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When did you start wearing makeup?
When did you start wearing makeup? Do you feel like you started too young? Wished you had started sooner?
I was just about 18. I turned 18 shortly after starting college, and it was in my first year of college that I fell in love with makeup. I wish I had started earlier in one way, only because it would have meant I would have been better at applying makeup at 18 than I actually was… but I think that, frankly, my self-esteem was in such a rotten place from seventh grade and onward that it was better not to have it available as a crutch.
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Age 12. Eyeliner, mascara, lipgloss, concealer, and eyeshadow. Stopped when I was like 14, and then started again at age 15. Full face. (I’m 17 now)
I was 13, and started with concealer and blusher. 🙂
I’m not going to lie: at times I wish I could go back to being nineteen, twenty-ish when I didn’t really wear makeup and I didn’t know any better. But now that I actually have eyebrows? I might forget to put a bra on before I leave the house, but I’ll die before I take one step outside w/out applying my brow powder =p
I can’t remember how old I was when I started wearing it, but it was my mask against the world. I had such horrendous acne and tried to cover it with drugstore foundations (pretty bad back in the 80’s) and I am sure I fooled no one at the time. Now I LOVE makeup and have a lot of wonderful products but aging skin! I guess the one thing I regret was never getting the chance to “enjoy” makeup on fresh young skin….I love that there are so many treatments for acne now that teens don’t have to suffer because it has affected my self esteem in so many ways.
Anyway, my point is I started wearing it young but I started LOVING it in my 40’s, which is a much better way to do it. Here’s to all of us who love makeup and use it to enhance our natural beauty, which truly does come from within!!
I started wearing makeup when I was 14. At that time I used eyeliner and mascara and I have to admit that my eyeliner always looked awful and crooked. So I searched for tutorials on the internet and found EbruZa on Youtube. 🙂 Today I’m really into makeup, I use an eyeshadow primer, eyeshadows, brow powder, foundation, powder, eyeliner, blush, mascara and lipstick nearly every day. It makes me feel pretty even if I have bad skin. Makeup is such a beautiful thing. <3
About 18 – first year of college, too. C: Just powder and lip gloss mainly.
Again? Each time I answer this question, the answer is never going to be the same. About 12-13. When I bought Bonnie Bell lipgloss…does that count? Or when I bought full blown Clinique items…age 14.
I started at age 14 and I used eyeliner, mascara, foundation and contour powder. I stopped at 18 ’cause foundations were not “no transfer” as today! When I was young there were no primers and good fixing powders! I recently appreciated again the makeup, but the eyeliner application it’s more difficult than before, ’cause my eye contour is not the same…now I’m 37.
Started when I was 12-13, just concealer and lipgloss. At 14 I wore A LOT of makeup, so did everyone else (in Jr high) but it was poorly applied and the colour choices were not for me – this was the 90’s, everyone wore the bricky-red-brown lip shades without factoring in their own colouring. When I was about 16-17 I learned how to do a “proper” makeup with shades that flatter and technique that works. I’m glad I started early but wish I had someone to teach me more about skincare, the only thing my mum taught me was to wear sunscreen daily (thanks mum!).
I started when I was 12, clear or pink lip gloss, medium muted pink lipstick, tinted lip balm, perfume and concealer, rarely some soft blush but almost never. I started with mascara too but had a huge trauma with a DS mascara that ended up as painful rock hard balls of mascara inside of my eyes which prompted me to stop using mascara overall. I started again using mascara at 17 with Estee Lauders Turbolash and have had no problems since, I´m just trying to get used to eyeliner now at 23 😀 .
I started asking my mom for Lip Smackers (not really makeup I guess, but a GATEWAY!) and other similar products at eight because all the cool girls at my school were using them. I began getting acne and shiny skin at ten(!), and that’s when I started wanting to wear “proper” makeup, but it was not until ninth grade when I finally felt brave enough to ask my mom to let me get concealer, which, with the gradual accumulation of my acne scars, culminated into a full face of base products, blush (I eventually learned that all that foundation and concealer was covering up the natural flush of my cheeks), and lipgloss by the age of seventeen. (On the other hand the realm of eye makeup has never sparked much interest in me, and if I try putting on some beyond a bit of mascara and barely-there eyeliner I feel like a completely different person.)
