Do You Wear Makeup to Attract Others?

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I was talking to a co-worker, well actually... he was doing all the talking. And he's the type to go all psychological on my ass but he wanted strike up a conversation with me and he asked "why do you wear that paint *points to my eyes* on your face? Give me your reasons."

My first thought is, "this came out of a thread from MUT". So I gave a generalized run down on reasons why folks wear it:

  • Because they like "painting" their face (another form of creativity/expression of themselves)
  • Enhance their looks (making certain features more prominent by contouring and such)
  • Cover up flaws (acne)
  • Insecurity - help to boost self-esteem (could be same as "covering up flaws")
He then said I had very valid points but his "hypothesis" (he's such an uber nerd) was that women (he didn't say men
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) wore makeup solely for the purpose of attraction of others. I agreed, and I asked him to elaborate more on his "hypothesis". He said, makeup is basically selling a false advertisement... a "fake you". When you take it all off, you look completely different - not the package the person first sees you in. He believes women should only wear makeup for special occasions and the rest of time, they shouldn't wear anything at all - that way, their man can focus on them as an individual and not on paint on their face. Then he was jumping on all this other mumble jumble about women should embrace their natural beauty and not rely on cosmestics, blah blah... and folks who wore it did it just to attract a person who likes that certain look, thus creating that false advertisement.

Getting to my question. Do you honestly put makeup on to attract others - is that your intention? By others, it could be a guy or girl... or both. If not, comment below!

 
i wear makeup mostly for my own self esteem. i feel prettier if i'm wearing it. however i don't think i really do it for boys, i also wear it when i want to look smart or well presented. if i'm going to see a boy i'd make a bit more effort to look nice but i do that for my girlfriends too. i really think its just a confidence thing! and actually most of the guys i've had relationships with prefered me without makeup, or just with natural makeup anyway.

its an interesting question though.

 
I have always worn makeup just for me. For me, it's deffinitely got nothing to do with attracting anyone because I'll wear a full face of makeup even when I'm home alone and not even going out!

If I am trying to attract someone, I try to wear my makeup as natural looking as possible because I don't want to look 'fake'.

 
That could be said about anything. Why is he only pinpointing women? Does he wear a different shirt everyday? Does he gel his hair or wear colonge? If he does, we can very much say that he's doing it to attract others also.

I don't wear makeup to get attention; I wear it to look more presentable. I have bad acne at times and I wear foundation so that my face doesn't look too gross.

if my skin were good; I wouldn't rely on make up so much... plus; just like an artist love to paint; my face is like a canvas. I consider it as a hobby to look for new product and to create a new look. Even when I don't go out; I play with my make up just for the heck of it.

Women shouldn't wear make up daily; just on special occasions so man can focus on them as an individual? What kind of rubbish is that? With or without makeup; we're still the same person... they can focus on our personality no matter what... if they can't because of the makeup; it's not the women fault; it's the man's for only paying attention to the look.

 
I wear makeup for myself (I feel pretty self conscious without it in public) as well as for others. As an example, when I go to a club and see girls with perfect makeup on their faces I feel like I need to compete with them and have a well made up face as well.

And about what he said we should look as natural as possible because everything else is fake advertising...well, 90% of men fall for that. I mean, do they drool over Victoria´s Secret or over the plain Jane next door?

Without my "false advertising" (consisting of makeup, push up bras, hair color, tight clothing, teeth whitening, self tanners etc) I would look pretty average and plain. But with all those enhancements I believe I can look above average and hell yes I´m gonna take advantage of that.

It´s a cruel world out there where beauty gets you special treatments. I don´t like it but if it gives me an advantage of some sort, or even just more confidence...then I´m gonna continue on doing what I do.

I also have a female friend who refuses to wear bras with any sort of padding (she´s a B-cup) because she doesn´t like the false advertising. I just don´t get it lol

 
He sounds like a fool.

I wear make-up for myself. When I'm putting it on in the morning it's like a little thing that I do to pamper myself. And it makes me feel and look a lot better.

