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Safyre Avatar

I started wearing mascara at 12, I think. It was a special occasion type of thing though – now that I look back to the hygiene aspect of it… just… no… Lol. I was, because I had various chorus-related performances before, allowed to wear lipstick to them… which my mum would put on me and I’d feel all extra special. It wasn’t until high school (I want to say I was around 16) when I was really allowed to and did wear makeup on a regular basis though

blueraccoon Avatar

I remember wearing makeup to my bat mitzvah and my brother’s bar mitzvah, but that may have been a one-time occurrence thing. I hit a bare Minerals stage around 22, and then I dropped it all again until about 31.

Michelle Teixeira Avatar

I was allowed to cross over into the makeup realm at 14. That also included changing my hair and clothing to whichever color and style I wanted. So, pretty much when I started high school I was allowed more control.

Miss J Avatar

I don’t really remember being given an age for when it was okay to start wearing makeup. I’d say I really got into makeup around 12-14, but I didn’t really start wearing it out until high school. For school, I’d mostly just stick to a little powder or foundation, liner, mascara, and a sheer gloss. On days off from school, I would experiment with more colorful makeup. I’d say 18 is when I started wearing makeup/more makeup on a more regular basis.

John Avatar

I was… 21 I believe, so 2-3 years after high school. I first started with skin care, and then got into makeup. I still remember the first time sitting at a chair in a standalone MAC store, waiting to be colormatched to a foundation. I was super nervous and was bright as a tomato, since I’m a guy and was sitting there by myself in a crowded store. But I got over that, obviously! It was also fortunate that I got an SA that was both helpful and gracious to guide me through the process.

Veronica Avatar

Mid-twenties, roughly 24-25. I started using concealer to cover up my dark circles around 21-22 with a touch of mascara occasionally, but I didn’t really get into makeup as a practice until two years ago. It coincided with me coming more in stride with myself and what I liked.

(I find it kind of amusing when people say makeup is a cover up for insecurity. For me, it was the opposite. When I had low self-esteem, I didn’t wear anything, didn’t think I was worth showing off. Now I’m all about the bold blushes and cat-eye and red lipstick, and when people say it looks good, I tell them that’s because it’s on my face. 😉

eriyle Avatar

I completely agree! I started wearing makeup when I was 15 or so, but it was pretty much just concealer and mascara. I didn’t see any point to wearing more makeup, because my self-esteem was so low that I just wanted to be as invisible as possible. It wasn’t until I was about 21 and had gained a little more confidence that I started really getting into makeup.

Stacey Avatar

I have to input the info before I start everytime I start my laptop. Is wearing Bonnie Bell that fat lipgloss considered makeup…bought it due to chapped lips from a cold…wore makeup around 12 or 13 or right before graduation or right into high school….can remember…so longgggg ago…35 years at least.

Angelina Avatar

When I was 13 my parents allowed me to wear mascara and lipgloss. I started wearing cover up, blush, eyeliner and eyeshadow when I was 15 which my parents allowed but I didn’t wear anything extreme until I was about 16/17 I started wearing neon eyeshadow and crazy colors! I didn’t start really wearing lipstick till I was 18 but I only had about three mac lipsticks then when I turned 23 I started wearing really wearing bright colors 🙂

Georgina Avatar

I started wearing some eyeshadow, mascara and lip gloss at 16 but really only got into make up and started wearing heavier makeup (sheer foundation/powder, concealer, lipstick etc.) at 23. Before the age of 23 all my makeup could fit into the tiniest makeup bag haha.

Anitacska Avatar

I don’t remember exactly, but I must have been around 14. It was only coloured mascara and stuff like that, nothing too drastic. I don’t remember not being allowed to wear it, but I certainly wouldn’t have worn it to school before I was 14.

Kathrina Avatar

I started wearing lipgloss and mascara when I was about 14 but didn’t wear a full make-up with foundation until I was 17. My parents never said I wasn’t allowed to wear make-up but nevertheless they advised me to stay as natural as possible.

Michan Muggleborn Avatar

I started wearing make up when I was ten going on eleven, and I was never told that I was allowed or not allowed to wear make up because of my age.

