If you all remember my controversial take Dating & Makeup – False Advertisement or Not? then you’ll know that I feel strongly that makeup is a representation of style and a highlighter for natural aspects of beauty (if done correctly, of course). But in my many months as a member of the G@G community, I have personally witnessed a lot of odd opinions and ideas about makeup that leave me baffled in regards to where this misinformation came from. Predominantly, these odd opinions seem to belong to men. I’ve heard such terms and such thrown around like “Makeup dependent”, “Makeup has chemicals in it that do x, y, and z” with no source of information attached to it. Then, of course, we’ve all heard the general consensus that wearing makeup is “false advertising”, “lying”, and my favorite: “fake.”
So instead of getting mad and chocking it up to men being idiots (as I do not believe such) I came to the conclusion that there just isn’t enough information out there about makeup that is geared towards men.
No wonder there’s so many hilarious Boyfriend does my makeup tag! videos on YouTube.
So today for you gents I am going to debunk some myths and misconceptions about makeup. This is only part one of this take however! There will be a part II of this makeup lesson that teaches men all about makeup applications, what they do, and how to spot them so no one can ever complain that a girl “lied” to a guy by wearing flawless makeup. Because, after all, if you know nothing about it, no one can blame you for being surprised that your girlfriend can go from this, to this:
(Both are beautiful, btw!) #nikkitutorials
Without further adieu, here’s a lesson in makeup for MEN.
Makeup will prematurely age a woman/cause skin problems for a woman
Do you remember when I brought up the term “makeup dependent”? Well, essentially the term suggests that if a woman wears makeup every day, that her skin will require it to look good and youthful. Of course then it extends into the age-old theory that makeup can and will prematurely age your skin if you use it regularly because it contains harmful chemicals that can cause various skin-related issues.
I’m here to tell you that this is not entirely true.
First and foremost: makeup has to be approved to be skin-safe before it hits the shelves, so it isn’t just this toxic fluid that is going to turn your twenty-something-year-old girlfriend into a hag raven by next month. There are definitely some chemical traces that can be found in a lot of makeup products, but with the advancements in the makeup industry, these especially harmful chemicals are being seen less and less. Such as Parabens, BHA and BHT, coal tar dyes, even parfum, AKA added fragrance. In fact, a lot of makeup brands are known to actually enrich their products with many different essential oils, vitamins, sunscreens (which helps PREVENT AGING) and other compounds that are good for the skin.
The issue with makeup is that it doesn’t replace proper skin care, even with the addition of healthy compounds. The only time you’re really going to see premature aging in the skin would be as a result of makeup is with constant overuse in the absence of proper skin care. You can wear heavy makeup all day if you properly care for your skin: that means proper makeup removal and a skin care regimen that is geared towards your particular skin type. A healthy skin regimen for an avid makeup wearer would ideally be:
- Proper makeup removal
- Cleanse
- Exfoliate
- Tone
- Moisturize
- Sunscreen (if entering the sun at any point)
Of course, adding an anti-aging night cream or oil serum are both good ideas as natural conditions can cause premature aging as well. So guys, don’t be so concerned if you get with a girl that’s all glam, as long as she takes care of her skin, she isn’t going to resemble your scrotum 5 years down the road, alright?
Natural is ALWAYS better! (Insert a picture of a “naturally” beautiful model here)
Okay obviously this is a matter of opinion, but nothing tickles me more than when I see a gent say this and post a picture of a “natural beauty” from Google who looks a little something like this girl:
Naturally flawless, right? Wrong. This girl actually IS wearing makeup. Not very much, yes, but she is wearing some. This is the thing guys: humans are imperfect and the cards don’t always work in our favor. Women are more prone to have troubled skin (acne) due to hormones for starters, and like everybody else on the planet we probably don’t get enough sleep. Pair that with beauty standards and you have 100 reasons why you SHOULD wear makeup. Of course, it’s not all about looking great believe it or not; wearing makeup says a lot about you, the main thing is that it gives off an appearance of vibrancy AND that you take care of your appearance/are put together, which are generally desired traits. So yes, while you may still love us without our makeup on, we still have to attract you initially, which is why even the more natural girls will still reach for a BB cream and a little concealer once in a while.
On that note though….
Girls wear makeup for attention/for men
I wrote a whole take on this subject that should be linked above, so I won’t dwell on this subject too much. But let me tell you something: any time I have ever done my makeup I have NEVER asked myself:
I wonder if guys will like this makeup look?
It’s a style choice, meaning that we rock it because we like it and we like how it looks on us. You saying that we wear it solely for attention is like suggesting every article of clothing you put on that you simply just like is begging for female attention. It’s a little hypocritical.
I’m sure there are women who wear makeup to get attention from dudes, and in some respects there’s a time and a place to put your best self forward to pull a guy in. However, to suggest it’s the one and only reason is some fuckery.
Girls who wear makeup are ugly/insecure
Going along with the “natural is better” trend with the guys, there is this consensus that if a girl wears makeup (especially more heavy handed makeup) that it means she has zero self esteem and likely isn’t naturally beautiful.
Of course that isn’t the case 100% of the time.
I wear makeup, not every day, but regularly. I am just as comfortable leaving my apartment without makeup as I am with it on, because ultimately I look how I look and I like the way I look. Don’t get me wrong, I like the way I look with makeup a bit better (because I personally like makeup) but a good makeup look requires a good canvas. Yes, there may be acne or less pronounced cheekbones underneath the foundation of some girls, but when you think about it, makeup can be used to simply remove the imperfections that obscure your natural beauty.
They aren’t truly a part of who you are, they’re just an ailment that isn’t quite such an easy fix. The same can be said for women with no eyebrows, or who get red in the nose a lot – you get the gist. Sometimes we don’t have everything that we want or too much of what we don’t want, and if you can correct it, why not? It’s like presenting yourself the way you’d look if you didn’t have those particular imperfections, it doesn’t make you hideous or horribly insecure. Just human.
Naturally, I know people will dispute this to the very end of time, but the way I see it, is that if you can see how beautiful someone is without the imperfections then you may be able to see them as just as beautiful with them. If not, well, time to move on I suppose. I can’t say I blame you since everybody is entitled to their preferences and I don't demonize anybody for it. Unless you're a piece of shit about it.
Alright so that’s the end of part I of this makeup lesson for men. I hope you gents found it at least sort of insightful and not too much like an attack, as that wasn’t my intention whatsoever, especially given that men typically don’t have a ton of knowledge about makeup to begin with. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and stay tuned for part II!
#makeupformen #TGIF
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