on our waterline, and sometimes on our eyebrows – we even put it on babies and children. So this made me feel beautiful without makeup, and even now I rarely wear makeup. It is just a hobby for special occasions and times that I feel playful and creative.