I started pretty young with the lip products, and I feel that I started too soon for the foundation, but that was/is my daily way of preparing to face the world.
Oh my gosh, I was so young! My parents let me buy lipstick and those cheap colorful eyeshadow palettes starting around eight, however I wasn’t allowed to wear it to school. At 12 I started wearing eyeliner, lipgloss, and mascara to school. At 14 i took my first trip to MAC and Bare Essentials. By 15 I was wearing a full face. I’m almost 22 now and I’ve never looked back!
Most people would probably say I started way too young, but I don’t regret it. It made me happy and I loved having all my friends come to me for advice.
I wanted to wear makeup when I was 14 but my mom never allowed me ….she told me to try different hairstyles to look fashionable. I was 19 when I actually started using makeup (lipstick, mascara etc etc) and fell in love with it …Its 3 years now
I had some really basic pieces when I was in university, but I never got into makeup till I was 25! I sometimes wish I had started earlier as well, but then again I wouldn’t be who I am if I did. I grew up pretty plain, but I think that’s why I ended up being easygoing and kind (I don’t mean girls who grew up pretty can’t be easygoing and kind. I’m just saying if I had grown up pretty I might not be!).
When I was 12 I had bright baby blue eyeshadow that I wore on special occasions. In high school I gradually added in eyeliner and mascara and more neutral eyeshadows, and pressed powder to try (in vain) to keep my oily skin under control. Liquid foundation is something I didn’t touch until I was in my 20’s, even though I had horrendous acne in school…I didn’t want to compound that problem by clogging my pores with makeup, although I doubt the Cover Girl pressed powder I used wasn’t doing me any favours!
At the age of 15. I just wore mascara.. a few months later i started with powder and lipgloss.
I played around and wore it indoors in elementary school, but wasn’t allowed to wear it in public until I was eleven. Never looked back.
At 26, and just because I moved to a new office where all the girls whore full make up… now I love it! 😀
Age 12 or 13, just green eyeliner (my mother thought black was too much and wouldn’t let me). I was around 14 when I started to wear concealer, blush and mascara, and 15 when I got introduced to cheap foundations to cover my acne. But I became really interested in make up just a year ago (17ish) 🙂
When I turned 16 my mom got me gorgeous makeup set by Pupa. It was made in form of big red pyramid and you could open and close floors of pyramid pretty much like drawers. It had absolutely everything from foundation to mascara. It even included perfumes. If you know Pupa is especially good at this type of kits. Unfortunately my mom didn’t provide any training on how to use it so I don’t think I was able to make most of it at that time. Indeed, I didn’t learn proper makeup application until my early thirties.
I didn’t get full into makeup until I was about 25. Now it’s one of my favorite things. I missed out for so long lol.
I was about 18/19 when I first started wearing makeup, but it was really only eyeshadow, mascara, lipgloss and a little blush, I didn’t start wearing foundation until around 25 as I didn’t really need it until then and its only been in the last year or so I’ve started needing to use concealer and i’m 29 now.
When I was really really little, my father managed to keep me home (my mother was going to the church) every Sunday by applying makeup to my face. We’re still laughing about that 🙂 but then I was just using tinted lip balm until when I started going to college and now it’s a full face of makeup.
Thirteen or so. My application skills and ability to discern quality only really improved when I was about eighteen or so. Before that it was spider leg lashes and the same lipstick day in day out. Like most girls who wear makeup in their early teens my friend and I managed to epitomise the two biggest mistakes that that age group makes: she wore icy blue eyeshadow and sparkly gloss always, and I wore unflattering panda eyes dark purple all the time. And we probably both thought we looked rad.
This site pretty much allowed me to use makeup to enhance my looks rather than make them worse, and I now save money by not buying awful products.
I was rather put off my the beauty industry in my teens (late 90’d to 2000). I new it was all fake what I was seeing. I did use mascara and lipstick for special occasion which now are staples to me as that all I feel I need to look polish even now. Back in high school I could always tell when people where wearing foundation (it never matched with drugstore brands and I have a strong eye for colour matching which I know mots people don’t have ). Though blue mascara was atrocious on it’s own! Mercury poisoning much. lol It looks balanced with some eyeshadow but on bare skin….
