When did you start wearing makeup?
 

Parents Who Don't Remember Sneaking Makeup Into School Horrified At Wal-Mart

First off, I don't think you can say that "Disney Princesses" or "Crayola" is a MAKEUP line. I'm guessing (since I don't do walmart) that it's like the Barbie stuff we used to have - very light cologne, bubble bath and maybe a lip balm. So comparing a line that has mascara and blush and eyeshadow to something like that is just silly.

To answer the title of the thread, I think we were 7 or 8 when we started buying nail polish and 9 or 10 when we got into the Lip Smackers. Plus I also bought the occasional face mask or whatever. But that was it for a LONG time. If I had ever put eye makeup on at age 8, my mother would have had a coronary.

I didn't start until I was 21!

A friend of mine staged an intervention and forced me to go to House of Fraser in Glasgow and get myself done. It was needed! We went to the Benefit counter and I got some nice makeup done.

Frankly, if I had started playing with makeup at 11, I think my mom would have been relieved!

Still don't, because I'm neither very good at it, nor very interested. My big did my makeup for events more because she wanted to than because I wanted to.

But the little kid makeup I remember the most was the Tinkerbell peel off nail polish. I'd put that on and peel it off over and over.

Ugh. My mom had me in poofy ball gowns, makeup and curls since I could walk. She was really into the idea of getting me into pageants. 5 year old me was no longer amused with this, threw a fit and vowed never to wear a dress again. I think she was a little crushed. :(
Then I pretty much only wore makeup for dance class photos and recitals.

I transitioned to day to day makeup when I was in 7th grade, but only a little mascara and blush then, and after that it was probably 9th grade that I started actually doing my makeup every day (mostly).

I would use a light powder or lip gloss when I was 12 or 13 but I didn't start doing the heavier stuff till high school.

I could wear kiddy-nailpolish when I was 10 and started wearing make-up when I was 13.
My mother (and older sister) don't wear any make-up so I learned about that in highschool.

My nieces (2 and 5) are very much into make-up though, especially nailpolish. My sister only lets the 5-year-old wear the kiddy stuff occasionly.

I think the thing I got into first was Lip Smackers (around 4th or 5th grade...so around 9 or 10). I remember this trio I got...one was a white peppermint one, one was a red berry one and the other was a purple grape one.

I was never too into nail polish because I'm a lifetime nail biter. But my friends started getting into it around this time too.

From ages 10-11 my friends and I would give each other "makeovers" and sleep overs, but those were something that would not leave the house. Thank goodness too because that's the time hair mascara was popular at Claire's and the Icing. I specifically remember a picture of my best friend who had a blue streak in her hair with blue eyeshadow, blue lipstick and blue nail polish. Not sure why we thought putting out favorite colors everywhere was a good look.

I think by the time I was 12 I started wanting to wear make up. My parents weren't thrilled by that, so I think we settled on mascara and lipgloss. I think when I turned 13, I think I was allowed to wear a bit more, like eyeshadow too. My parents did put their foot down when I went overboard though. They made me go back to the bathroom and wash my face before going out because I had too much eyeliner on. By the time I got to high school they were fine with my make up.

Throughout high school & college, I was never a huge make up wearer. The only thing I would wear on a daily basis was concealer, if I needed it. I went to an all girls high school so it definitely wasn't needed during the week. I always wore it when I would go out on the weekends though. College was about the same.

I love wearing make up, but I'm usually too lazy for it. Kind of weird I know. I'm trying to get myself in the habit of wearing make up to work now, which is hard because I NEVER did that an any job/internships (I value my sleep in the morning over extra time for make up, lol). But I'm realizing that just a little bit will make me look a little more put together. So now it's usually a light foundation, blush, mascara and lipgloss.

I had lip gloss, loose powder, and a peachy neutral eye shadow in 6th grade, though I wore it occassionally not everyday.

I wore makeup daily at 15. My mother made me an appointment at the local Clinique counter for skincare & makeup how to's (and some nice purchases!).

I started wearing makeup in highschool. I think I was like 15. I didn't wear a lot, just eyeliner, pretty much. I still don't wear much. I don't think I really need to.

I had all the play make up like Lip Smackers and peel off nail polish (and kiddie perfume until I came up allergic to it) when I was a little kid but then began trying to wear this godawful metallic lipstick in about the 6th grade. My mom didn't allow me to wear make up to school (I could play with it at home, but had to wash it off before school or church), so I would sneak it. Then after the 6th grade play when she took me to Clinique with her to get a make over for my stage make up I started trying to wear blush, mascara, and eyeshadow. She eventually gave in on the mascara, but didn't allow me to wear anything else to school until I got into the junior high. I started wearing base make up then because my skin wasn't very good, and then began to wear eyeshadow. I was allowed that much but she wouldn't allow the black raccoon eyeliner all the other girls wore and I pitched fits about it until high school. She said it looked horrible and of course I realized around about 16 she was right (and by then just about every other girl in the class realized how bad it looked, too) and scaled down my make up though I still wore foundation and powder every day because I was self conscious about my skin.