Zainab Avatar

I only started wearing ‘adult’ makeup at 15, not much- mascara, sparkly lipgloss and the dreaded purple eyeshadow that so many teens seem to start with (my friend used to wear frosty light blue, so she looked like a 70s prom queen and I looked like I’d been punched). I recently found some of the makeup, jewellery and other junk I had when I was 18 (a funny, mini time capsule) stored in my parents’ garage. If Estée Lauder still makes that lipstick I might go buy another one.

Jade Avatar

I started wearing it regularly at 16, before that I just wore lipgloss and sometimes mascara and eyeliner – though I couldn’t figure out the eyeliner so I didn’t wear it much! I was allowed to wear it then too – I pretty much never had age restrictions growing up, because by the time I wanted to do things, like go out to parties or wear makeup, my parents were happy to let me. I wasn’t in any hurry to grow up!

Jennie Avatar

I guess it went in stages. I always played with makeup as a kid, and I can recall wearing lipstick in jr. high, but it wasn’t until high school that I started wearing foundation and caring more about makeup.

Anne Avatar

A year ago or so, at 19! I don’t remember having any restriction though- I think my mother would have disapproved makeup before 12 or 13, but that’s it.

Tuva Avatar

Hmmm, I started around 16, but I had no restrictions from home, so I could have started earlier if I wanted to. My mom was never into make-up other than lipsticks, so I had to figure everything out on my own.

Teresa Avatar

18 as well! When I first purchased my first MAC eyeshadow which was satin taupe. I remember having a horrible eye brush from when I was 16. So all I did was packing the eyeshadow all over my lid and blending out with the same brush, which has a very weird shape (very fluffy, not for aplying eyeshadow but not soft enough to blend out either, lol!)

I’m so glad I have improved so much in the past two years!

L Avatar

When I was 18 and in college. When I was in highschool I didn’t own any makeup except a bodyshop mascara, an yves rocher white eyeshadow, a eye/lip stick from the body hop and some lip glosses, all of which were gifts, and the only time I wore them was on my graduation day.

Ellen Avatar

11! I used to go over to my friend’s house before school and we’d put makeup on. Streaky, bold blush, bright eyeshadow – we must have looked awesome 🙂 But I really started wearing it regularly in college.

abigailod Avatar

I started wearing make-up everyday (just foundation, blush and lipcolor) at about 23. I’m sure I would’ve been allowed and have easily started earlier. ;p

Nancy Dav Avatar

I started out when I was 13 but it wasn’t dramatic, it was mostly neutral brown and gold eyeshadows and I tried some foundations. I was mostly exploring makeup; my sister was older so she wore makeup regularly and wanted me to start trying it. My parents never really set an age for me.

Pamela Avatar

I thought it would be really cool to wear a smoky eye for a class portrait–at 11! Mom was super angry when she saw that I snuck into her makeup! I didn’t wear makeup again until I was about 14. Since then it’s been my ritual before leaving the house. I just realized I’ve been wearing makeup for 25 years!!!!!!!!

FiaSpice Avatar

I’d say 21-22, only ocasionally (I did wear make up for prom at 16 but that was the odd time!). I started wearing it more regularly at 23-24-25

AnGeLwInGz Avatar

As early as I can remember. My parents never objected to me wearing makeup or nail polish. However I wasn’t allowed to wear eye makeup to school until about 5th grade.

Kalli Avatar

I always played with makeup when I was little, but I probably started wearing it regularly in 6th grade (blush, powder & lipgloss, all given to me from my mom’s Lancome & Clinique freebies). Throughout middle school, I started adding eye shadow, mascara, foundation & concealer. It was around that time Jane cosmetics came out and I loved it! I remember my mom giving me a bunch for Christmas one year and it was my first “cool” makeup haha.

Thea C. Avatar

Wow… that’s a complicated question for me.
The first time I put on makeup was at thee years old, it was for a beauty pageant for school. The next time was when I was four or five for another beauty pageant.
I guess the parents didn’t really care if I put on makeup (they even coo and say “My daughter is growing up” and encourage me to fix myself up for family events). However, I was not interested in makeup until I turn fifteen.

