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Why did you start wearing makeup?


Why did you start wearing makeup? Share!

Thinking back on it, I would actually say it was because I wasn’t allowed to wear it! When I went to college, I was like, “Hey! I’m wearing it!” and it was just all downhill from there, LOL!

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Rikki Avatar

I’m not really sure WHY. I never really thought about it. I was just bored, depressed, had nothing to do after high school and I remember first coming across Leesha’s videos, watching them and thinking how much fun makeup looked! So I guess that was it. Everything about it was just so interesting!

C Avatar

When I was like, 13, and entering high school I’d been really influenced by emo and goth (they were interchangeable to me at that point) and did my makeup badly with a heavy view on romanticism and dark beauty. My sister, 3 years older, was blonde, pretty and adored by boys. As I had such a heavy emphasis on romance in my little teenage mind, my worth was defined by if boys liked me or not and being a chubby young goth, they didn’t. I could not be my thin, blonde sister so to lend myself another type of beauty, I turned to makeup and jumped right in with bold colourful eye makeup.

I’m older now and of course my worth isn’t based on others’ opinions of me. My family has always had an emphasis on high-end consumerism so I was practically being brought up to respect Chanel and Guerlain even though I prefer indie now. I guess it’s been a mix of my family, my sister’s popularity and the amazement at what you can do with makeup as an art form.

A little somber but that’s how I got started! It’s only been in the past couple of years I’ve been bothering with neutrals at all and getting into blush and lip products. I’ve come a long way in a little time.

xamyx Avatar

The same reason anyone wears accessories; I just feel it enhances any outfit. I also love the idea of playing with color combinations, light & shadows, and pretty much anything artistic about it. I always excelledmin subjecta like Color Theory, but unfortunately I was never any good at translating ideas onto paper. Once I learned how to apply my ideas to a 3-dimensional surface, I was hooked!

Audrey Avatar

My parents are quite conservative and growing up I never thought they’d allow me to wear makeup but, lo and behold, my dad got me a makeup book (It was by Carmindy from TLC’s What Not To Wear) for a Christmas present my sophomore year in high school. I was too shy to ask to wear makeup before but then it was like the green light was turned on and I have been obsessed ever sense. My father has actually commented that he regretted buying me the book because I have such a passion for collecting and wearing makeup now. LOL

Rebecca Avatar

Hi. This is a good question! I started wearing makeup because I wore glasses and felt that my eyes were hidden behind them. I think this is why most of my effort when I do my makeup to this day is focused on my eyes. Its weird to think back to why you first started. Im glad I did 🙂

Melinda Avatar

I have always loved makeup for as far back as I can remember, so when I was about 13 my mom let me wear mascara and lip gloss. Then I just started adding things here and there after that. So, I guess my answer is because I REALLY wanted to! 😉

Sasha Avatar

Starting at a young age I was always impressed by really bold and colorful makeup looks and designs. Whether it was a fancy pop of color in an everyday look or something avant garde. Then once I got the parent approval to start painting my face, it was as you said, downhill from there haha!

Shannon Avatar

Oh man my favorite makeup story! I have very big/full brows and when I was in year four I shaved half of them off and then my mom shaved the rest off, so we had to buy eye brow penciles for me ahahaha.

Cristall Avatar

I started wearing makeup regularly at the age of 29, that is when I became a Mom. I got really conscious about my dark circles so I researched about how to get rid of it until i knew about concealer and found a lot of youtube beauty channels which I am obsessed right now. Now I am hooked with everything beauty related which I am happy about because now I know how to take care of my skin properly. 🙂

Lizzi Avatar

A friend starting wearing it around October of my freshman year in high school (2004). And I had to keep up with her. It wasn’t til I got hooked on Temptalia and MAC back in 2010 that it became an addiction. Lol! Now I collection that’s as big as some of my favorite beauty bloggers. Temptalia with always have a special place in my heart. 🙂 My current frenzy is buying blushes. So many goodies have came out in that deptment recently!