Looking back I realize I probably made my skin worse by wearing all of that make up daily and of course it didn't look good. On the other hand it all had SPF so I guess I was at least inadvertently wearing sunscreen every day. I now wear light mineral make up and mascara every day, and occasionally a sheer shadow...I think my mom was right to put the restrictions on me that she did but I'm glad she let me experiment with it at home when I was a kid. I still like playing with make up, just without blue metallic eyeshadow or spider-lashes ;). I don't see anything wrong with letting kids play around with it. It's like playing dress up.

At 8, my mom would give me all the Avon samples that she got from the Avon lady for me to PLAY with. We played dress up then. We did silly makeovers at sleep overs. It wasn't serious make up wearing and I doubt this would be either. At 12, lip gloss became all the rage (clear gloss...lol) and it was flavored.. Kissables maybe was the name? My mom let me wear it. When I wanted to really wear makeup on a daily basis as I was entering 8th grade, she took me to a Mary Kay party (didn't seem like the devil back then FWIW) where I learned how to apply it, what colors were good for me, etc. I just don't see kids that age wearing it regularly.

Hehehe.

Lip gloss/liner around 12-13 (back when black/dark lipliner was all the rage). Outside of that my mother would not have any of it. But! As long as I had my own money to pay for it, she let me get acrylics at 16. WTF.
I tried eyeshadow around freshman year of college, could get the concept of blending and such.
I also never got into lipstick. Always been a lipgloss type of girl.

I just started getting into makeup within the past couple of years. I won't even lie, it is 100% driven by being in a sorority--doesn't everyone have that one "OMGZ MAC <333" sister? I wouldnt have recognized the dolled-up me if I saw myself before that. Even now, i wear a light powder, eyeshadow, eyeliner (can't get the hand of pencil, sticking to liquid) and lipgloss. Even donned some fake lashes for a party a few weeks back.

It gets really expensive - I try to keep it as basic as possible, though my foundation is Mac.

I was always super-girlie. My mom always let me play with her makeup with I was little, and she got me the silly little girl makeup kits too. I started using real makeup around 5th or 6th grade. I didn't start wearing it on a daily basis until high school. I was never into the gaudy eyeshadow colors or anything like that, I always kept it pretty toned down. My parents never had a problem with it.

I still wear makeup every day, even when I have to wake up early. My 7-minute makeup routine is a daily ritual, I don't feel ready to go without it!

I was 12 and starting 7th grade when I started wearing makeup regularly. My mom took me to the Macy's to get my first items and I really only wore colors that looked natural.

play makeup at 6 and almost daily makeup at 13 (highschool)

I was allowed to wear lip gloss (Dr. Pepper Lip Smackers...I still love it!) in 6th grade. I bought a pressed powder compact in seventh grade. I wore a little bit of eye shadow (always in the brown family) through high school. Foundation and mascara started in college.

The only makeup I wore in junior high was foundation to cover up acne, but I took Accutane for a month freshman year and haven't had a zit since. I haven't really worn foundation since then other than special events -- just moisturizer and my skin looks great.

I think I wore a little basic mascara and blush in high school and college, but I've always been a tomboy (who has time to apply makeup when you're going straight to school from two hours of swim practice? not I). Even now, the only thing I do religiously is fill in my eyebrows a bit since they're naturally sparse.

But before junior high? Nothing besides Aquaphor on my lips.

I still don't really. Except for my sister's wedding, I just didn't. Not interested and my skin has always been clear so I didn't need things like concealer or powder. In college, I would wear lip gloss and clear mascara on occasion. I will wear that plus eye shadow for special nights out but only the eye shadows that come with instructions on the back. I tried to do a smoky eye on my own once and looked like I fought a grown man.

Theater makeup as early as first grade, and real makeup when I started high school at 13. I wasn't even allowed to wear nail polish until then, either. I was a cheerleader in Junior High and used to sneak clear nail polish. That was the most rebellious thing I ever did. No makeup was both my parents' and my Catholic school's rules. The closest I got was Lip Smackers.