But I with I got into more sooner because it a wonderful creative outlet for me. Instead of painting on a canvas I’m creating on the Face/Body. But i think girls could experiment in their teens but should only really wear out in high school but really it is the best time to experiment especially with full makeup. 😉
I didn’t get into makeup in my 20’s when i really wanted to look in photo instead of pale washed out or beat red. >_>
I should say I’m so pale that I look anemic and it doesn’t help the the light bounces off my translucent skin tone. lol
If lipstick and lipgloss count, then probably grade 7 or 8. I remember wearing Max Factor Erase concealer as a lipstick (it was the 60’s and the nude lip was really in style then). Max Factor also made the first lip gloss in a tube – only one colour which was a sort of lip-toned clear stick. I remember that it cost $3.95, which, back then, was a LOT. I also had a Cutex lipstick in Peppermint Pink, which was minty tasting/feeling. A bit later on, in high school, I got more interested in makeup – Mary Quant was one line I loved. I also got interested in skin care at an early age which I think has been beneficial since I think the earlier you start taking care of your skin, the fewer issues you will have to deal with later on.
At the age of 12, give or take a few months.
When my mom allowed me to at 16. It was eyeliner and lipstick only.
Started wearing small amounts (occasional lipgloss or concealer) when I was 13. Didn’t start wearing more and on a more regular basis until I was 18. I feel like I started at right time for me.
I was about fifteen/ sixteen. Just a concealer ( I still remember: Elizabeth Arden creamy/ compact one in a little, round, bordeaux box) and a gloss with an horrible chewing gum smell :)).
then, quite a few years later, (about twenty, maybe more), Pikenz the First blush and Charles of the Ritz light red lipstick and eyeliner.
My obsession with make up started muchlater.. :))
I think I was fourteen going on fifteen. I started with eye pencil, and then black eyeshadow. My stash didn’t consist of much more than that for a while 🙂 And I remember I had this khaki and beige eye duo that I used like every day for like a year! Then I became more adventurous.
I started with lipstick and gloss at 12 but my mother was really strict and wouldnt let me really start until I was 16. My first “serious” purchase was a bottle of foundation from Clinique. I still remember buying it because I thought it was so expensive compared to the Cover Girl stuff I would get from drugstores.
My parents would not allow me to wear make-up until I graduated from high school. Fortunately, I graduated at 17 and then went hog wild crazy with make up! Looking back now, I’m glad they made me wait. I see way too many young girls wearing way too much make up these days.
I was 12 or 13, but it was like clear roll-on lip gloss and the ubiquitous teal eyeliner everyone wore in the eighties. But I was putting makeup on my dolls for years before that!
I started wearing makeup all the time when I was in seventh grade, because I distinctly remember my mother telling me to wear less eyeliner… But I did experiment with it starting around fifth grade but hadn’t taken much interest in it.
I started wearing just liquid eyeliner when I was 12 years old! When I was 13 however, I started to wear eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, foundation and lipgloss (: Nearly 4 years later and I’ve thankfully passed those crazy phases like the whole non-blended eyeshadow and super thick eyeliner phase but to be honest… I can’t believe that you started wearing it at a later age! It’s still cool though, because look at you now!
I started when I was around 3 (for dance recitals) and I HATED it. The purple eyeshadow felt like a waste of time and a chore. My friend introduced me to mascara when I was 12 but I was lazy about wearing it. The next year, I got into cheap drugstore eyeshadow (did not blend AT ALL) and then I stopped. I started wearing full-faced freshman year because I kept watching all these beauty videos and I realized that there was so much more than mascara and blush.
I started wearing makeup maybe around 12 years old, but just eye shadow and a little lipgloss. I didn’t start wearing a full face until a few years ago.
Little things here and there since I was 15… Sporty woman here…Mascara, eyeliner, sometimes concealer, or a little eyeshadow. I was happily oblivious of foundation and much else until I got a bit of melasma, and now I wear full face, which makes my skin even… At 40!
