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Have you ever been in trouble at work because of your makeup? How have you handled it?
No, but I’m very fortunate that the majority of jobs I’ve had were work from home or for myself.
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Nope. And the day I stopped worrying at my current job was when the VP saw my holographic teal nailpolish, thought it was awesome and told me as such. lol.
What was the nail polish called?
No! Actually I’m lucky to work at a corner of happy&healthy where they allow tattoos, piercings, colored hair and pretty much anything else. I’m not gonna go wearing my teal lipstick ofc, but I feel secure that I can wear any makeup I want, it’s very nice. I like working for them.
Not trouble actually but yes i do get stares and comments for my eye makeup and sometimes bold lip colors.. 😀 😀
I have been lucky to where I haven’t been in trouble with my makeup. My first job I was only 18 and didn’t really wear any back than. When I worked at Macy’s I started to get into it more and than when I got into Cosmetics than I could do whatever I wanted! 🙂 I did a brief stint at the bank and just kept it neutral and now at my new job I can kind of do what I want again, it’s pretty cool!
My best friend used to work at Victoria Secret, pretty early when she started working there her boss told her that they have a certain “image” to maintain and that she would need to start wearing more makeup to meet their image requirements
I worked at VS too and that’s true. They want you to wear sexy sultry eye looks on a daily basis and cover all imperfections.
Not trouble per se, but I have been “spoken to” about it. I worked at a natural makeup counter and I do wear quite neutral makeup. My counter manager told me that I needed to wear more makeup. xD
No, but I’ve always been fortunate enough to possess the good sense not to buck the dress-code. There are so many things to potentially get in trouble for that aren’t as much in my control, so it never made sense to me to go against policy when I had a choice. There have been times my nails were considered too long, or an inappropriate color, and once it was brought to my attention once, I rectified it in time for my next shift (waitressing, and each restaurant had its own policies, and they weren’t always included in the written dress-code).
I’m a waitress too and I’m in absolute agreement with not bucking the dress-code at work.
Nevertheless, I have gotten into trouble for wearing makeup even if the trouble doesn’t come from coworkers or my boss. Mostly from customers. I’ve noticed I get hit on when I’m wearing some basic makeup without glasses. I don’t even wear anything that draws attention like fake lashes, strong lip, or heavy eyeliner.
It gets absolutely awkward when a family I know personally is sitting just a few feet away and I get a loud & rude pick-up line from the table I’m waiting on. Putting on thick frames and donning on no-makeup-makeup has helped forestall such events. I honestly don’t know how more heavily-made-up servers deal with this at other restaurants–especially places where there is a predominantly female wait staff.
I went to a really strict boarding school and got in a lot of trouble for extravagant eye makeup – it was around the time I purchased NARS Tropic and I LOVED it. The deputy headmaster came into the classroom I was having my English lesson in one afternoon and I remember hiding my face behind my hair and he looked directly at me and said my name. By this point, everyone was staring at me and staring at him to see how he’d react, and he said my name again so I had to look at him… busted. He told me to go wash it off and I told him ”no”. It was pretty unheard of to reject a teacher’s orders in boarding school but I had very rigid beliefs about self expression that authority figures passed off as teenage angst. The story’s still a favourite amongst my friends, haha.
Sounds like something I would do. Props to you and standing up for your beliefs! 😀
Blegh! Sounds awful and that headmaster sounds like a jerk tbh. :/ I feel like anywhere and anyone that strictly controls what women do with their bodies (no matter the age, no matter if it’s wearing more or less make up/clothing/ect) is inherently misogynistic. It’s all about having the choice to do what you want.
But kudos to you for sticking up for your beliefs in the face of an authority figure! Bad ass! 🙂
No, but it’s because I always wear work appropriate makeup. However, I’d love to wear more fun, bright things to work. I wish it were acceptable in the workplace (same with piercings and tattoos).
I’ve never worked at a place that had specific rules regarding makeup, but I’ve always kept it pretty neutral, emphasizing my eyes while keeping the rest of my face rather plain. It’s only been in the past year or so that I’ve added a bit more colour by using bold eyeliner and changing up the crease colour.
luckily I’ve never worked with anyone obnoxious enough to have a problem with what I do with my body or appearance, but I do have 2 jobs that both have different sort of dress codes… during the week I’m sales staff, and I do like to try out some crazy eyeshadow looks occasionally, and then on weekends I work as a chef. I can’t wear nail polish for that (for obvious reasons, can’t have the colour flaking off into food!) and it’s often quite hot in the kitchen so makeup tends to just melt off my face – so I wear minimal product, not bcause anyone asked me to, just because it’s kinda uncomfortable to wear a full face of makeup when you’re slaving over a grill or tandoor oven
I once worked at a high class salon as a receptionist . I was only there for about a week because I “didn’t wear enough makeup”. If I had wore any more makeup I would have looked trasby. So I had to resign or get fired. So naturally I resigned. It was ridiculous! The other thing that was a stupid requirement was that if you work there you have to have your hair done there. And for it being a “high class” salon, I wouldnt let them touch my hair. None of the hairdressers or colorists weren’t anything special.
