why the need for makeup?

[vyonal]

I thought of makeup as superficial and unnecessary when I was very young,

but now I see that it's just an addition to my image, a way to look and feel extra ready to go to school, etc, and honestly just really fun.

Although I'm finding that I really like makeup, I seem to be accumulating a lot of the same shades or too many of the same type of product (lipsticks, specifically), and I'm afraid some of them will inevitably go to waste since everything has an expiration date. 

I do try to give some away to my friends but none are that interested in makeup and they probably won't use it that much either.

so I was wondering 

1. how much makeup is having too much? (i.e. more than 5 lipsticks, 5 eyeshadows)

2. why do you use makeup?

3. do you feel like you don't want to go out without having at least a certain amount of it on?

4. what do you do when you end up with similar shades?

[runy]

I resonate with the original poster about initial thoughts about makeup.  I always thought it was high maintaince and very girly (and I was neither of these things).  But the truth is I didn't know how to put it on, and now it's truely become a hobby and a passion. 

1. how much makeup is having too much? (i.e. more than 5 lipsticks, 5 eyeshadows)

It depends per person.  Some people need just a handful of items to get through major life things like work, casual, and going out.  I personally love to practice some creativity and really enjoy finding combinations, trying new looks, etc.  So I have more than the average gal - I've become a bit of a collector.  I try not to buy things as a splurge though.

2. why do you use makeup?

To perfect the look of my skin, to look polished, for fun.

3. do you feel like you don't want to go out without having at least a certain amount of it on?

Well I wish I could.  I wouldn't wear foundation if I had perfect skin. If I did, then yes I would leave the house occasionally without makeup.  But again, I enjoy the non necessary makeup part (eye makeup, blush, lip combos, etc!)

4. what do you do when you end up with similar shades?

I try to look at my stash before making a purchase.  But- I found out a great thing to do with similar shades is a smokey eye- because its a variation of the same color!

[tenngal]

I don't think there is such a thing as too much makeup.  It just depends on what you like.  However, I do go overboard with buying almost the same shade of pink nail polish over and over and over (lol).  Anyway, I wear makeup to cover flaws, add color to my face, which in turn gives me more confidence.  That's not to say that I wear makeup all the time--I don't put on makeup to make a quick trip to WalMart, etc.  The only makeup you really have to worry about expiring is:  cream eyeshadow, mascara, mascara primer and possibly foundations.  Everything else (as long as you are sanitary when using it) stays useful until you're done with it.

[dp2010]

OMG I love these questions!!! 😄

1. how much makeup is having too much? (i.e. more than 5 lipsticks, 5 eyeshadows)... omg... i can never have too much!  if you love it and use it... than what could be the problem!

2. why do you use makeup?  I use makeup for many reasons.... but first and foremost is because it is so much fun to use.  I love the way it looks and I love to experiment with new looks.  I use it to coverup blemishes, to give me color, to liven up my face.  I use it to change my looks...how fun!  I really really enjoy putting it on...the whole process....I heart makeup!!!!

3. do you feel like you don't want to go out without having at least a certain amount of it on?  Yes.... but not in a bad way... like because i'd be embarrased.  But more because i enjoy it so much.  I feel more confident with it on as well... more put together. 

4. what do you do when you end up with similar shades?  I keep them and use them... i think there i usually slight differences between products... so i will mix them up.  I mean... if there is someone in need that i am more than happy to share... but otherwise.. i will happily use them! D

[jadorezrg]

1. It depends on your needs and interests. I'm the sort of person who loves playing with colors and trying out different brands. For me, there's never enough. I love having different options to play with.

2. I love the way I feel when I'm wearing makeup. I don't mean that I need to be full on done up. Even when I'm only wearing the basics (my basics are: foundation, bronzer, mascara, lipgloss) I feel confident and put together.

3. I always have some makeup on when I go out. I've even worn mascara and lipgloss while working out. I just don't feel complete unless, I have a bit on. This is especially true of mascara. I don't sleep as much as I should, so at minimum I put on mascara so at least my eyes look bright, open and alert.

5. Over the years, I've noticed that certain shades draw my attention: browns, purples, blues, golds. I have numerous brands with these colors. Some are matte, others are shimmery. I keep everything because I feel guilty for tossing out makeup.

[Jillie]

Good Questions! I use to think makeup was so ridiculous and I just didn't see the point. I also didn't like it because I didn't understand how to apply it (my mother never taught me, I learned on my own)... But now that I am 21, I have realized how incredibly obsessed I am with makeup! 

