I wear more products when I wear makeup than I did when I was younger (more steps), but I’m more willing to wear none at all now than I was when I was starting out.
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More. I think I’m better at application and ending, so it may not appear like I’m wearing a lot. But I definitely apply more products and layer to make it last longer.
More!
It helps that I have a job where I can wear whatever I want now. After a 15 yr career in healthcare I am now a gallery owner. No more proper, poised & professional – I can wear as little or as much product as I’d like. I do find I have more I’d like to cover up as I age (melasma/chloasma/sundamage/ fine lines). But mostly I think as we age we lose a lot of natural coloring (lips fade, hair color fades, brows wane, etc) so we need to add more color rather than less as I’ve heard several ‘experts’ claim.
Agree with you about losing colour as we get older. (I don’t know where my eyebrows have gone now I’m in my 40’s!), so adding some brow colour and even just a hint of lipstick helps me so much.
Also I have read somewhere (wish I knew where!) that that our skin does loose colour as we age; we go grey for example. So putting on make up must be the easiest ways to reverse the signs of ageing (& in that one sentence I have completely justified all make make purchases for ever more as it won’t cost as much as a facelift 😉
Well, it seems to have varied during stages of my life spanning many years, so this is a bit tricky for me to answer accurately?
13-17: beginner years spent learning my skills, average amount of makeup, I suppose.
18-30: tweaked those skills to professional mua level status for a bit!
30-34: too busy/tired most days to do much unless I was going somewhere!
34-50: a lull in my creativity, for so many reasons….
50- present: got my game and my passion for the art back! So I definitely wear quite a bit more now, safe to say!
Definitely more – I like to wear a lot of product, even if it’s minimal. When I was younger and first getting in to makeup, I’d wear foundation (liquid or powder), eye makeup and lipstick. Now that I’m older, I also wear eye primer or a cream eye color as a base, concealer (although I haven’t been using it this summer), brow powder, blush, bronzer, highlighter, lash primer, mascara, setting powder, finishing powder and setting spray. I love my getting-ready-makeup time in the morning.
I wear about the same amount of makeup as I did when I started. Maybe a bit more as trends have changed. As a teen I put a clear brow gel in my brows but I didn’t use a color product in them. Also bronzing, contouring and highlighting weren’t major trends. I own much more makeup so I force myself to wear it though I am ok going in public without any on.
More because I wore very little to start with – foundation and lipstick were my look through high school at least. I wear more now because my basic look, esp in the summer, is foundation, corrector/concealer, eyebrow tint, mascara, blush, and finishing powder.
I definitely wear more as I have gotten older. When you are younger, even if you have problem skin, you can wear a full coverage foundation and concealer. As you age your skin loses elasticity, it becomes crepey, it loses radiance and frequently hyperpigmentation develops. All of these require different methods and products to treat and to cover or conceal. Even then, you are never able to adequately replicate the look of young skin. I have added so many steps to my makeup and skin care routine in an effort to deal with these issues.
I wear a lot more now than when I was younger. And more colors–huge fan of ColourPop and Coloured Raine. (My husband and I have issues.) I’m a lot more confident with color–I’ve always been drawn to color but I think when you’re older, you can pull off more intense looks than when you’re younger. I hit a point where sexy–especially with the pornification of women–is a degrading concept. Very much like modesty. Instead, I go for interesting, elegant, and I want it to look right with how I dress.
I also do a lot of skin care–I try not to use foundation, and when I do, as little as possible.
I definitely find that I wear more make up. I finally realised I don’t need an “occasion” to look good.
The amount of makeup I wear has gone up and down, depending on how busy my life’s been. I wear more in the last decade than when I was having and raising my kids. I wear a greater variety of products than in my teens and early 20s, but probably about the same amount of makeup overall (a full face). Of course, I wear it very differently now that I’m in my late 40s.
I have more variety and more products, but my face doesn´t look as made up anymore.
I’ve always been okay with wearing no make-up, but I find that when I do, I tend to wear less in general.
I think this might be because the schools I went to never allowed make-up, so I never really got to experiment until college. The internet was still a rarity in my country back then, so my resources were local fashion magazines, and the “proper” make-up style in Indonesia is… A lot, to say the least. ^^;
Anyway, back when I started I wore a lot more make-up because I thought that’s what I was supposed to do. After years of exploring, though, I find that I’m more comfortable wearing less products overall (as it turns out, I have sensory processing disorder that makes thick base make-up extremely uncomfortable, oops).
I think I end up wearing more neutrals as well nowadays, but WAY more glitter than i used to wear.
