I've worn make-up on my face since I was about 14. I never wore anything on my skin. I tried that, and it clogged my pores and THAT led to zits. I always felt, however, that my eyelashes were too light, so used a bit of eyeliner on the top lid and a bit of mascara. I also used lipstick. I steered clear of the dark colors, feeling that my mouth was too big, and my teeth were too big to want to emphasize my mouth too much. Oh...I ALSO tweezed stray eyebrows and put a bit of pencil to fill in where the eyebrows didn't seem to care to grow.

All in all, however, I never really understood the deal about make-up. There's no doubt in my mind that the purpose is to make one look better, but this is the same stuff that one removes before going to bed at night with the mate of one's choice. Was it all just a gimmick to gain his attention? If not, why do we take it off at night and put it on again after he's left for work the next morning?

I've asked the same questions regarding women and hair curlers. I remember the days when women wore hair curlers at night [and I have no doubt that some still do.] I have the same questions about the "night creams" that are offered. Is this supposed to be something that one uses to ATTRACT a mate, or is this supposed to be something that a mate is subjected to in a mate for future benefit?

I can't see my eyes in the mirror anymore without glasses. How did women who've worn eye-makeup AND glasses all their adult lives put the stuff on?

My dad once told me that he wished my mom would put a little mascara on her eyelashes. She told me that it made her eyelashes too heavy and that felt uncomfortable. I wonder if I'm channeling my mother.

On perfume: I once wore it. That was before I met SO. He wore an after shave splash or something that was so desirable that I didn't want to wear anything that conflicted with that aroma. The problem I see with perfume is that YOU can't smell what others CAN. Have you ever walked into an elevator and been totally nauseated by a woman's perfume? I'm sure she thought she smelled great when she left the house. SO has oftentimes commented on how I smell GREAT after I shower. I commented in the same way when my daughter and her boyfriend spent a few days here recently. The whiff of them passing by after a shower led me to sniff the air for minutes. What was the source of the aroma? Soap, shampoo, and conditioner.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), August 16, 2001

Answers

And NOW for the REAL test: To those of you who met me IRL in LV last summer: Did I look so ugly without makeup? Did I smell so bad without perfume?

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), August 16, 2001.

But you look 20 years younger than you should, so you're not a suitable test case.

;)

-- Pliny the Elder (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), August 16, 2001.

Anita...women should wear make-up not to cover up their real face, but to accentuate their features. If you have great eyes, play up your eyes...great lips, accentuate them. Of course Tammy Faye-ish is always too much. Major tip - keep your eyebrows neatly groomed, and if they're too light, you can dye them or use an eyebrow pencil in your own shade - probably light brown for you. I think eyebrows make a face - I would concentrate on them. As far as other makeup for YOU, mascara and maybe some lipstick in a natural shade that can double as blush. Just dab your finger onto your lips and onto your cheeks and blend. You seem like a go-natural gal, so I would steer clear of eyeshadow, perhaps just a bit of blush on your eyelids. And for going out or dressing up...liquid eyeliner in a dark brown or black, BUT it takes practice to apply without looking like MIMI...just right at the lashline and I would start with just the top.

Face cream? Yknow there are creams that absorb into the skin now- adays LOL. It just to help keep your skin supple and to ward off wrinkles. Who knows if it really helps. I like allure magazine for up- to-date beauty tips and colors/products.

Anita, you are a lovely lady,AND you have the most beautiful long hair.

Hope I have helped. =o)

-- heehee (oh let's@go to . the mall), August 16, 2001.

Stephen: I'm probably the "norm" for my age group.

Hee-Hee: How does one apply something to eyes that one cannot see without going through glasses that if one takes off allows no vision of the eyes at all? I'm not trying to kid myself here. I'm going to be wearing glasses for the rest of my life. How did women who wore glasses before 40 do it?

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), August 16, 2001.

Anita, you can have your eyelashes and eyebrows tinted at a skin salon. It will probably have to be done every couple of weeks to a month or so.

-- (mm@hmm.), August 17, 2001.

permanent make up in Dallas

-- (Debbie@dallas.doing), August 17, 2001.

Anita,

You looked and smelled fine to me, you didn't send anyone running with your appearance and no one whispered about an odor.

