Thread for people who use make-up/cosmetics

[mjwilson]

Used to suffer from eczema when l was younger and my dermatologist recommend pure almond oil, it's fantastic.

Any suggestions for the best place to go shopping for this?

[The Bumlord]

I'm a mildly gibbous, balding (and phimotic, obviously) man in my 40s and I still occasionally get spots on my nose like a teenager on a first date.

You'd best believe I'm a wizard with the concealer baby girl mmmhmm
help me

[Blue Jam]

Any suggestions for the best place to go shopping for this?

Almond oil is used as a carrier for diluting aromatherapy oils, so anywhere that sells aromatherapy oils. Holland & Barratt should do it, possibly larger branches of Boots.

[flotemysost]

I'm a mildly gibbous, balding (and phimotic, obviously) man in my 40s and I still occasionally get spots on my nose like a teenager on a first date.

Spots are normally bacterial and/or hormonal as far as I'm aware, but as a topical treatment for mild spots, tea tree oil works pretty well for some people. OTC creams containing Benozyl Peroxide are often pretty effective, but obvs check with a pharmacist (it really dries out the area it's applied to so it's not for everyone).

My skin is pretty horrible at the moment. No spots, just really sallow and leathery, somehow dry and oily at the same time. Iggy Pop would look like a blushing apple-cheeked ingenue next to me right now.

I've been avoiding the sun where I can, wearing Factor 50 every day and chugging an Olympic swimming pool's worth of water at my desk during work, so I think it's just the first horseman of becoming an old cunt, sadly.

[canadagoose]

Lockdown has pretty much knocked makeup on the head for me. I didn't usually wear loads anyway, just a bit of foundation, eyeliner and mascara (all Rimmel, out of habit and availability rather than anything else, it's fairly cheap and it's sold everywhere), but having gone entire months last year without putting anything on my face (fnar) other than moisturiser I've realised I just can't be bothered anymore. I put a tiny bit of eyeliner on when I'm going to work just so I don't feel completely bare faced, but there's no point in much else when most of your face is under a mask. Once we can go somewhere other than work or the shops I might start using it more again but right now I feel as if I won't bother other than for special occasions.

Oh same, I only put some eyeliner on (and foundation) for going out to a restaurant on Sunday and that was the first time in a while. I'm mostly hidden behind a mask these days when I'm out so what's the point?

Just realised when writing this that I'm on page 1 so this is from a while ago. Oops. Not deleting now

[bgmnts]

I've just decided to dye my hair purple on a whim!

I'm so alpha.

[Janie Jones]

Does anyone else wear gas permeable contact lenses and find themselves struggling with the world shortage of cleaner? I'm reduced to using washing up liquid which is fine unless you fail to rinse very thoroughly.

Boots No.7 have a canny deal on make-up now, £10 off if you spend £25, and they chuck in a free eyeshadow and highlighter palette. And you get Boots points to, er, boot.

[Blue Jam]

Had a spa day today (yeah, inappropriate, I know) and in preparation I painted my toenails for only about the second time in my life. I don't know why because I feel so fucking glam right now. Definitely going to be doing this more often.

Currently wearing Leighton Denny nail polish in a colour named "I'm So Soirée" which I can't help reading in the voice of Jeremy from Peep Show when he was struggling to apologise to Mark (posed by model):



I also wanted to recommend this:



Needed some more top coat and picked this one up pretty much at random, a fuckit-this-will-do purchase, and it's fucking revolutionary. Even the two nail polishes I've got which are nice colours but chip like a mofo last forever under this.

I also picked up some nail polish drying spray while I was at it. Why the FUCK had I never tried this before? I think I may have assumed it wouldn't work, just as I never noticed any difference with quick-drying nail polish except it just seemed thinner and lower in quality than the normal stuff. Never going to be without it now.

One thing I still don't understand though: those toe separator things. Never seen the point. Does everyone else have mangled toes or something?