Celine Avatar

In grade 8, I was allowed stuff like lip gloss, and that sparkle stuff for your face from Lip Smackers, remember those? lol I got more into makeup in grade 9.

Kristabelle Avatar

6th grade (mostly this horrid chocolate brown lipstick)- I’d apply it on the bus, so I’m thinking I probably wasn’t allowed? Was wearing it long before that for dance recitals though (I have soo many dance pictures where I look like a baby hooker lol).
Around high school was when my parents seemed to be ok with it, although they still tell me I wear too much sometimes, and I’m 22.

Nikki Avatar

Let’s see…lol

My first introduction to make up was lip gloss at the age of around 11 or 12. It was the only makeup my mom would allow me to wear at the time, and I was addicted to N.Y.C.’s Clear Roll-On Lipgloss in Strawberry. I think it’s the reason I’m addicted to shiny lips to this very day! I didn’t start wearing a full face of make up (occasionally) until high school, when I would have my make up professionally done for special events, such as homecoming and proms. I’ve been in love ever since! 🙂

JKJ Avatar

I started at 15, and had no desire to wear any before that, so being allowed wasn’t really an issue. I began with Clinique, then got into BareMinerals when I started college. But I didn’t *really* get into it or know how to do much of anything (besides a bit of eyeshadow and mascara) until 21, when I discovered YouTube gurus and makeup blogs. 🙂 Now my makeup collection and skills have grown a lot, bank account has maybe suffered…haha, the internet is both a blessing and a curse!

Alley Cat Avatar

I got my first (pink) lipstick when I was eight! My mom got me one to wear for an aunt’s wedding. But I was veritable tomboy, and makeup had no place in my life while I was running around being rowdy. I started seriously wearing makeup a year ago! I’m currently 28 yo – my mom calls me a late bloomer. lol

Jenna Avatar

I was allowed to wear eyeliner at 14, then my mom let me start wearing mascara and lipstick and whatnot at 15.
I only *really* got into it at around 18.

My 14 year old eyeliner was a rough look. I read somewhere in Seventeen that green eyeliner looked good on brown eyes so I was wore a thick line of it on my upper lid every. Single. Day. For an entire school year.

Barbie Avatar

18, i’m 20 now i’m such a late bloomer lmao

my mom gave me permission when i was 13/14 but i didn’t wear much until i graduated high school

melissa Avatar

Around 15 for the first part and technically I wasn’t “allowed” but wore it anyway. My mom got over it and “let me” but when I got grounded she’d try to ban it. Didn’t work out for her, lol.

Leticia Avatar

I started with lipgloss at around 12…I don´t think I ever asked if it was OK for me to wear it :)! By 15 I was wearing a little powder, light color lipsticks and occasionally, mascara and eyeliner.

Andie Avatar

I used to wear metallic silver liquid liner all the time when I was 11! I wore electric blue pleather pants too. I was such a catch. Haha.

Sierra Avatar

I started wearing eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, lipgloss, and concealer when I was 12. Stopped when I was about 13 or 14, then started wearing full-face at age 15. I’m currently 17.

KaseyCannuck Avatar

I had some 1970’s light blue eye shadow that I used to wear to Sunday School in the early 80’s when I was 12 or 13. I only wore it because I was dressing up! I was around 15 or 16 when I started wearing eye shadow, eyeliner, and mascara regularly, although the bright purples of the day weren’t my thing, so wore a Cover Girl quad that had blue, light pink, grey, and beige in it. The colors were so light they didn’t even show up, and my friends were always telling me I should wear makeup!!

Speaking of ghastly purple, I was “made up” for a school dance by a friend, and spent the night trying to keep my hair over my face. I looked like the sister of Frank N Furter!!