 
Well personally I'm trying to look atractive but not atract anyone!! Lol. And its really hard to crossdress without makeup... And that gets into why I crossdress and I don't even know why so we won't go there... But its just something if learned to enjoy!

 
to a point, yes I do, because I believe it makes me more attractive, but I do think if you look too immaculate, if the makeup is too perfect, hair too well done etc, it's quite intimidating so I don't think it really works too well always, lol.

That guy sounds like a fool. The thing that annoys me the most, is some guy like that will be all 'blah blah' natural beauty, but WHO was he striking up the convo with? the chick with nice makeup. Not someone without makeup!

It's like, when push comes to shove, he will in all honesty be attracted to the girl with makeup rather than without. Hmph.

 
I agree with Rosie, he sounds like a bit of a jerk. not much of a hypothesis there since I doubt you were trying to attract him. See you could have ended the conversation right there, given your one reason and dismissed him and never had to delve into the other reasons. Celly, you're just too nice.

 
Well for me its not to attract anyone. I do like how I look with it on and its for me, and who I feel I am on the inside and no one else. But Basically like Karen said it helps me look more feminine and without makeup I feel I don't look at all feminine.

 
Nope.
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I wear makeup simply because I like it and I think it's pretty. It's a form of artistic expression for me. Telling me not to wear makeup is like telling me to wear the most plain clothes possible so people could focus on the "real" me. When, in actuality, my clothes and makeup are outward expressions of who I am.

 
Anthea, I feel the same actually.. I feel like I look quite masculine without it.

I guess I need all those things to make me feel 'girly'!

ETA - Shaundra, I completely agree, clothes are another form of expression. I do enjoy the skill of putting on makeup, making it look as good as I can, I get satisfaction out of that so I know what you mean

 
I have always loved the look of makeup on women even before I was old enough to start wearing it myself. So, when I actually was alllowed to wear makeup I was truly ecstatic! As, I simply love wearing makeup and will until the day I die! And, the reason why I love it so much is because it enhances my beauty and helps me present a more polished look to the world,

Now, I also do know that most men really do love to see a woman with her hair and makeup beautifully done. As, it really does make their day! So, yes I do know that men do see me as an appealing woman due to looking at my exterior first. And, this is something that I have come to realize will probably never change.

Yes, there are a few men who do find it unnatural for a woman to wear makeup all the time on her face! However, those type of men are in the minority and certainly not the majority!

 
Sounds like a typical dork with too high expectations to me. Why is it that not-so-hot guys always want the supermodels? George on Seinfeld, much?

Don't even bother explaining yourself to him, he already knows it all anyway.
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also:

Quote:
Telling me not to wear makeup is like telling me to wear the most plain clothes possible so people could focus on the "real" me. When, in actuality, my clothes and makeup are outward expressions of who I am. can't say it better than that
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I wear makeup for me and only for me. It does help me boost my self esteem a bit when I'm feeling crappy but I hardly wear makeup to get someone's attention. Makeup is way to express myself just like the clothes I wear. The only difference is it goes on my face.

 
I wear make up for me
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I don't care what other people think, I'm married and I don't need it to attract other people.

 
I guess yes and no. Before I was married yes, because when you are single you put your best foot forward when looking for someone. And I suppose yes still, because I like looking good for my husband(who I happened to meet when I had a naked face
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). So I guess that falls in the attracting the opposite sex category. However, I never felt I needed makeup to attract anyone. I mostly wear it for me. I enjoy wearing it in the same way I enjoy cute shoes or handbags.

 
No... because during the period when I met my bf I would wear very little makeup when I would go out. I still do. I wear just enough for me to not feel self-conscious when I'm out. Just enough to feel pretty by not over the top. For me that's definitely concealer, a blush, a little eye shadow, some eye liner, mascara and gloss. So I guess in answer to your question... I wear makeup for me.

 
I dont..I wear it for myself. It makes me feel better when I have makeup on. When I don't wear any I feel insecure and like I look like crap or something. Makeup makes me more confident and makes me feel better about myself. I could careless what guys think about it.

 
Oh bah! I wear makeup cuz it's fun and interesting to me... It's one of my de-stress tools... If it looks like (war) pain, oh well. Whatever...

 

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