Lancy Avatar

I started wearing eyeliner from when I was 12! I didn’t know much about base makeup and lipsticks at that time. After turning 15, I started experimenting with different shades!

Ivana Avatar

I have small eyes, so when I was a teenager I started to try different things and techniques so that I would actually feel more pretty and therefore more self confident.
Looking back at it I have to laugh because some of these things were horrible but we all make mistakes, right? 😀

Quinctia Avatar

Totally “ooh, pretty colors”! I snuck a few things into my stash when I was…maybe in 6th grade? Then, in high school I actually added the ubiquitous (for late 90s teens) CG pressed powder into my routine, just to even out skintone? I was lucky that I only had the infrequent breakout, though they were always deep, angry, hormonal zits, so I wasn’t covering too much.

I don’t know that I was ever not allowed to wear any makeup (I seem to remember my grandma dabbing a bit of lipstick on me before church if I asked when I was bitty), but I was hardly allowed to own anything until my mom bought me a few very subtle products when I was in 7th grade. And she was a bit weird about eye products–I didn’t fully try and develop the ability to apply eyeliner until I was in my twenties, mainly because she was so down on me even trying it. Actually, nail polish was really similar, she never wore it, so wasn’t on my radar until I was a teenager.

Natalie Avatar

I owned some basic makeup (a stippling brush, a blush, kohl, an eyeshadow palette and foundation) because of Theatre, and I figured it would be a shame if I didn’t use it at all. I haven’t stopped since.

KaseyCannuck Avatar

My first makeup item was a baby blue eyeshadow that I only wore when I went to Sunday School, so for me it was about dressing up nice. I eventually started wearing it to school, not that baby blue though, and it was because it was fun, and I liked the idea that I looked my best when I left the house.

StrangeOne Avatar

While I’ve always owned the basics for special occasions (Once a month, maybe) I never cared about makeup.

My school was a uniformed all girls which took special pride in making girls wash their faces if there was a hint of makeup which made it easier for me. It also helped that I didn’t have any self esteem issues or any friends who were passionate either.

My university days were practically in an all boys environment because there weren’t enough girls in my degree and I always felt overdressed because there were guys who wouldn’t change clothes for weeks. Makeup would have been an overkill. There were girls around me who loved makeup but even they ended up carrying hammers in their bags rather any cosmetics.

Finally last year when I started grad school I figured out why I didn’t care for makeup. I always felt like it was a mask covering my face and I like my face. I’d always wash off makeup and feel my face looked better afterwards. My dark circles always looked 10 times worse with than without makeup. I kind of realized I was applying it wrong because I didn’t have enough practice or the right products for me. I started experimenting and bizarrely enough I started having fun. I still don’t wear it everyday but I wear it more frequently and like messing around with colour. I’ve actually started looking nice in makeup which is a huge leap for me.

Andie Avatar

That’s so funny Christine. I’ve definitely reacted that way in several other instances in life.

I’ve never thought about this before now. I guess I started wearing makeup when I hit puberty, and my skin started breaking out. Then I started adding silver metallic eyeliner and mascara because all the cool kids were doing it.

My real love for makeup didn’t come until years later. I was at the beach and went in a high-end makeup store. The Urban Decay counter really grabbed my attention, and I saved up money for almost a year to buy an eyeshadow palette. At least ten years later I would say the love/addiction has grown.

Mari Avatar

I have green eyes and I wanted to highlight them. I only wore brown (and, later, black) pencil eyeliner for years (since I was 15) until I decided to try more stuff often. I remember having some makeup as a child and younger teen, but it was just for fun, I didn’t actually wear it outside home.

kurohana Avatar

i didnt start wearing makeup until i was about 24 (i’m 25 now) and by makeup i mean mascara, blush, and tinted moisturizer . Why i started wearing it was because i was in a dispatch center and i never interacted with anyone all day so i didnt bother but then i got a job outside of dispatch where i had to interact with people and figured i should try to look a little more put together

Chris Avatar

I started wearing make-up as a young dancer growing up in LV. I wore very little during the day in high school but would wear for performances. I started wearing it daily in college.