I can’t remember the age but I recall being quite young and always asking my mother if I could wear her lipstick. It was my grandmother, who I had gone to visit for a summer, that put her foot down on not letting me wear makeup until I was older. She put the emphasis on skincare for me and I still focus on that first. After that, I didn’t really start to wear much makeup until I was 20. Which worked for me because it became something fun and experimental. It was about me. I don’t think I would have handled it that way when I was younger. And I’m grateful to my grandmother. She spent a few years teaching me why makeup could be awesome before I delved in to it.
My story is exactly the same as yours, Christine! I first bought makeup for my graduation from high school, I was 18. My application was abysmal through the first year of college, but thankfully I got better. I’m glad I didn’t start earlier, because I had terrible self-esteem in my teens, and the makeup-less years allowed me to become accustomed to and comfortable in my natural face.
I wore powder foundation and eyeliner in HS, but I didn’t really start until last year when I was 20. I don’t wish I had started wearing full makeup sooner, but I do wish I wasn’t so self conscious in HS that I thought I needed foundation. It’s also funny because now I usually never wear foundation unless I’m going to a special event because I hate it!
black eyeliner pencil, lightly lined on top lash line, prob 7th grade 🙂
I started wearing makeup when I was 14 years old. A model came to Health class and gave a lesson on applying makeup. My self-esteem was really low and I wanted to look and feel pretty. I would wear a full face
I started wearing makeup (and curling hair) when I went into 9th grade so I was 14. I used a brow pencil on my brows and to tightline my eyes (cuz I thought actual eyeliner was too harsh looking and the brow pencil was a lot softer) and then a mauve lip liner pencil to fill in my lips. Haha… I actually didn’t bother with foundation or blush until the months leading up to my wedding. That was 4 years ago and now I’m 30 and enjoy doing an entire skincare/makeup regimen. Not because I need it but because I now know how to do it thanks to Temptalia, Michelle Phan and YouTube. <3
I never wore makeup in high school. i wore a tiny bit in college, just mascara and blush and really started wearing it after college
Oh gosh, I was probably 21 when I started wearing it (and only a little). I never wanted to take the time to put it on (and, frankly, I didn’t care — I always thought I looked fine without it, thank goodness!) but it’s such a nice way to play with color! I’m 23 now and I still don’t wear it every day (I’d still rather sleep in than worry about it) but I like to wear it if I’m going out somewhere special. Blush kind of makes me nervous though, and so does full-coverage foundations or whatever, because I just really like my freckles. And I’ve been working on wearing more lip colors. Maybe someday I will wear a “full face” of makeup, but if I never get there, I’m okay with it. 😀
My mom liked to be nice to Avon ladies so she bought me an Avon bubblegum flavored lip balm when I was three. I ate the whole thing.
When I was 12 and I could be trusted not to eat lip products, she took me to the Clinique counter to pick out a tasteful pink lipstick.
My makeup was pretty weird for a while (glitter and light blue eyeshadow) but it never got….uh….inappropriate because I could never figure out eyeliner. IMO it’s eyeliner that can take makeup on a young girl to a very tarty place very fast.
I did a lot of makeovers with friends during my teen years so I’m glad I started when I did. I am now in my twenties and I have discovered, after trying lots of stuff, that I prefer minimal, natural makeup. It kind of galls me to think of trying out daring looks at the old cube farm.
I was in ballet as a child, so on stage from the age of 5-6:) and hated it with a passion, so I wasn’t tempted to wear a lot of it in my teens which is a goos thing, as I still think that make up on teens looks horrid, especially when its too much for the age:) light make up for teens is OK:)
I started wearing everyday kind of make up when I was 20, now I’m 30 and I actually wear less and less of it, focusing mostly on a really good skincare, as my philosophy’s changed and I think that glowing natural skin is the best:) now it its my everyday makeup I skip foundation and blush, conceal under-eye area some balm on the lips and brow product, may be a little of liquid highlighter:) however I do wear proper make up for the evening 🙂 so I guess I’m more of an invisible make up kind of girl now:) feel more confident too:)
I started wearing some make-up at the age of 13 aka eyeliner and a bit of powder. I didn’t start wearing a “full face” until I was like 16/17.
Age 13, concealer and eyeliner!