Robin Manrique Avatar

I started wearing “grownup” makeup when I was twelve. A horrible eyeshadow set by Covergirl with three different shades of purple that I wore as heavy as possible everyday to school It WAS the eighties……

Megan Avatar

When I was in junior high a lot of girls weren’t allowed to wear makeup so they would hog the bathroom mirrors in the morning slathering on face fulls of cheap cosmetics. My mom wasn’t really the type to regulate me on that kind of thing so makeup was never that exciting to me when I was that young. I think that it’s a bigger deal when parents make this big rule that it’s forbidden until a certain age. I only started wearing makeup when I was on vacation with my family at around 17 and my mom treated me to my hair getting done at a fancy salon. The makeup artist there was bored and he just started showing me how to apply it and what colors worked for me. I was sold! The following year on a trip to Disneyland I discovered Sephora (or “my mothership” as I like to call it) at Downtown Disney. The rest is history!

Heidi S. Avatar

Oh wow…I guess when I was 12-13ish. I didn’t wear a ton of makeup…just lipgloss and eyeshadow. I didn’t get full-on until college.

Lolita Avatar

When I was in kindergarten I remember getting in trouble for applying lipstick i’d stolen from my mother in the staff bathroom, lol, and I started wearing makeup to school on a daily basis at twelve (oh man it was awful and so heavy handed), but I had an obsession with Bonnie Bell lipgloss when I was nine and ten that rivals my fervor for higher end cosmetics today. My parents gave up on telling me what to do with my face by the time I started middle school, although my mother would make frequent comments that I looked like a child prostitute.

Rini Avatar

Anyone remember the maybeline pencils you had to melt with a lighter to get it onto the waterline? Very exciting, fire and makeup, in middleschool….

Jackie Avatar

I first started wearing makeup at age 11…young, I know. At that time, all I wore was a little bit of eyeliner to define my eyes. I only wore a full face of makeup on *special* occasions, like to my 8th grade graduation. I didn’t really wear a full face of makeup regularly until I was in high school…I wore eyeliner, lipstick, and some face powder, that’s it. I guess my love of makeup started pretty early and has continued ever since. Somewhere along the way, I added wearing eyeshadow to my makeup routine and a little bit of foundation, as well.

Amber J Avatar

I was a Bonne Bell girl lip gloss (and Lee Press-On Nails) for as long as I can remember. I didn’t really REALLY start wearing make-up regularly until I was about….29/30. LOL. I’m 32 now.

Kendra Avatar

Well I (sort of) started when I was about 11. But it was lip gloss, and some neutral eye shadow that came in a bonus gift my mom got from Elizabeth Arden. As I got older I started building my own collection, by 14 I was wearing eyeshadow, mascara, concealer, etc. I don’t think there was ever a point where I was not allowed to wear makeup. I always kept my makeup very simple and natural, plus my mom never really wore or wears makeup so I’m not sure she really cared much (except now she thinks I own way too much!)

Nichole Avatar

I started wearing eyeliner and eyeshadow with lipgloss when I was 14, then I stopped for some year and really started wearing makeup when I was 20. That’s when I purchased my first foundation, blush and discovered my love for every color lipstick! Especially mac! 😉

victoria Avatar

13 with just concealer and mascara… at 14 I got really interested in the idea of make-up art and added blush, eyeliner, bronzer and sometimes shadow.

Anna Avatar

I was 13, so 8th grade. I don’t know if there was a set age I was allowed to or not-at 13 I was, so that was all I paid attention to. It was just mascara, concealer and lipgloss, I think.

myalibi Avatar

I started putting on some kind of base (bb cream or foundation or powder) when I was in high school. I went to a boarding school and most of the girls had some sort of make up on. I think the first product I purchased was a Body Shop face powder.

Esther Avatar

I wore makeup for ballet performances from a young age, but day-to-day wear started around 13, and my mom seemed okay with it at that age. It wasn’t much, mostly eyeshadow and gloss.

Ashley Avatar

I started with mascara in 6th grade. Then foundation was the end of the 8th grade. I also had a huge lipstick era in the beginning of freshman year. Now I am crazy for makeup!!! I probably wear more makeup than 90% of the freshman at my school

Queentutt Avatar

11! My grandma had the most beautiful cream eyeshadow..it was a lilac purple and when she would leave for work, I would put it on and go to school. Always made sure it was washed off before she got home though:) By age 14, it was pretty much evident that I was obsessed with cosmetics and was allowed to wear it from then on. I look back at high school pics (80’s) and wish someone had told me to wash my face!