LU Avatar

Me and my mom just spoke of this. She said one of my cousins told me to wear eyeliner around middle school to make my eyes look bigger. However, I used to play with her makeup all the time as a child, so I’m sure my passion stemmed from the fact that she loved it too.
Around senior prom, I discovered your blog in 2008, that is when I truly embraced makeup as an art form. After that, I was obsessed, and started practicing, replicating your looks, and building my collection.

Lila Avatar

I started wearing eye makeup to distract from the really deep and dark bags I have under my eyes and because I wanted to add more color to my outfits.

I actually just started wearing face makeup (foundation, concealer, blush, highlighter, etc.) a few months ago because I started getting the butterfly rash (common in Lupus) whenever I was under fluorescent lights or outside. Since my job means that I have to be in one of those two places all the time & people kept asking if I was okay because of the severity of the rash, I’ve been using makeup to both cover it up and act as an additional barrier to prevent the rash from attacking.

Kelsey Avatar

My cousin is a makeup artist so it was always kind of around, but I REALLY got into it around 20. My friend and I bonded over MAC and once their new collections kind of tapered off in quality I started branching out. Now I’m just a general makeup addict. I love the art and expression aspect of it.

Also, Christine, I don’t think we can actually say it went downhill for you, considering your job haha.

Amalee Avatar

I wore eyeliner in middle school.. mainly because I was influenced by other pretty girls I hung out with and tried to get on their level. When I stopped hanging out with them, I stopped wearing it. The next time I wore it was for senior portraits then prom. I think I started accumulating more after the MAC Hello Kitty collection then I was sucked into this whole new world of makeup, youtube, and your blog… and here I am 5 years later. HAHA.

Somayea Avatar

I started wearing it when I was 15, I believe. I wanted to change myself, and I sorta accepted myself and my body and my face. so I decided to get into makeup because I wanted to be more girly. My mom wasn’t really into makeup, most she’d ever do was some eyeliner, mascara and lipstick. and that was for special events! I got into makeup by looking at YT videos and I think the first person I watched was Blair (juicystar07) and I kinda got hooked ever since. I’ve DEFINITELY gotten better over the years, and I’m still learning. I kept doing it because I felt like it was something I could be good at (since I wasn’t really amazing at school). I think I found your blog around the same time,and every since. it’s been downhill as well!

Leticia Avatar

For fun! My friends or relatives didn’t influence at all my decision to wear makeup; none of them wore it often (if at all) and didn’t care much about their stuff, they saw it as something like shampoo or soap, something that you have to use. I, on the contrary, took care of the few makeup I owned like it was fine jewelry (I still do, hee hee 🙂 !) I also began to wear makeup for cosmetic reasons, due to acne or to cover dark circles. That was not fun, but the rest of the makeup still was!

L Avatar

When I was little I was dying to put makeup on, my mother and grandma always wore makeup and I used to sneak and put some on. When I was 12 my mom bought me some lise watier cream shadows and some blue pastel palette from pupa and I loved it. For some years all I asked for birthdays was makeup bags, brushes and glitter palettes, but then I stop caring for makeup at all, and don’t know how that happened.

Then all through highschool my mom always told me to wear some makeup and rebellious me didn’t want to do it, even to my prom I wore very little makeup. After two years in college I notices some light acne and I searched for something to cover it and found youtube and blogs, and I became obsessed. I am glad I returned to my makeup-loving old ways 🙂 .

Chanel Avatar

Thank You for choosing my question! I started wearing makeup because i was inspired by lady gaga’s (she’s my idol) creativity and the way she expressed herself through makeup. This began during my first year of college, 2011. I started with eye shadow and lipstick and now i wear a full face lol. I love the creativity and enhancement of it….nothing wrong with enhancing your beauty!