WHY?

[Janie Jones]

One thing I still don't understand though: those toe separator things. Never seen the point. Does everyone else have mangled toes or something?

Not to put too fine a point on it - yes. Years of running and before that, cheap fashion shoes. My toes look like Lisa's teeth in the Simpson's episode when she gets braces. No one ever sees them though, I never wear any footwear that exposes my feet.

Thanks for the gel top coat recommendation, exactly what I need.

[Blue Jam]

My mother had mangled toes from wearing pointed stillettoes every day in the 60's. Seeing them put me off ever wearing pointed shoes. I guess my inability to walk in heels makes me lucky, in a way.

Never did ballet either, probably also a good thing.

[Dex Sawash]

My mother had mangled toes from wearing pointed stillettoes every day in the 60's. Seeing them put me off ever wearing pointed shoes. I guess my inability to walk in heels makes me lucky, in a way.

Never did ballet either, probably also a good thing.

[flotemysost]

Had a spa day today (yeah, inappropriate, I know) and in preparation I painted my toenails for only about the second time in my life. I don't know why because I feel so fucking glam right now. Definitely going to be doing this more often.

I love that shade, Blue Jam! I'm really not much of a "nails" person, but I normally have a couple of coats on my toenails at any given time just because I hate my feet and it makes me feel a bit more "put together", I dunno. Normally I go for a light beige/pink kinda shade so if it chips a bit it's not immediately noticeable, but good shout on the gel top coat.

There's a bit in Goodbye to Berlin where the protagonist is incredulous at Sally Bowles' painted nails, as it wasn't really a widespread fashion at the time (and became one of the behaviours decried by the Nazis as decadent Yank frivolity), then when she says she paints her toenails too he can't understand why. IIRC in the novel she goes for a green shade, which is quite in at the moment - maybe that's an indicator we're heading for an era of Weimar-style excess.

[Blue Jam]

I have a nice green shade here, worried it might be a bit too Bunny Lebowski though.

[IsavedLatin]

Not to put too fine a point on it - yes. Years of running and before that, cheap fashion shoes. My toes look like Lisa's teeth in the Simpson's episode when she gets braces. No one ever sees them though, I never wear any footwear that exposes my feet.

Same here with the mangled and unloved trotters, and that's without any exercise (as if!) or wearing of high heels; my gnarliness is all natural.

I used to be immensely self conscious about wearing sandals, but I've grown out of it as I've got older. (I also discovered reasonably comfortable sandal brands, like Tevas and before that Saltwaters, which were a revelation: previously sandals had been a surefire way to cut my feet to ribbons.) As a sop to my residual feelings about my hooves, I've taken to wearing nail varnish on my toes during the warm months, to feel a bit more presentable.

[flotemysost]

Same, I wear high heels maybe once or twice a week at most but they're always chunky ankle boot kinda ones, the rest of time it's trainers and DMs, but I know loads of girls who spent their twenties dancing in vertiginous strappy stilettos or striding round offices in torturous pointy-toed pumps and yet still somehow have much nicer feet than me (and I'm pretty vigilant with pumicing and clipping and moisturising and all that) so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

Most sandals butcher my feet too, next summer I might invest in some Birkenstocks as everyone raves about them being comfortable. Feet are just a lot of effort really.

[Blue Jam]

I should stress: while my toes may be uncommonly straight and uncomplicated, my feet are very far from dainty. They're narrow but they're long for someone of my height. I used to be a bit self-conscious about the size of my hands and feet (especially after that Seinfeld episode) but now I'm a bit less arsed- fuckit, it's not like I can get them reduced.

I have also come to appreciate my ability to carry lots of things at once (pint glasses especially) and the extra choice I have when buying trainers because I can find my size in both the men's and women's sections. Also being the same shoe size as Mr Jam means I get to borrow his trainers.