Why do you think you would have looked trashy with makeup on?
I already had plenty of makeup on. I always got compliments on my makeup the way that I did it back then. If I had put anymore on I would have looked terrible.
I work in customer service so they actually encourage us to wear brighter lipsticks! The only trouble we’ll get into is for wearing nudes and beiges.
Not necessarily “trouble” and not “at work” (I still go to uni), either, but just recently I had gotten around 2 or 3 anonymous comments on my Ask.FM account saying I look too made-up for school. None of them are saying I look bad (on the contrary, they actually said I looked great), but their main “issue” is how “there won’t be anything ‘special’ about my face anymore on special occasions because the default image of my face to other people would be my made-up face that I wear to school.”
I simply laughed them off and even said thanks to the comment complimenting how well I did my makeup. Crazy how some people really can’t keep their noses to themselves, really. I didn’t know there were hidden guidelines to freedom of expression. :O 😀
I work on a make up aisle so I have a pretty free run, especially at Christmas. I’ll wear false lashes and glitter in as example looks for customers. Otherwise I work at home and my degree was in fashion so anything went there!
Hi all! I experienced the contrary thing: if I went to work without makeup it would be a trouble.
Once I went to work without makeup a lot of people – are all males! – asked me if I was ill or if there were anytihing wrong. For this people make-up means to see colour on the eyes…they don’t notice all the rest :\
I’m a teacher, teaching 6-7 year old children. Some of them have been very truthful about my make up. For example, I was trying out a navy cream eyeshadow and the children asked had someone hit me, as I had ” black eyes.” I recently wore a teal cream shadow and for some reason put it on in my bedroom with very subdued lighting. That was one time I wish someone had told me that I looked like a clown. That afternoon I saw myself in the bathroom mirror and I looked as if I was one of my pupils experimenting with mum’s eyeshadow!
I had previously worked in a visible desk where a professional look which includes makeup is required. Since the clothing is for corporate obviously the makeup never includes glitter. That said, bold colors are usually fine for lips but not for eyes. Unfortunately, in my current position there are a number of people including my direct supervisor who are very involved with their churches and they make a great effort to get employees not to wear makeup and colored nail polish. I’ll never understand why these people don’t realize that we are not at church and cosmetics are part of a woman’s professional appearance even if they only wear a moderate amount..
No. I can’t imagine being in trouble over make up. I think you’d need to show some pretty poor judgment to get into trouble in the workplace about makeup. Fragrance, sure (I don’t know about the US but in Canada, it’s becoming more and more common that fragrance and scented products like some hairsprays, body washes, deodorants, etc. are banned).
Nope, and thank god! I just started a new job and I am still testing the waters a bit, seeing how far I can go with color and whatnot. So far no one has said anything. If they ever make a problem of it though, I might have to reconsider and find something else. Make-up is SO important to me, and my make-up looks express who I am. My make-up style is part of who I am. So you can take it or leave it, but it’s all or nothing 🙂
No, thankfully! I have worked in a male medium security correctional facility for almost 30 years and I have never been told to stop wearing makeup–or to even tone it down. So I am assuming that I look professional.
Not so far, but I’ve been getting side-eyed for years over my “daytime” smokey eyes/lips colors, clothing and hats/flower garlands/other wacky accessories.
When I was in high school, I had a job at this discount grocery store, and my boss was super nasty. I wore this yellow Sephora by OPI nail polish, and she kind if passive aggressively referenced it. Thankfully, since then I’ve had much more open minded jobs! I worked at Macy’s in fragrances for two years, and since the fragrance department is part of cosmetics I could do basically whatever I wanted–seriously. And my manager loved it, because if I was wearing MAC I’d tell the customers and they’d go buy it. I now work as a research assistant at Yale, and I do have to tone it down quite a bit since it’s an office job. It’s not super strict though, because it’s a job that a lot of young people get right out of school, so I can have a little fun with color 🙂
I work for myself, so I don’t have to worry. But if I do have a meeting, I will definitely wear makeup that is appropriate for the situation.
I get in “trouble” every day. I work for Lancôme but I love wearing Mac. My counter manager thinks it’s funny and kind of fake yells at me for it. But when our account executive is there it’s always Lancome on my face!