Lee Avatar

I think I originally started wearing make-up in high school ’cause I wanted to be prettier (I can’t believe no one has said this yet). I’m a very fair redhead with blond lashes and brows so I just disappear without make-up.

Later in high school, I got into the punk/indie scene and changed my make-up to more of an expression of rebellion. After my punk days, I just settled on a basic look with pencil liner, mascara, and lip gloss.

Much later, I decided I finally wanted to learn how to do make-up properly and have a polished professional look so I studied youtube videos, read blogs, and practiced a lot. Which is where I am now!

julieta Avatar

I started probably just because my sister, who is 5 years older than me, wore makeup to go to college in the mornings, and since we shared a room i always watched her and was always intrigued by what she used.

I didn’t get into makeup until just last year, when i was 20. And it was all because of youtube and because i wanted to feel better about myself after a really bad breakup.

Courtney Avatar

I was thirteen when I started wearing makeup, which I saw as one more step into adult/womanhood (at that age we’re all so eager to grow up). As my makeup collection grew I found that I genuinely enjoyed makeup application and artistry, which became a creative outlet for me, and a means to express myself.

Angi Smith Avatar

Truthfully? It was to look like the girls in Teen and Seventeen magazines. I was not naturally pretty and I thought if I put on makeup like theirs, I would look prettier. I had no self-esteem or self-confidence. It took years of being loved by a wonderful man that loved me with makeup and without makeup, that I finally developed enough self-confidence to realize that how I looked in no way represented WHO I really am. Now I wear it when I want to feel prettier, to enhance my best beauty asset, my eyes;

Erica Avatar

I come from a long line of makeup lovers so it was just a rite of passage. Since pre school, I always received at least 1-2 Christmas presents with a makeup theme. My Mom started buying me clear and fruit flavored lip glosses when I was 12. It was really downhill after that. We still compare makeup hauls 35+ years later!

Pixie Avatar

I am 41. I never wore makeup until I was 40. No joke! (I look much younger thanks to genetics and taking care of my skin). When I got signed to a record contract, I had to start playing the part of someone more glamourous and could not hide in my studio all the time anymore. Temptalia is my first source for info as I’m an NC20-25 and am clueless about makeup. I have developed an obsession with orange lippies, I use Korean BB creams and skincare products and just got my first Guerlain mascara (yay!). I have one MAC lipglass since my I was in grad school (2000) (it’s Ample Pink) and own Russian Red and Cyber since 2006 or so, which I’ve worn once and twice. I want to wear makeup, but I’m hopeless, LOL! .I also have had to start wearing a lot of neons as I’m frequenmtly under blacklight at shows (DJ/Producers are expected to be bold and dramatic, but really, I’m a nerd girl, so looking and playing the glam and pretty role is weird for me.) I’m under 5 fet tall so makeup at this point is about looking professional, enhancing my features and looking less like a 20-something kid and standing out as well as looking more modern, edgy and fashionable in the EDM Community.

Vanessa Avatar

Because I thought purple eyeliner would make me a magical fantasy character.

Um….true.
I was 14.

It was about being magical and unique.
In retrospect, I was probably already rather unique! 🙂

Kwegyirba Avatar

When I was younger my parents got in involved with theater! I’ve been a make-up girl ever since! My mom also used to model when I was younger so I’ve been around it. Now I am a reporter for an online news organization in CT so make-up is part of my everyday life. Even if I wasn’t a reporter I’ve always been a girly girl and loved make-up and nail polish. All the colors just make me so happy!