I wear running trainers for werk because I'm on my feet all day and the bouncy soles stop my feet hurting. I always go for Adidas ones because the Adidas online shop has good sales and their trainers have a long and narrow fit which many people find a bit weird but they always fit my weird feet perfectly. Can't wear anything open-toed because of all the nasty chemicals I work with so Birkenstocks are right out, quite tempted to get some for my next holiday but it'd have to be the silver ones.

Crocs can fuck right off.

[IsavedLatin]

I also wanted to recommend this:



Needed some more top coat and picked this one up pretty much at random, a fuckit-this-will-do purchase, and it's fucking revolutionary. Even the two nail polishes I've got which are nice colours but chip like a mofo last forever under this.

I also picked up some nail polish drying spray while I was at it. Why the FUCK had I never tried this before? I think I may have assumed it wouldn't work, just as I never noticed any difference with quick-drying nail polish except it just seemed thinner and lower in quality than the normal stuff. Never going to be without it now.

Bought both that top coat and polish drying spray, off the back of your recommendation, and I can attest that they're the business, Blue Jam!

I also picked up a colour polish in that same polish range, and it was lovely to use.

[Blue Jam]

Another good sale on at Kiko right now. Just picked up. some of their Lost In Amalfi foundation which was cheap because they insist on doing limited edition packaging.

Bit fed up of always having to go for the lightest shade, and today, having to ask if they had an even lighter shade in stock. They did- and I was very thankful- but FFS, I'm a paleass even by Scottish standards.

Anyone reading this who has the opposite problem and struggles to find warmer and darker shades: right now TK Maxx have a load of posh foundation in. They have some pale stuff in too but it's all Cover Girl and Maybelline, the darker shades are all Becca and Mac and NARS and that so knock yourself out.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Although I don't have grey hair on my bonce I've recently got a ~1cm chunk of pure white hair in the corner of one of my eyebrows (and a big chunk of the same in my beard although that bothers me less). It's weird and I'm not sure I like it, dunno if I can bring myself to put some just for men on it though. It's the inside corner of the brow as well which seems to make it worse.

[Blue Jam]

SC- you could get yourself a brow kit I suppose, a bit of powder might be a nice subtle fix. Or you could just embrace your Stephen Toast/Lalo Salamanca eyebrow.

My brows are fine but my bonce is very grey, so count your blessings.

[Sebastian Cobb]

SC- you could get yourself a brow kit I suppose, a bit of powder might be a nice subtle fix. Or you could just embrace your Stephen Toast/Lalo Salamanca eyebrow.

My brows are fine but my bonce is very grey, so count your blessings.

Could do cheers.

I quite liked going to Turkish barbers as they tend to tidy up the eyebrows at the same time and it seemed like a good improvement, I'd have no idea how to do that myself.

Even better is when they set fire to your ears.

[flotemysost]

Yeah, wish I got a free bottle of Efes while getting waterboarded and immolated every time I went to the hairdressers.

I've found that trimming the tops of eyebrow hairs with a pair of blunt-nosed nail scissors really makes a difference if they tend to grow in length rather than quantity, as mine do (cheers, Dad!). Just instantly makes your face look more groomed, though you do need to have a knack for it.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Yeah, wish I got a free bottle of Efes while getting waterboarded and immolated every time I went to the hairdressers.

The best I've been offered is a Turkish-style coffee :(

When I was best-man at a friend's wedding the bride decided she'd prefer it if I was shaved so organised for me and the groom to get a Turkish shave, which I was quite up for having never had one before. It was alright, although at one point the guy doing it was working around the bottom of my cheek bone and stopped and ominously opined "you are very bony my friend".

[Kankurette]

Potential TMI, but has anyone on here had bikini waxes and are they worth getting?

I fucking hate mascara. One, it makes my eyelashes stick together and two, I can't apply it with my shitty shaky hands. I can just about bung on some eyeliner.