I am lucky enough to say that I work at a Sephora store. The only time I’ve ever gotten a talking to about my makeup was when it was neutral and boring. I’m 36 years old, I love color and glitter. So, I normally have either bright eye shadow or bright lips! The girls get really confused if I wear dull colors and they tell me to brighten it up a bit!!
I have not -yet! I find myself really bummed out by having to tone down my makeup when I have to look professional and follow the dress code standards though. I often carry stuff with me so that moment I leave I can kind of switch up my makeup to be more colorful and dramatic. It’s not that I think I’m ever super over the top, but I definitely show restraint and stick to neutrals at work. Though the other day, I did manage to pull off a green eyeliner look somehow!
No. I work at a grocery store and I sometimes wear red lips and or/smokey eyes. My boss hasn’t really said anything so I guess it’s fine 🙂
I’ve been in “trouble” a few times with teachers and bosses over how I wear my face, but most of the time I’ve dismissed it immediately (the consequence? Either a detention or two, eventually ending when they figured out I wasn’t going to change, or my boss never saying anything about it again). I’m really not the kind of person to let folks tell me how to wear my clothes or my make up. I’m very uncomfortable with the idea that someone else can control your body and hold you to a standard of what they want you to look like while holding something you want over your head (good grades, your paycheck, ect). I definitely understand in those instances you do not have no choice but to conform, but it’s always best to question authority figures.
On a better note, I’ve been complimented by old women numerous times on my make up and hair (??? apparently 70 year old women like black lipstick and strong brows) while I was out shopping or doing some other mundane tasks. It always catches me off guard and brightens my day.
No, but then I keep it work-appropriate. I do get many compliments though :)!
I got in trouble often at my old job at Hollister Co. for wearing nail polish. They want you to have your nails bare but I would often come in there with my nails pink or red and they would make me take it off.
I work as a university professor, and one of the things I really value about my job is the freedom I have in what I wear on my body, nails, and face. Often people ask if I’ve ever considered teaching high school (university job market is the pits, and I’ve only been able to find part-time work), and the restrictions that would put on my self-expression are one of the biggest negatives about such a move. Even though I do enjoy dressing and making-up teacher style, I like to be able to change it up, sometimes going more casual, sometimes edgier and more fashion-forward. I keep in mind that I need to inspire respect and authority in my students, but above all I think that means always looking put together, and trying not to look too young (I’m short, so this is a big issue for me). I think it’s fine to be a little playful, especially later in the semester when they already know me and my authority is established.
That being said, I definitely keep in mind that I’m at work and never take it too far. I honestly can’t imagine my department chair talking to me about my look–he’d be too awkward and embarrassed. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t forming an opinion about my professionalism to himself. It also doesn’t mean that my colleagues opinion of my abilities or maturity are not being subconsciously influenced by their opinion of my style. I’d always be conscious to make sure I kept an overall professional appearance, never getting too crazy, and alternating traditional teacher-y looks with a few that push the boundaries a bit–at least until I get tenure!
Fortunately, no, but there have been times where I get to work and see myself under the bright fluorescent lights in the bathroom and realize I’ve overdone it. I avoid glitter and funky eyeshadows and lipsticks just to be safe.
No issues with my makeup at work, but I worked in the video game industry and tech where they didn’t care, and now I work from home.
I’m starting a new job that requires working in a clean room, possibly every day. although I would be wearing a suit, gloves and mask, make up is not allowed as it would contaminate the room. I like wearing make up every day and would wear foundation, mascara and blush at least. I’m going to feel very weird without mascara especially. It is also a very male environment and feeling presentable helps me be confident.
Hey I used to work in an area like that. You are right, you have to wear absolutely no makeup.not even eyeliner. No lipgloss. It was a packaging area
yes once i was a dancer and i wore glitter at work. well, apparently thats a no no, as the married guys get in trouble if they go home with it on there faces and clothes lol!!!
THIS is hilarious! Thank you for sharing ~ I had no idea of this rule. As a married woman, I’d say this is good to know, because now I know if my man ever comes home covered in glitter he didn’t leave with (since I shed glitter on him like our cats shed hair), then he cannot say “I just went to a strip club with the guys from work!” (how he would say it), which he knows I probably would believe, and accept. Oh, the irony.
hahahahaha well there is always a new girl tryin to wear it but for the most part we all knew better!! haha that is funny tho.