Amanda Avatar

Ooh this is a good question with quite a range of responses. I was in dance and gymnastics when I was little (from age 4-12 or so) and my favorite part was wearing makeup for the performances! Red lipstick and blue eyeshadow, what a look… I just always loved playing dress up and makeup was part of the glamorous transformation. I wanted to be like my Barbie dolls I think! I would always get into my mom’s makeup and put it on my stuffed animals. I lived in a small town but when we went to visit family in Dallas my mom would take me to Nordstrom, where I bought my first ever high end product (Urban Decay’s liquid eyeliner in Radium). A few years ago I went to Ulta looking for OPI black shatter top coat and walked out with all three UD feminine, dangerous and fun palettes (the vintage ones)… I’ve been addicted ever since.

Kenzie Avatar

I first starting wearing makeup because I loved the creativity. I started playing with it in middle school and my friends and I did ‘photoshoots’; I’m so glad we didn’t have access to social media back then… I started wearing it daily in high school but mostly just mascara because my lashes are blonde and my eyes look really small without it. I didn’t get my first foundation until college and now my makeup collection is huge… I just love makeup!

fancie Avatar

I’ve always been curious about makeup but I started wearing it to look older. Which isn’t that effective really lol. I guess my parents have really good genes because even with a full face of makeup I still don’t look like I’m 24 lol. Without makeup I look 12. It’s a gift and a curse!

Katrina Avatar

I started wearing “serious” makeup about three years ago because it seemed to brighten up my face. I also suddenly discovered I liked experimenting with color, especially eye shadow. The result was a polished look which was very flattering. I still love receiving makeovers, because it gives me a better idea of what I really don’t like, and what I genuinely believe consistently works for me. NARS tinted moisturizer is fabulous, and I love Urban Decay products! As a mature woman, color on your face is essential, in my opinion. If applied tastefully, you look really youthful!

Lauren Avatar

I started wearing makeup when I had a hysterectomy at age 27. I didn’t wear it at all and the day before my surgery I went to Bobbi Brown at Neimans and said, “Do me!” My famously frugal grandmother, who felt terrible about the surgery, had sent me an incredibly generous check and told me to do something fun with it, whatever I wanted (this was perhaps the most uncharacteristic moment of her child-of-the-Depression life). I went to the fancy mall near my house and didn’t feel like clothes or jewelry or whatever, but then it hit me: makeup. I’m losing this part of being a woman and I’ll replace it with this other thing (which, of course, was a shallow and silly substitute, but it became symbolic). I told the women at Bobbi what was going on and I bought EVERYTHING they showed me, plus an armful of Bliss products; I never looked at one price tag, nor did I even look at the total. Word traveled fast about that poor young woman at the Bobbi counter (I was there awhile) and I swear every saleswoman on the floor got together as many samples and freebies as they could. Ever since, makeup therapy is my favorite way to deal with the difficult episodes in my life. Fortunately, no subsequent episode has ever been as difficult or stressful. Also, though I’ve grown to love numerous brands in the 12 years since then and I’ve been having a longterm torrid affair with Chanel, I always return to Bobbi eventually.

Maddie Avatar

Around my Junior year in high school. I went to a nun’s school, so it was also kind of frowned upon to even wear lipgloss I think it’s a cultural/financial strain thing too, but most women in Dominican Republic don’t wear a lot of makeup. At least not back when I was there (around 6 years ago). Now with social media and Youtube, the younger generation has access to cool makeup tips/tutorials so it’s becoming more common for young girls to wear trendy makeup.

Sarah Avatar

My mother was a big believer in putting makeup on me for most important occasions, namely, plays, musicals, school programs (I was in drama and choir), portraits, Halloween, etc. So I *HATED* how makeup felt from quite young. I developed acne (quite bad) when I was in fourth grade, and it finally got so bad I started wearing foundation in 8th. I began experimenting with eyeshadow, mascara and lipstick in ninth because I was tired of looking so washed-out in all my pictures. Then, a Sephora appeared. I found Urban Decay, Benefit and Stila, and those brands actually made me *excited* to try new makeup.

Tasha Avatar

I was never into makeup when I was younger, my mother really pushed me into it actually around the 7th grade. Until high school I finally started to actually began to have fun with different colors and styles especially with my friends who loved wearing makeup. Now I cannot leave the house at least with my eyebrows done and my eyeliner and mascara on otherwise I feel naked, lol.