I started wearing makeup when I was 15-16. I only wear eyeshadow, mascara, lipstick and powder. Then I stopped for a while and didn’t get back to it until I was 21. I was busy with school and work. I didn’t have the time to worry about my face. Around this time the same thing, eyshadow etc, except this time I reached for higher end makeup since I had the money to buy them. I got back to it again when I was around 26. Now that I’m in 30s, I’m totally into it highlighting and contouring. I just have more awareness what I like on my face and products that works for me.
Grade 9, so I guess I started when I was 14.
I was 12 when i started messing around with it. I bought a blue eyeliner from Hot Topic that I wore on my bottom lash line. It looked pretty bad! When I was 13 I wore a TON of black eyeliner, but by the time I started my freshman year of HS i just wore some concealer, powder, and a little eyeliner and mascara.
I think i started wearing makeup on weekends (only if i was going to a party) when i was about 15, but it was only some concealer for under my eyes, mascara and lipgloss which i stole from my older sister.
then at 17 i started wearing lipstick, eyeliner and eyeshadow, and some powder. at 18 i didn’t even know primers and hihgliters existed!”
i’m 20 now and i wear foundation (chanel vitalumiere aqua is my fave, and revlon nearly naked for everyday use) and i watch makeup gurus on youtube almmost everyday, even if i still don’t like to wear much makeup because it’s really hot where i live (south of mexico) and it just ends up looking like a mess.
I’m really happy with my current makeup routine and i have to thank this website for that! products are really expensive so i ALWAYS check this site before buying something, even if it’s a drugstore product. Thank you so much for your work Christine <3
When did you start wearing makeup? Do you feel like you started too young? Wished you had started sooner?
I think I started wearing makeup in 7th grade because I remember bringing powder in my backpack. I don’t think I was too young. I started off very simple. I didn’t wear too much. I think it was the right age, sooner would have been too young I think.
Not until high school, wasn’t allowed makeup or to shave my legs until then (I went to a strict Catholic school). Then my mom sent me to modeling school to learn how to apply makeup correctly (I never modeled, too ethnic).
I want to say I was around 11-12, and it was a powder blush that was VERY close to my skin tone, a mascara, and clear lip gloss…and that was it until I hit high school. At that point, I was allowed to wear color, but my dad didn’t like makeup AT ALL, so it had to be really subtle (like, he shouldn’t be able to tell I was wearing it, and I better wash my face when I got home from school before he got too close) – my mom was my enabler, though. 🙂 Once I graduated and moved out and on to college, I got a little bolder, but there were years when I didn’t wear much at all (when I had young children at home, etc.). Now, I’m re-addicted. I seldom leave the house without at least some eye pencil, mascara and something on my lips. For work, I usually do some sort of full-face (usually it’s light, though…tinted moisturizer and under-eye coverup) and a light bronzer and they intensity of the eyes and lips varies, depending on the day and how much time I have, and what I’m wearing.
Around 13-14, I started with foundation (that didn’t match, mind you!), purple eyeshadow (awful!) and I think some mascara.
I started wearing a little bit of makeup, mascara and lip color when I was about 13 but started wearing shadows, blushes in mid High school. Foundation in college. Went to Ohio State, walked everywhere and had to wear foundation to protect my skin.
I was in the Drama club in High School and did make up there. What a blast!
When I started using makeup and when I fell in love with makeup are two very different things. I don’t even remember how old I was when I first started wearing makeup. Maybe 12. But I only wore what I had to to cover up my acne. It was a complete means to an end and no more….and it stayed that way until about a year ago, and I’m 28 now. I don’t know why I didn’t get more into makeup techniques or brands or artistry before that time, but now I’m hooked. I almost feel like I’m in possession of some kind of superpower because it always amazes me how much my face (and anyone else’s) can be completely transformed with makeup! Of course, it’s all smoke and mirrors, but it’s really, really fun and rewarding when you get it right!
I started wearing makeup regularly in 7th grade. My parents were always very accepting of the fact that I wanted to test and try makeup. Also, when I was younger my aunt would always do my makeup when we went out to the theater for a play. She would literally make my whole face up with red lips and everything. Looking back I think that was a little taboo on a 7 year old, but whatever. Overall, I’m glad I started early because I feel that I am pretty good at makeup, and I always do all of my friends makeup when we go out. I absolutely love makeup, and every time I purchase a new item I get so excited!