Deb Avatar

I started painting my nails and wearing lip gloss when I was about 12, and I bought a Cover Girl powder compact when I was 13 because all my friends had them. I think I started buying Revlon Street Wear then, too, but I never wore it to school.

I didn’t start really doing my makeup for real until I was 17.

Rachael Avatar

14. I pretty much just stuck with foundation, powder, and mascara because I had no idea how to choose lipstick, blush, or eyeshadow colours. Come to think of it, my foundation colour was probably a little off as well. I had no idea what I was doing at that age 🙂

Kirsten Avatar

In 7th grade, I was allowed to get some eyeshadow, so I chose the Maybelline 4-color that had the pink, blue, green, and lavender colors (more variety!). That was pretty much all I was allowed to wear until I got a job and was able to choose what I spent my money on, like Bonne Belle lip glosses with the roller ball applicator.

Kristen Avatar

I was allowed to wear it at 13-14 but never did (which is probably why I was “allowed” to). I didn’t start wearing it on a regular basis until 24-25…

An Avatar

I started in high school… maybe 16. But I was very much a newbie during that time. Only did eyeshadow and lip gloss, lol.

I didn’t start wearing full makeup and learning about makeup til recently.

My mom didn’t set an age limit when I could start wearing makeup. By the time I started getting into it heavily (age 23-24), I was an adult, hehe.

Christy Avatar

12 and 12. When I hit 7th grade it was a go for me. I was wearing full on foundation, powder, eyeliner, lipstick, mascara, blush, the whole shebang. The weird thing, when I look back on it, is that almost everyone else in my middle school was wearing full face makeup too. Kind of weird looking back on it as an adult.

JQ Avatar

16-17, sometime during my first year of college. I probably could have started earlier, I just didn’t. It wasn’t until I was out on my own in a new city when I wanted to start experimenting.

Julia Avatar

I started when I was 14 and I started off with just eyeshadow and nothing else… I just wore it behind my dad’s back and still now (17)…But now, I wear more, but subtle, natural looking makeup. Still haven’t asked if I can actually wear makeup..

Lauren Avatar

I started wearing makeup when I was quite young. I did competitive dance growing up so we would have to wear makeup for the competitions. I started wearing normal makeup around 7th or 8th grade. I didn’t do anything too dramatic but I have always loved mascara. My mom took me to MAC when I was in 8th grade and they taught me how to do a full face of makeup. I didn’t wear everything ever day but thats when I started having the option.

VickyM Avatar

I started when I was 12 🙂 I remember asking my mom to buy me a lipgloss, she bought a pink brown lipgloss and a clear one from jordana. We weren´t allowed to wear any makeup to school but I used my clear lipgloss daily anyway lol, I would also apply tinted chapstick before the gloss. I didn´t use the pink brown gloss to school though it was very bold and pigmented I would have been made to take it off, so I only used that one when going out 😀 .

Indelibrella Avatar

Started sneaking my grandmother”s Avon sample lipsticks probably around 12 or so. Then eyeshadow followed, badly done, of course, but so much fun. I’ve had a passion for makeup since…and I’m now 50 and embracing it even more. :o)

Indelibrella Avatar

Forgot to mention that I was fortunate to be allowed to do this. Either that, or I was just really good at sneaking. LOL!

Mary Avatar

I mainly only wore lipgloss through to college. I just turned 28 and I didn’t start wearing makeup until I was around 21 or so. I never really had any issues with being allowed to wear makeup but I just never did. I wish I had though, lol.

Natalya Avatar

I started wearing concealer and powder foundation in high school to cover up my acne, besides that and lipgloss(excluding prom with a full face of makeup) I didn’t wear anything else until I was 20 and married. Then, I started wearing mascara, eyeshadow etc… And besides covering my acne I wasn’t allowed to wear anything else by my parents, until I got married at 18 and moved out, then it wasn’t their decision anymore.

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