My mother took me to the Clinique counter when I turned 12, as part of my birthday gift. (This was against my father's wishes.) The saleswoman talked to me about the skin care system (important as I was entering puberty and starting to have problems with acne) and did a makeover using only light subtle colors. My mother bought me the 3-step skin care items, foundation, powder, light colors of eyeshadow, blush, and lipstick.

My mother also informed me, in no uncertain terms, that if I applied the makeup with a heavy hand, it would be confiscated. She had nothing to worry about. There was an eighth-grader at my middle school who looked like she had applied her blue eyeshadow with a paint roller, either was wearing fake eyelashes or had applied thick black mascara with another paint roller, and was going to go work a corner during recess. UGH.

These days, I usually just put on some lip gloss and run out the door.

I wore lipgloss for baton events starting when I was three, and by the time I was four, my mother got me an eyelash curler, so that you could see that I did have nice eyelashes, even if they are blonde. I put on mascara as a joke when I was 10, and my mother AND father insisted I wear it from then on! My mother wore full makeup (I'm talking panstick!) from when she was 12, and people literally stopped her on the street to ask what she used on her face. When she died a little over a year ago,lots of people thought she didn't look a day over 40. She used to say it was because she protected her complexion. I'm hoping I have the same skin going on.

I mentioned in another thread that I was freaking out that my eyelashes weren't as full as they were, but I'm happy to say that I must have stressed out or moulted or something, because they're coming in nice & full again. :)

Not until college on a regular basis, and that was just lipstick/mascara/eyeshadow. My mother doesn't wear makeup (other than being oddly religious about never leaving the house without lipstick on) and didn't really see the importance of our wearing it. I never had any problems with acne and maybe that's why...? :confused:

I typically don't wear it to work since I hang out with construction workers all day, but on the days I do it's usually eyeshadow/liner, light powder, and lipstick. My niece is on her school's dance team and can apply it really well. It's really funny how things change in a few generations.

I was allowed to wear kiddie lip gloss starting around age 12, but I wasn't allowed to wear make-up until I was 16.

I don't enjoy it now. I put a little on for work, but there are some days when I don't feel like it. So, I take a little make-up bag to the office in case the urge to apply comes along.

I only became interested in makeup when I was in 6th grade. Before that it was just chapstick and BonneBell products, as well as nail polish on occasion (I only just stopped biting my nails, for the 3rd time, after 21 years of it).

I played with makeup in middle school and sometimes in high school, but I've never worn it regularly (still don't). Unless I have to look good for something (i.e. recruitment, wearing my letters, etc) I just don't bother. And even then it's mostly tinted moisturizer, mascara, and chapstick if possible.

Your mom sounds like mine (although I'm sure yours is much much younger). My mom was from that era where you didn't wear eye makeup if you had glasses (she did) or blush or liner or any of that stuff...BUT you could not be caught dead without your Revlon red lipstick. Even when she got older and somewhat housebound, she put on lipstick EVERY morning. She absolutely didn't understand me wearing 4 colors of eyeshadow and blush and then just putting no-color lip gloss on.

At this point in my life of course, I TOTALLY understand the not wanting to be without lipstick thing. The pigment in your lips starts going when you get older.

I went through a time about a year ago that I wore shadow/liner/mascara every day. Now, I'm in a no makeup phase, unless I have somewhere besides 9-5 work to go to. It's kind of sad, though, because I'm pretty good at applying - especially special effects - thanks to theatre training.

I have the worst memory in the world, so I honestly can't even take a guess as to when I started wearing makeup. I think that I formed a habit of wearing it every day sometime in college.. during my sophomore year. I broke up with my boyfriend of 2 years over the summer, I joined my sorority that year, I started going to parties, etc. I was tomboyish in high school, and like another poster here mentioned, I was on the swim team so makeup wasn’t my #1 priority after morning practices – I focused more on lotions, deodorant and perfume to try and cover up the smell of chlorine.

Now, I can’t imagine leaving the house with at least SOME makeup. It’s always been very subtle, though. I use powder, eye shadow (usually brown shades.. sometimes light purples), brown pencil eyeliner (never could use the liquid stuff), mascara, lip gloss, and an eyebrow pencil. When you have very thin eyebrows like I do, these work wonders!

My whole makeup routine takes me maybe 10 minutes.

I was a figure skater growing up, so I wore makeup for shows starting at 5 years old.
I didn't start wearing it regularly until I was 14 and a freshman in high school, and even then it was light.

My mother was the type who wouldn't answer the door to Girl Scouts without full makeup! And moisturizer - 24/7/365, twice a day, over 95% of her body. I still feel her influence, but then, who looks good in blonde eyelashes?