Karen Avatar

Same here. No makeup or hair cuts until age 18 as per my father. So I wore it to school and got my face washed in the janitor’s sink by a nun, lol. Then I got a job at a makeup counter and the rest is history. I love makeup but I’ll just as often run around with sunglasses and lip gloss on my off time.

Alison Avatar

I think it was actually a pretty slow development. In my early teenage years, I wasn’t really banned from wearing makeup, but it wasn’t really seen as something necessary for me in my household, either. If I won some free makeup in a competition or something, I would usually try it and end up frustrated because it didn’t last, felt uncomfortable, etc. I think it was actually the fact that I was already interested in skincare that made me venture into the world of beauty at large. I started recording a lot of my thoughts about skin care products, etc, and eventually started reading beauty blogs online, and once I discovered how certain products SHOULD work (A few Temptalia A+ products really set my bar a lot higher), it developed from there. Even now, I honestly don’t wear that much makeup: the makeup I do wear is very classic and simple, but I still love beauty products and the way that they work and reading about them.

Kenora Avatar

I loved makeup as a young child – I’d get into my mom’s when she came to visit my grandparents and me, and I loved having her make me up. This was the ’70s, so colours weren’t very exciting – lots of browns, or at least that’s what my mom used. 😉

I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup to school until grade 9, when I finally asked if I could, but I’d owned a little since a year or so earlier than that. Mom told me to avoid blue, green, and purple, which I later found out mostly looked good on me (green and I don’t get along); I got some neutrals at the time, and would sneak out with some pale eyeshadow on to go to a school dance.

I didn’t know what I was doing, and managed to try some hideous combinations – I’m blonde with blue eyes and pale skin, and I look good in cool tones. So what do I buy?!? Peach blush and copper lipstick… and an eyeshadow quad with matte blue and yellow in it (this was the mid-’80s). At one point I tried Merle Norman for a makeover (remember them?) and was done up in bright blue eyeshadow; I did ultimately buy it, and use way less than they had put on me, but I never went back because I found them very expensive compared to drug store makeup, which is all I could afford.

Today I go through phases with it; I’m just starting to put on a foundation again, and I’ve discovered the wonder that is cream blush! I’m also dealing with ageing skin, being in my mid-40s, and am figuring out what the heck works for me now, especially with skin care. I rarely wear eye makeup because my eyes are so sensitive that even sensitive-eyes stuff makes me itch within an hour or two. I might give a cream shadow a try, though.

Fun question!

Gen Avatar

I’ve been wearing my mom’s makeup since I was a kid. The 1st day of Junior High they let me wear it in public and from there I was hooked. Actually I would say I was hooked as a kid. I got a make-up book for Christmas maybe when I was 8 but I’m sure the second I could get my hands on lipstick I was wearing it.

Katie Avatar

I started wearing make up because of the imperfections that were beginning to grow on my face during my teen years. Having something cover them up gave me a confidence boost. I felt beautiful again

Sierra Avatar

My mum, grandma, and great-grandmother ALWAYS have their makeup on. (Seriously, I’ve only seen my mum without makeup maybe 4 times in my entire life) So to me, makeup was always just the normal thing to wear. They would all try to push it on me, but I was very tomboy-ish as a kid. (Still am) Then one day my step-dad told me I looked like crap, so I started wearing makeup and straightening my hair every day. Concealer, eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, and lipgloss. Then when I was 15 I started doing a smokey eye every single day. And I’ve worn makeup every day ever since, unless I have the flu.

Hima Avatar

I didn’t really start wearing makeup until summer 2013. After I graduated college. I was having my graduation party and I had a thought in my head saying I want to look awesomely fabulous with makeup, let me look up some tutorials on youtube. And it kind of spiraled from there. I do it because I want to. 🙂

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