[Clownbaby]

I don't wear a lot of makeup. I'm not a fan of foundation because it always seems to make me look weird even if it's a good one. I'm literally just an eyebrows, eyeliner and mascara person. Sometimes lipstick if I'm doing something else. I do get through a lot of liquid eyeliner because I do massive eyeliner wings like Pink Flamingos Divine, and honestly I just buy a load of the Poundland liquid eyeliner and it's fine. It's matte and it actually stays put. Whenever I've bought the more elaborate liquid eyeliners that have a pointed felt tip and that they've mysteriously dried up overnight. I don't know what happens.

[Kankurette]

That's another thing: what's matte? Is it a substance that doesn't reflect light? I got told to wear matte make-up once and I wasn't sure what it meant.

[GoblinAhFuckScary]

I don't wear a lot of makeup. I'm not a fan of foundation because it always seems to make me look weird even if it's a good one. I'm literally just an eyebrows, eyeliner and mascara person. Sometimes lipstick if I'm doing something else. I do get through a lot of liquid eyeliner because I do massive eyeliner wings like Pink Flamingos Divine, and honestly I just buy a load of the Poundland liquid eyeliner and it's fine. It's matte and it actually stays put. Whenever I've bought the more elaborate liquid eyeliners that have a pointed felt tip and that they've mysteriously dried up overnight. I don't know what happens.

I've always been anti the whole cover your face in a whole layer of foundation look it doesn't really work, terrible on your pores etc.

Although because I am a bit blotchy and have terrible bags I've been putting some light Bourjois concealer in a few dots on key areas then blending those and it seems to do the trick without making me look like fucking James Charles or w/e

[BeardFaceMan]

That's another thing: what's matte? Is it a substance that doesn't reflect light? I got told to wear matte make-up once and I wasn't sure what it meant.

Pretty much. Gloss makes it all shiny, matte is more flat and silky-looking.

[Kankurette]

I have a face like the surface of the moon. Concealer is my friend. Foundation does cover the spots to an extent. I have pasty skin - one time I used my mum's foundation and it made me look like an Oompa Loompa.

Tbh I almost never wear make-up except for interviews, special occasions (e.g. my mum's third wedding) and the odd gig. I just got lazy in my old age. I do still tweeze my eyebrows though, I don't want to turn into Neol Gallagher. I went through a nail varnish phase as a teen where I had a whole drawer full of coloured varnishes.

[flotemysost]

Potential TMI, but has anyone on here had bikini waxes and are they worth getting?

Nope, always just razors and shaving gel here, but been tempted to try it for ages. I know it's longer-lasting, no ingrown hairs/stubble etc. Just feel bad exposing some poor beautician to all the nooks and crannies of my undercarriage, really. Apparently they give you a little paper thong to maintain a pretense of modesty, but it just seems like it'd be a bit late in the day for that, especially if you're going Hollywood/Brazilian. I'm terrible at making small talk when I'm getting my hair cut; what the fuck are you meant to chitchat about with someone who's slapping molten wax on your taint?

I've always been anti the whole cover your face in a whole layer of foundation look it doesn't really work, terrible on your pores etc.

Although because I am a bit blotchy and have terrible bags I've been putting some light Bourjois concealer in a few dots on key areas then blending those and it seems to do the trick without making me look like fucking James Charles or w/e

I used to be very anti-concealer (on me) as I've got naturally oily skin, just went for compact powder instead, but now that I'm rapidly hurtling towards the crypt I can appreciate having a bit of extra moisture. Garnier have recently made their "Medium" BB cream shade a sort of olive-y tan colour instead of unsettling atomic orange, and it's SPF50 now too, which is good. Admittedly BB creams are generally lighter (in consistency) than concealer, more a tinted moisturiser so less inclined towards cakeyness.

Still haven't mastered the trick of blending it in properly though, it's like I just run out of face surface area sometimes, and I don't use that much. Maybe I need to invest in one of those squidgy shovel things.