After my older sisters went to the dermatologist for the typical bad skin of teenagers, I was able to skip the worst of that because my Mom started me on (as prescribed to them) Clinique skin care and makeup. I still contend that my skin is in better condition at 45 than my peers because of wearing full makeup at 13. Of course, it was spackled on, but it was the late 70's-early 80's. I stopped wearing full makeup within the last 10 years or so, although I won't go out without mascara and I try to be good about moisturizer (since they all have sunscreen these days) every day.

Funny that Clinique is seen as old lady makeup when it's actually lousy for anyone who doesn't have oily skin. I think the stuff is way too cakey now. But it can sure soak up a 15 year old's greasy face. eeewwwww.

It's part of the process of girls growing up. The best you can do is teach a young girl how to apply it and hopefully a little about color choices. Frankly at 13, girls are mostly NOT very cute, so you might as well move through your gacky makeup phase while you're at it. And hide the cameras.

My mom never wore make-up, but I started playing with "little girl" make-up fairly young, probably 7 or 8. Never wore it out of the house until I had graduated to regular make-up around 14 or 15. My parents were totally fine with it as long as I didn't cake it on and wore sunscreen underneath (I am very fair).

Now, I only wear it for special occasions. I also never wear foundation or heavy powder because it covers up my many freckles and I look weird without freckles. Thankfully, I never get too many major breakouts so a little concealer does fine to cover pimples.

When I started wearing foundation, I wore Corn Silk. Anyone remember that? Talk about soaking up the oil.

I didn't see anyone saying Clinique was old lady makeup. :confused:

Yes! Corn Silk! I used the powder version.

I just bought my first Clinique product (other than Happy) the other day. I got the Even Better foundation...no breakouts the next day! When I first started applying, I thought maybe the counter girl had given me the wrong color, because it was so dark, but it was great once blended.

I used to hear it called that, but I used it until I started paying for my own...and because I've grown out of breakouts so I don't need to good stuff. I used it because my mom used it. Now I buy the L'Oreal knock off of Bare Minerals and it looks great and doesn't look or feel like caked on make up. I have the entire range but usually only use the powder foundation, the finish, and a Laura Mercier product in lieu of blush on a daily basis...I save the entire routine for going out or dressy occasions. I highly recommend it...it's so much cheaper than Bare Minerals and similar.

Corn Silk!!! I remember using that here & there before Clinique. I also liked some of the products of the Maybelline Shine Free line. It was geared to younger girls. I especially loved their baby lash mascara, but that went away a long time ago.

In my opinion Bare Minerals is WELL worth it, you really get what you pay for with that stuff. I have really weird skin, my forehead gets oily and everything else is super dry - super annoying. I usually do the whole routine before I go out for the day. It's really great!

I would have to agree with Bare Minerals. I went from Clinique to Lancome my senior year in high school (long story about that). Until summer of 2004 I was of the opinion there was nothing better than Lancome. Then I tried Bare Minerals at Ulta one day and instantly fell in love. It took a little bit to get used to it, but once I did it was awesome. A couple of times since I have tried going back to Lancome when a new formulation has come out that seems it might work with my skin. I always ended up going back to Bare Minerals. I fell in even more love with Bare Minerals when the Matte formula came out.

I've tried it, but the knock off is just about as good (like most things, you can tell the difference if you really, really pay attention, but most people won't) and cheaper...it handles my skin pretty well and I have oily/dry spots too...my forehead and chin get oily and everything else stays totally dry. It also stays on my skin all day pretty well. I only use oil blotting sheets during the day to touch up and it doesn't come off on them. I used to do the whole routine and honestly, it DOES look a little better but I save product by skimping and I'm still on a college campus. I figure I'm ahead of everyone else just by not wearing sweats everyday, so I go easy on the make up for class.

I've almost gotten my mom to switch to it. I made her let me do a make over with my make up on her since we have almost exactly the same skin tone, and she agreed it made her skin look more youthful than her Clinique product does. She really doesn't have any wrinkles for an woman in her early 50s, so I'm trying to get her to use lighter stuff until she needs whatever product that hides wrinkles.

Loreal anything doesnt do well on my face/skin--not make up, not skincare. I do have a friend that uses their bare naturale line though and she does seem to like it. I tried the mascara that is from that line once, and it seemed okay for a while and then after a couple weeks, it just didnt do it for me anymore. I ended up throwing it out.

I don't use any of the eye make up from that line. I haven't even tried it...I just have the powder foundation, blush, contour stuff, and finish. I do also have pressed powder but don't use it with the foundation at the same time. I usually go with Rimmel for my eye make up, unless I decide to go into Sephora and splurge (but I'm cheap, so that's rare ;))