1. How Much Makeup is having to much?

-I don't think you can ever own too much makeup. It all depends on the person and whether they have enough room to keep it all. Also, as long as the person isn't spending money they do not have on makeup they really do not need, I do not see a problem with someone owning 5 makeup items or 300 makeup items! 

2. Why do you use makeup?

- I started using makeup because my skin when I was in high School was horrible. I got really bad cystic acne and I now have very bad discoloration and a few scars. I also still get an occasional blemish! I use makeup to cover up my scars and discoloration because to be honest I am embaressed of them! I also really enjoy putting makeup on and getting "dolled" up for special occasions or just to go out. I LOVE makeup! 

3. Do you feel like you don't want to go out without having at least a certain amount of it on?

-I'll be completely honest. I do not and will not ever go out without makeup and that is solely because of my acne scarring and discoloration. I can not remember the last time I left my house without at least foundation on, it would have been years ago. Like I said, I just do not feel comfortable with my face without any makeup on it. 

4. What do you do when you end up with similar shades?

- For me the problem I have is with purple eyeshadows. I must own at least 20 different purple eye shadows. I LOVE them! Even though they may all look alike, to me they are all different. I still keep them and I still use them even if I use one of them once a month. I mean of course I have the couple eyeshadows that I use consistently but I still keep them all! What I do is every 3-4 months I go through ALL my makeup and I look at every single piece of makeup I own and I decide if I really need or want it and if I am truly ever going to use it.... and if I don't than I throw it out but if I answer yes to those questions back in the case it goes! 

[rigel]

depends on what you value. i value eyshadows so much i have so many i decided that i use highlighters the most and i wont buy anymore unless i decide what highlighter i need to change a look i already do or to go with a color i havent been using. buying eyeshadow primer made me realize there is always something to learn. learning over buying is key i believe. so i experiment rarley with the more pricey stuff unless its a look or color i am dying for. the sephora cover page on this website helps. i saw a look on here with magenta pink and cerlian blue once, only thing is as much as i was evnies of that look and colors i knew it was out of my comfort zone, and when it comes to color i am very versital. wearing a diffront look a diffront color as often as possible is the best way i have learned of how to make sense of my collection of very pricey eyeshadows. also experiments from dollar store and walmart, because shopping is a hobbie for me, often those experiments turn me in the right dirrection. i never give make up to friends or family that isnt brand new and the newest thing. i never give them bargains either. i have gotten alot of women cousins and friends into various colors they would have never tried or brands they wouldnt have appreciated, my last gifting was the este lauder big value gift. I sent all the eyeshadows  and the blushes to my cousin Kara in Boston, the brushes to my mother, and the eyeshadow remover to my mother, and the lipsticks to three friend. They know i would never give them anything used or old, its unsanitary. Purchasing for gifts makes my shopping make sense, and feel good. theres a limit to how much i can spend on me, but others I go crazy and they get suprises and they feel special and good and i have no guilt cause it was a gift. I gave my cousin in baton rouge, heather the purple palet when that came out. forget its mname its sold out. my mother the capucino palet, lets see, my sister i shopped for a month here on sephora and at the Make up store in Portsmouth and on Yazmos and gave her a self made kit with a make up case. Also I tried nars blush on a whim and also a stilla cream blush and fell in love, blush isnt something i collect. I let my self go crazy on dollar store lipsticks and lipglosses but felt no guilt purchasing the for cancer awareness Este Lauder lipgloss. Sometimes i have in the past bought chanel lipgloss. then i tried avon and found i liked the taste and feel of it better than chanel, but recently i hate the avon packaging. i would do avon anymore. you find your thing, you find away to make sense of it, you never give away anything used or old. you talk about it less than you gift, and then everyone arround you gets into it and they talk about it so then you do, and you try to learn as much as you can before spending sprees. and you need to know yourself and others so that you know what you care about and what they do and what your boundaries are. I have a friend that knows now never to warn me what to wear or not. I dont want what not to waer help. i already know the stigmas and the opinions and i dont care about it if i dont ask for make up help, dont tell me what color not to wear. i do as i please, and i think no one should be judged offering others advice should help them try new things and be fearless and happy, free like the spirit of a true artist. and believe me you dont want to be a picasso with make up, but you may want to be an impressionist or a realist or a dottist with your eyes. you may want to be a special effects drama queen with your lips. what ever you do you want to be true to yourself like shakespeare and full of heart like olivia from jerseylicious. 