Oh and funny i have a bff who we met when we both stripped and shes au naturale right. some guys really like that in seattle where we live, but she went to Las Vegas and LA to dance and she said they said u better go put on some makeup before we will say yes or no to you working here hahaha. She never heard that before!! It was funny tho she was the one dancer i ever knew who didnt wear any makeup. i mean non! she was lucky she could get away with it but i love my makeup personally
Nope. A lot of people started noticing when I started wearing makeup, which was only about 2-3 years ago. The feedback has been positive. I’m not overly adventurous at work when it comes to makeup. Mostly because I can’t be bothered putting on a lot early in the morning. I save smoky eyes or super bold lip colors for nights out with my friends or my husband.
Not really, but I am familiar with my branch of service’s regulations regarding makeup. As a result, I make sure to keep it subtle and professional. I can recall twice when someone made a comment about my eyeshadow…I tried something a little too shimmery a few times. I try to keep it subtle for clinical as well, but on my days off, I break out the bright colored eyeshadows!
YES. Not in a way people who know me these days would expect, really. I was a licensed Optician/Contact Lens Tech for 13 years, and one doctor’s office I worked in had a rather snooty “Doctor’s Wife for manager” who had buddied up with an equally snooty alcoholic manager for another office the doctor bought. These women wore tacky polyester dress suits and pounds of smeared makeup all over their faces, always heavy evening looks before noon… at one office meeting, they berated all the female employees and told us we had to follow a new “Nordtrom’s dress code” which involved full face makeup, including foundation etc., even for the younger girls who had absolutely no idea how to apply a chapstick properly. I was very angry about this decision, especially being certified and licensed, and not working in a “high fashion retail store” like Nordstrom, especially not at a cosmetics counter. I found it derogatory and sexist, and a bit insulting to our personal hygiene, too (they said things like “some of you girls look like you don’t bother to even drag a comb through your hair in the mornings!” which was absolutely NOT true, but very mean). I told them I had a severe allergy to certain ingredients in cosmetics, and could not, for medical reasons, wear makeup to work. This was not entirely untrue… I do have sensitivities that restrict what I can wear, or how long I can wear it, but I could have found a way if I were willing. I went on a personal makeup boycott for 2 years until I left that position to focus on my senior year of college. They were furious with me for refusing to wear makeup, but the doctor refused to let them fire me for it, and I stayed until they laid everyone off so they could shut down that location and focus on the smaller store as a way to get out of a 5-year contract with the doctors they had bought out, all 3 of who were fired after selling practices they owned for over 20 to 40 years each. Horrible people… I do not regret standing up to them! If they knew what I do now, they’d each have a stroke.
wow!!! that sounds very mad men indeed!!!
No not really but I always feel like people, especially other women, are threatened by someone who has the ability to look ‘put together’. Working in IT women are, unfortunately, in the minority. Most of the women who DO work there are…well… they aren’t into makeup, fashion etc like me, to put it nicely! Not that that’s a problem, it’s definitely not a requirement for any gal. It’s just when they passively aggressively sneer at me touching up in the bathroom it makes me feel a bit unwelcome…
I’m in a similar situation. I’m a grad student/teaching assistant, and I don’t wear a ton of makeup, mostly due to time. Usually it’s the basics to make me look a little more polished: foundation, very neutral eye, brows. Some of my classmates, however, have looked at me much the same way.
No, but I always wear neutral makeup to work. I work for a very conservative accounting firm. Sometimes, I don’t even line my eyes so just so I don’t stand out too much. (Women where I work wear very light makeup).
As a former manager of an Ulta Beauty, It’s always an awkward conversation to approach an employee on their appearance. I was okay with minimal/neutral makeup but if you were to show up for work with your hair a mess and no makeup… you needed to fix yourself up a least a little bit before your shift. We sell cosmetics, so please wear at least a little, and according to the book “hair needs to be styled (with a hot tool) and lip color worn and reapplied as needed”.
I agree, if you work at a makeup or fragrance counter, clothing store, or anythiig alog those lines girls shoulder wear makeup and take pride in in your appearance.it can be time consuming which is prob why some wear little or none
i worked at Sally Beauty Supply as a assistant manager for yrs and i had to have that convo wit so many of the come and go employees over the yrs omg! in the interview it was i love hair color and makeup and i use all the products here then after a week the girls came in wit dirty messy hair, no makeup or chapstick even lol. I worked there as i really do love all the beauty products i can use!! and if ur not into the makeup and hair dont work at a store where thats what u sell!! BUT the doc office requiring that is insane, read a post about that here. I love makeup so much and since i have no life i jus wear it around the house or grocery store cuz i can!!!
No, I can’t imagine that. It seems crazy for someone to have a problem with your makeup, unless you work for a specific brand or something and they want you to wear their products, something like that.
