Originally Posted by JamieL /img/forum/go_quote.gif My mother who is 53, never wore any makeup and women keep asking her what her secret is for beautiful skin and she just tells them that she never wears makeup and she swears that it has kept her skin beautiful throughout the years. She takes great care of it and protects it from the sun (UV rays are responsible for 80-90% of skin aging which is something cosmetics companies don't tell you). I've always admired her for being a natural looking woman and my wife is like her although she sometimes wears a little bit of makeup on those rare special occasions. My wife is 35, I'm 28 and her skin is also amazing so I'm totally buying the idea that makeup + UV damage from tanning age the skin significantly. My mother is 44 and has great skin. When she was a teenager up until she had my brother and I, she would wear makeup everyday. Not just light makeup but heavy foundation, blush, eyeshadow, lipstick, EVERYTHING! But she always washed off her makeup at night, toned if needed to, moisturized properly, and uses UVA and UVB protection. Her sisters (there are about 6 of them that use makeup alot) and her mother also have beautiful skin but they took care of it too. I also think they have really good genes cause they all have great skin (makeup wearing or not) and look younger than their actual age. So I don't think makeup has to do much, if anything, with aging or ruining someone's skin faster, but it has to do with how well you take care of it and DNA. To me, I like makeup cause it's fun. It's a hobby. Kinda like how people buy video games, go to the movies, paint, etc. We could definitely do better things with our money and time, but it's not like it's hurting anyone and it makes us happy so why not?