More: Brow and concealer/color corrector
Less: Everything else except lipstick, mascara and blush (have remained unchanged over the years)
I’ve reached the age where less is more, but it takes a whole lot more steps to wear less. Sounds oxymoronic, but it computes. 🙂
I wear more base more often, but less eye makeup. Now that I’m a mother and in my mid-30s, I need more coverage. That being said, I don’t have nearly the same amount of time to do a full face.
Definitely more! When I was first getting into makeup I would wear a foundation one shade darker than I am, burgundy lipstick, and brown mascara. And I thought I looked hot.
But now I do the whole shebang. Perhaps it’s a lot of products, but I enjoy the routine. It’s my time in the morning to focus on me. Though, there are days where I wake up and I decide to go out with just moisturizer, and I could have never done that even 10 years ago.
More — I didn’t know about highlighter, ways to use multiple shades of eyeshadow or lip colors for different looks, primers. However, I think I look like I wear less, since as I age I look better with more subtle touches and also much more finishing touches like concealers.
Technically, I wear more, but it looks like less. Funny how it can take more makeup to achieve a more natural look!
When I was younger, I always wore dark smoky eyes, but only used one or two eyeshadows and a black liner to achieve it. My eyebrows were naturally full and only required plucking to make them perfect (oh, how I miss that!). I used full coverage foundation and powder, but rarely used any color on my cheeks. And I had just two or three lipsticks that I would alternate between: a brown, a nude, and a dark berry. (Totally 1990s!)
Nowadays, I achieve a much more neutral look, but I’ve added so many products that I never used 20 years ago: primers, eyeshadow palettes, contour, blush, highlighter, and brow makeup. And then there’s my lipstick obsession. I probably have about 60 of them—nudes, mauves, browns, pinks, reds, oranges, purples…
I used to apply everything with my fingers or whatever applicator came with the product. These days I have a big collection of specialty brushes and sponges. And then there’s the mirror. When I was younger I would apply my makeup using the mirror in my powder compact. Now I have a big lighted mirror with regular and 10X magnification so I can actually see what I’m doing!
Definitely more, even though “they” say that as you age, you should use less (“they” also say women my age shouldn’t wear shimmery eyeshadow; “they” can take a hike since “they” clearly don’t have a clue). Anyway, there is just so much more “stuff” now than when I started wearing makeup or even than when I was in my 30’s – primers (and illuminating primers), setting powders, brightening powders, illuminating powders – all of that and more (to say nothing of serums, pre-serums, essences, etc.) So, yes, I do, indeed, use more (and “they” are probably tsk tsking!)
I so agree about shimmery shadows. Matte ones are flat and aging!
I definitely wear more. I didn’t get heavily into makeup until my mid-30s. Prior to that, I just wore pressed powder, eye liner, mascara, blush and lipstick. Now, that I’ve learned and can afford more, I’m wearing eyeshadow, primers, bronzer, concealer and brow products.
I’m the same, I’m more comfortable wearing none but when I do, I do more!
More but such a bigger HE you don’t notice caking.
I wear much less makeup now, since finding a fabulous derm who has helped me to resolve a myriad of skin woes. My skin looks better now than when I was younger, so I apply makeup more strategically, a dot of concealer here and there, etc. Less is more! It sure doesn’t stop me from wanting to try and buy everything new though.
So much more now that I’m older (late 40’s) for the following reasons
– I wore almost none in my teens and 20’s as I was afraid of getting it wrong, so the advent of Mac counters where you could not only buy the product but get shown how to apply it gave me confidence to wear more make-up, and the objective advice from the sales assistants to try something different too. I owe my love of red lipsticks to a Mac sales assistant who said I would rock a red lipstick and she was absolutely right – I do!
– Having more disposable income
– The Internet and blogs such as your Christine has increased my knowledge in all areas of make-up and made it a community.
– I don’t give a stuff so much what other people think anymore! I have just discovered black-eyeliner and smoky eyes, I never wore in my teens and 20’s but now I am finishing eyeliners and have to replace them!
I definitely wear more makeup now and use a lot more makeup/beauty products. As a 60+ year old, I have witnessed the evolution of better and more diverse products as I have aged. But I think I apply my makeup more skillfully now and use better quality products.
I’ve been wearing more as I get older because I’m getting more confident in my makeup skills. 🙂
I wear just about the same amount of makeup as I always have – foundation, powder (or finishing powder), eye shadow, liner, blush, lipstick. It’s just so much more fun now with beautiful products hitting the shelves all the time! Oh, a bit of highlighter and face/eye primer are the only added products I can think of right now.
I came late to the game (39) so I am in the less makeup so I don’t look like a clown. ????But I am expanding for sure.