I’m fascinated by how many people have been told they don’t wear enough makeup. When I first read the question I was expecting the opposite response. I usually keep mine simple day to day, but I love seeing someone who has taken the time to do a creative, artistic eye for example, and compliment them.
I work in a hospital and there were nurses and surgery ladies that would wear the bright eyeshadows or bright lips (and so did I, and I’m not a nurse) but the dress code became more strict and now everyone has to tone it down on the makeup and polish and wear more natural -looking colors. I still love my makeup and Polish and still wear the fun stuff outside of work and just simply remove it, or change the color before going in. I don’t let the plain appearance carry over into my outside -of-work appearance but I do see that happen to others. Like, I’m not going to stop shopping at Mac and sephora just because it’s not allowed at work,just wear it when you’re not there. 😉 For me, makeup is more of a style and form of self-expression, describes my personality than as a tool to help make you look prettier plus it is fun to wear.
At work, I have not had any experiences like that. I used to work as a counter salesperson in a mall, and in my country, mall salespeople, girls, mostly, have a reputation of wearing any type of make-up they want. So I was really glad that I could wear smoky eyes and colors (like blue eyeshadow or bright red lips), because I wasn’t an odd one out… one of the girls was wearing borderline trashy make-up with jumbo fake lashes, glitter all over, heavy black eyeliner and shadow, lots of glittery blush… so I wasn’t looking too made-up next to her.
But in real life, I do feel that some people look at you as if you were crazy or easy if you wore a non-no makeup makeup. Especially guys and those women who don’t care about their appearances at all.
Oh, and I semi-know a girl who was working as a kindergarten teacher who was reprimanded by the PARENTS (not even her bosses) for wearing colored eyeshadow, because in their opinions, a kindergarten teacher should be a humble, innocent women with non-visible make-up (even though the kids loved it and loved guessing what color of eyeshadow she would wear next).
hahaha wait i think im the trashy makeup type!! lol
I work in I.T. will all guys. I also work 9 hour shifts and wake up at 5:30 AM. I just do the minimal — 5 minute makeup — foundation, powder, blush, mascara, brows, and occasionally a touch of eyeliner. It is all I can do to get to work on time as I am not by nature a morning person. I don’t know what they would do if I walked in wearing bright eyeshadows. And, the truth is that I don’t really know how to apply them. I always wanted to be edgier, but I’m really not. I’m kind of conservative, and now I’m in my 40’s and can’t imagine dressing and wearing makeup too edgy. I was talked to about attire about 15 years ago. I was told by a boss that I looked like I was going to the beach and needed to start dressing nicer. So, I went out and shopped because I worked with this hot Ukrainian gal who wore see through clothes and very sexy styles. I bought some sexier clothes for the office. I think some of them — like the short skirt — were inappropriate, but I think he was too embarrassed to talk to me about it. I still have a friend bring up that short skirt. I didn’t realize it was “that” short, but I guess it probably was.
I work at a courthouse and I have never had a problem with my makeup.. for instance today I am wearing my makeup like Christina Aguilera is currently rocking on The Voice, dark black cut crease with glittery silver lid and red lips.. they never really say anything to me about makeup in fact I get complimented all the time by my boss 🙂
Nah. My hospital has a few strict rules (no facial piercings, no non-natural hair shades, tattoos must be covered), but it’s otherwise surprisingly lax. Most keep it work professional standard, but when I work night shifts, we were generally allowed to get away with more offbeat colors like purple lipstick or glitter eyeliner. On day shifts I tone it down a bit, but I wear plenty of red and fuschia lipsticks and have never gotten flack for it.
Nope! I worked as a nanny for a little over a year. Luckily, my boss loved makeup too and even gave me some of her makeup that she no longer wanted.
I’ve been teaching at Taekwondo for about 3 years now, and haven’t gotten in trouble for it at all. Some parents have actually complimented me on it, as well as a lot of the kids! I do lots of bright colors and glitter, and they all love it.
No way! I am fortunate enough to have a fairly relaxed work environment – I am still expected to look professional but I don’t have to wear a suit or uniform, so no one even blinks if I rock a purple smoky eye or green glitter eyeliner occasionally.
If I am out visiting clients, I tend to stick with neutral tones but with a bright lipstick or nail polish for a little pop of colour.
No. Makeup is not required in my workplace (I work in an academic setting, with both faculty and students), but it does amuse me when my colleagues enquire after my health on the days when I am not wearing any makeup! Often I work weekends as well, so I reserve my Illamasqua Pristine, apocalips and disciple for those days, but even on regular days, I will have bold red lips or nicely painted eyes — but it passes uncommented.
Ha! Never at work, but in junior high!