[officegal]

Good topic and questions!  I often ponder the same thing myself, though I'm a certifiable makeup addict.  I grew up with a very low maintenance mother who only had one foundation, one powder compact, and one lipstick.  She hardly ever wore more than that, and never any perfume.  Yet I remember watching her as a child and loving how she would apply her lipstick to go out.  Something about that just stuck, ya know?  I have two sisters who are also very low maintenance but I love that they come to me for help.

1. how much makeup is having too much? (i.e. more than 5 lipsticks, 5 eyeshadows)

I don't think you can put a number to it - everyone has different needs.   I have a lot more than 5 of everything but I find that I'm like that with almost everything I own (books, DVDs, clothes).  I like diversity and wearing the same thing all the time is boring, though a part of me really wants to be devoted to that one perfect lipstick and a very simple and strict skincare regimen.  But I like experimenting way too much to live the simple life when it comes to beauty products.

2. why do you use makeup?

I began with lipsticks in high school and didn't even touch anything else until my early/mid-20s.  Once I began with foundation to cover up a minor skin issue, everything else sort of came in a package deal.  Now I'm used to putting on makeup and mostly do it to cover up acne scars.  Blush and bronzer come secondary to foundation to add some more contour back in my face.  I only wear mascara/liners when I want to impress and shadows come into play when I'm bored and want to have fun with some colours.

3. do you feel like you don't want to go out without having at least a certain amount of it on?

I try to get away with not wearing makeup as much as possible, but usually foundation is a must for me.  I can't stand the sight of scars on my face.  😞  I also always have to have a lippie or I look like a corpse.

4. what do you do when you end up with similar shades?

If they're almost the same and I happen to like one less than the other, I'll return one of them.  But having developed a sharp and discerning eye for shades and pigments, I find the effect can seem very different on the face even though in the packaging products can look very similar to one another.  This is why I end up with a stash of similar looking shades of lipsticks and blush. 

[katie1724]

Good questions -- I am definitely an addict. 

1. I agree with Officegal -- I don't think you can really put a number to it (either that, or I'm just in denial). I would love to be a minimalist with clothing and "things" in general, but with beauty products, I love trying new things. I do have cult favorites that I never abandon, but I still love to try new ones. If 5 items of one product is the standard, then I definitely have too much! To be fair, I also refuse to throw anything away, so I still have pots of gloss from high school (gross, I know) and college. (They don't smell bad, so they must have a ton of preservatives -- but I would never use them now.) Anyway, as a result, between what I do currently use and what I refuse to throw away, I have a ridiculous amount of cosmetics in my possession.

2. My obsession started when I was *really* young -- I used to love to play in my mom's makeup (she didn't have that much, but I loved it anyway). My grandmother and aunts used to get Clinique gifts and would save the lipsticks for me, so by the time I was 13 I had amassed a collection of about 30. I obviously didn't wear them out of the house, but I loved to make myself over. By the time I was a teen, it was a full-blown addiction. I have always been religious about skincare and I stayed out of the sun. I briefly used foundation when I was about 14, but stopped and didn't use it again until my mid-20s. I loved experimenting with mascara, blush and lipstick. Since I didn't tan, I also went through tons of bronzers trying to find the right one.

3. Until I was about 23, I wore less makeup than I do now. At some point, though, I realized that I look different without eyeliner, so it's the one product that I use, even if I don't have time for anything else. 

4. I usually just end up with all similar shades. If I know someone who is in need of one, like my sisters or a friend, I'll give it to her. Otherwise, they join my collection of cosmetics (see #1). 

: )

[makethemeatcake]

1. I do not think you have too much makeup, unless you have like a fifty in each makeup category. Yet you also do not need to have so much makeup because you do not want it to dry out; for example: mascara

2. I wear makeup to make my face look less faded, to coverup blemishes, to have tasty lips, and have longer lashes 

3. Sometimes, just because of if I see someone I know when I go out, but since my face cleared up I am more confident to only wear like blush and lipgloss. But in the summer it is best to wear lipgloss with spf so your lips are covered from the sun. Also, it is good to wear lip balms in the winter to moisturize your lips so they won't chap up.

4. For me I like the natural color looking shades so I mostly have brown, but if I have similar shades then I could mix the browns are use a different color with the brown.