You're fine the way you want to be, if it suits you do it.

While we are on the topic of parfume, a lil goes a looong way, some women I fear have the mindset that that if a little is good more is better.I beg all women to resist this thinking and err on the side of too little or it wearing off sooner.This may especially apply to older women for some reason.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), August 17, 2001.

I'm going to be wearing glasses for the rest of my life. How did women who wore glasses before 40 do it?

It's different. Younger people who have to wear glasses, from childhood on usually are myoptic, near sighted. They need the glasses to see far away. So sticking their faces close to the mirror is how they would apply makeup. As people get older, almost everyone needs glasses to see closer, I guess you would back as far away from the mirror as you could to try to see what you are doing, like some people do to read (before they finally admit to needing glasses to read). Maybe those magnifying mirrors are made for that reason. Donno personally, I'm still myoptic while needing bifocals to read, I can still see clearly only inches from my eyes. But then someone who wears makeup would be better qualified to answer.

-- Cherri (jessam6@home.com), August 17, 2001.

"I can't see my eyes in the mirror anymore without glasses. How did women who've worn eye-makeup AND glasses all their adult lives put the stuff on?"

Try a lighted make-up mirror. One side has a very magnified mirror. You won't need glasses. They're not expensive and can be purchased at Walmart, Kmart, Target, etc.

-- (just@helping.Anita), August 17, 2001.

I went to see my doctor. Doctor, every morning when I get up and look in the mirror... I feel like throwing up; What's wrong with me? He said... I don't know, but your eyesight is perfect.

--Rodney Dangerfield

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), August 17, 2001.

Anita, you said:

“I've worn make-up on my face since I was about 14. I never wore anything on my skin.”

Help me out here. If I read this correctly, you have NO skin on your face. Oh, you must be one of the Lizard People.

-- What's (the@deal.here?), August 17, 2001.

Oh, you must be one of the Lizard People.

Give me another 10 years or so for that look. I understand your point, though.

Good idea on the lighted magnified mirror. I remember having one of those two-sided mirrors when I was a teen. I'd scare myself when I looked into the magnifying side. Every pore looked HUGE, and that little zit looked all-encompassing. I suppose this time, I'll see what others see when they look at me. [That could be scary, too!]

These thoughts about tinting lashes, etc. are too scary for me to consider. What if I blink and get that stuff in my eye?

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), August 17, 2001.

Anita, you can purchase a pair of makeup glasses at any vision center. They are magnifing glasses with a hinge for each lens. You apply to one eye with lens flipped away and look through the other side and then reverse. Hope that helps.

-- marg (makeup@sometimes.com), August 17, 2001.

Sure marg sure, that's great for people with two eyes.

-- (Moshe Dayan @ wailing.wall), August 17, 2001.

Sure marg sure, that's great for people with two eyes.

LOL. I guess a cyclops would simply use the magnified mirror. I'd never heard of these "flip-up" makeup glasses.

Lots of good tips. Thank you all.

My second daughter had those Brooke Shields eyebrows. I thought they were very attractive. On her recent visit, she had normal, arched eyebrows. It seems that her visit to the hairdresser revealed a beautician "waxing" someone's eyebrows, and the beautician looked at my daughter and said, "YOU'RE next!" I hadn't known that she didn't like her natural eyebrows, but she said she didn't.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), August 17, 2001.

'Nita,

Here is the wisdom about scent imparted to me by a grand lady {who happened to be my great aunt}:

For a party or special occasion - daub {not douse!} your choice of scent in the hollows behind you knees. It has something to do with 'them' catching a waft as you walk away {or cross the room, or something like that - it's all a dance, you know}.

I didn't wear makeup 'til my twenties. Less is more {or the illusion of less is more} & I'll agree that eyebrows are a very expressive part of the face. Too bad they are either neglected or frighteningly overdone.

Now, onto our ususal thread drift - why is it that Homo sapiens seem to be the only organism in which the female is gussied-up to attract the aggressors?

-- flora (***@__._), August 17, 2001.

Other species don't have the marketing facilities that homo sapiens do.

-- Jack Booted Thug (governmentconspiracy@NWO.com), August 18, 2001.