I started when I was 13 and really got into it when I was 15.
I was 12. Green and blue eyeshadow were hot. Cher was the fashion icon. Nails and mascara and of course eyelash curlers
I started with lipstick and Maybelline twin eyeliners, the red ones, on my waterline when I was 12.
Second year university. I was around 19 at the time, but typically only to go out at night. It wasn’t until after graduation and well into my 20’s and working full time that I wore and foundation or more of a full face makeup during the day.
I had a fascination with makeup since I was around 5 or 6 years old (I’d watch my mother ‘fix her face’ every morning), and my mother would give me her old products to play ‘ dress-up’ with, but I wasn’t allowed to start wearing it outside the house until I was 13. That was when my mother took me out, went over different products with me, told me how to figure out what colors looked best, and bought me my first few items (eyeshadow, mascara and lip gloss).
I started wearing makeup in the 7th grade, against my mother’s wishes and I started by wearing her makeup, which had to have been a sight because her skin tone is a couple of shades darker than mine LOL! In the dim lighting in my house, it looked just fine! I went the whole nine yards, foundation (I shutter to think what that looked like!) , concealer, mascara (yep, her mascara…gross!), eyeliner, darker lipstick (was the trend at the time), etc. and I had no idea what I was doing. All my friends were wearing (bad) makeup, so I started, too!
My mom would leave for work before I had to leave for school, so once she was gone, I’d go to town playing with all the pretty bottles, shiny tubes and glorious compacts. Once school let out I would rush home and wash my face before she arrived and she would be none the wiser.
Unfortunately, one day I forgot to wash my face before she got home. She just stood there, staring at me. I was just talking away, so it took me a minute to realize my mistake, LOL! I thought she would be mad, which she sort of was, but she actually gave in and took me to the prescriptives counter at the mall (all the rage at the time) to get a tinted moisturizer, a loose translucent powder, a concealer, mascara, a brown pencil eyeliner and two sheer lip tints. I remember it so clearly because I was in absolute heaven!! She then bought me a pretty little cosmetic bag to keep it all in and gave me some of her makeup brushes she no longer used. Then I was instructed to stay out of her stash!
I was so excited and I’m sure I looked a thousand times better than before! Once I got my own job in high school, I started adding eyeshadows, blushes and lipsticks into the mix. But I remember that day so clearly!! Definitely the starting point to my now full blown makeup addiction! 😛 <333
That’s actually pretty funny because I got into makeup around the same time as you. I got really into it whenever I started watching makeup tutorials spring semester of freshmen year. And it goes from that to a full blown makeup addicition! Makeup is one of my favorite things to do and one of my biggest hobbies.
I really, really loved that comment you made about not letting makeup be a crutch for your self-esteem. I agree completely, and it saddens me how many women view makeup as a crutch as opposed to a fun hobby. Anyway, major respect for that.
I wore makeup pretty early… 6th-7th grade? I stopped a few years after that… but i’ve still been interested in makeup, even though I don’t wear it every day.
I started wearing makeup in at age 15. However, it only consisted of eyeliner, mascara, and lipgloss. that’s all i wore up until 3 years ago. My friend did my makeup for a New Years celebration and that is when I fell in love! 🙂
i loved wearing makeup all of the time, but my mom wouldn’t let me wear it to school until i was 14.
My mom’s friend owned a modeling school that she let attend for free when I was 10. I remember she bought me a ton of expensive Estee Lauder makeup including a giant eyeshadow palette. But sitting in a chair for a half hour while a makeup lady caked crap on my 10 year old face for photo shoots really made me hate makeup. Also, I was a total tomboy. None of that makeup got touched for another five years. When I was in junior high (about 13 or 14) I used mascara and Lip Smackers but that was mostly it. It seemed like I had a lot of makeup at the time, both drugstore and department, but I never actually wore most of it. I’m 28 now and really only started wearing makeup again in the last few years. I think of makeup now as more of a wardrobe extension, something fun to put on to accompany clothing. I wish that I’d never developed such an aversion to it as a kid becuase it’s a lot of fun and I missed out on it for years.