I think I rank pretty highly on the sad-o-meter… I don’t feel very confident until I’ve put some sort of war paint on in the mornings, I can’t walk past a beauty counter without going in for a closer look and my bank statement reads like the exhibitor list at IMATS.
But what about you? QVC have commisioned a survey of over 2000 women in celebration of their annual July beauty month which reveals that more than a 1/3 of British women won’t leave the house without makeup on and that 21% of us admit that putting on our makeup is the most important part of our day! Say what?!
If you think that’s a bit extreme, read on…
Instead of thinking of our loved ones, a third of British women admit that their beauty regime is the last thing on their mind before they go to sleep and for one in seven British women, it’s also the first thing they think about when they wake up!!
But why do we do all of this? Well… perhaps the next juicy snippet from the survey will answer that question…
Over a third of women (31%) revealed that they are more concerned with looking good for other women as opposed to impressing the opposite sex, perhaps because 65% of British women believe they are judged by other women more than men.
Craziness!
What do you guys think about this? Do you feel judged by other women and c’mon own up, who thinks about their beauty regime last thing at night AND first thing in the morning!
The first thing I think of is the morning is usually how little I want to wake up it takes at least twenty minutes for me to start think about putting the war paint on! Breakfast is much higher on my list lol
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Hollie
x
I would say I’m addicted in a normal way, in fact I even hate putting on make-up, as it always feels like a thick mask of stuff that dirtens my pores for me. So these women are definitely a little exaggerated!
I would say I’m addicted in a normal way, in fact I even hate putting on make-up, as it always feels like a thick mask of stuff that dirtens my pores for me. So these women definitely exaggerate it!
Hands up! Totally addicted!
Crikey. There are more shallow women out there than I thought! I spend too much on cosmetics etc but I’m not obsessed.
I know for sure I’m judged by other women because I work with 3 other girls and they always notice if my foundation doesn’t match my skintone, or if I woke late and didn’t apply enough war-paint that day.
If I’m not at work I don’t care much for my makeup and skincare is totally the last thing in my mind!
I am more addicted to buying things- my beauty routine is pretty simple because I tend to spend too much time doing make up, so cut on some steps. But I do get mmore elaborate when I am going somewhere nice.
when women quit being judged for how they look I will happily leave the warpaint behind :/ product of society, baby.
I’m 99.9% certain that women judge each other more than men judge us. My guy friends wouldn’t even know the difference between me with make-up and me without! I don’t think it registers. It was a year before my boyfriend, who sees me every day realised I drew my eyebrows on (actually, a friend pointed it out to him!) Buuut, if I have a ‘lazy day’, the women around me always make sure I know how rough/ ill I look!
Not so much first thing in the morning, but definitely last thing at night. I don’t wear make up because I feel like I’m being judged if I don’t, I buy it because I love all the pretty colours and I find putting it on (and bloging about it) lots of fun. 🙂
If I’m going out (even to the post box) I’ll usually apply some lip gloss and liquid eyeliner, if not more. I don’t think about beauty first or last thing, but I do think about it a LOT during the day, and am always ‘online shoplifting’ – i.e. filling up my basket then hitting the red X at the last minute to prevent myself from getting into mischief. Yesterday I had to do that when I nearly subscribed to Glossybox.
one word…food. this is what I think about in the morning. in the evening, well that’s another matter entirely.I do send myself to sleep sometimes with a fantasy shopping list which includes beauty stuff and clothes
I’d say women judge other women way more than men judge us, probably because we know what goes into a beauty routine better than most men! The men in my life rarely notice if I skipped the make-up (who knows how, my face is tomato red and incredibly spotty without foundation) whereas I almost always get comments from women about the state of my skin when I’m bare-faced. Got to say, though, it’ll be a dark day when my beauty routine is my first and last thought of the day!
The first thing I think about is more sleep and once I’m up it’s coffee. It’s like a mantra in my head (coffee, must get coffee, coffee…) until I take my first sip.
I love makeup, I home loads which have only been used a few times because I am always moving on to something else, something new 🙂
The first thing I think about in the morning is how to get my cat off my face without him mawling it. >> Then maybe I consider how long before I get up…eat…work etc. I love my makeup and I’m glad I started this beauty self discovery journey. Admittedly, makeup consumes more of my time than it ever did before – but it’s not the first or last thing. No judgement though!
I admit I do think about my routine, it’s taken me years to get my skin under control so I can’t slip with it. I love getting dressed up and made up for a night out and sometimes it is the best part of the evening :-s and I do find myself checking out other women’s makeup, not in a judgemental way, but just in a ‘i wonder what eyeliner/blush/lipstick that is’ way. A lot of women on my morning train do their makeup on the train which I am very impressed by!
The study just shows there are a lot of insecure women out there. Can’t blame them though; they’re a victim of society. Society defined what being beautiful is. You can see it on TV, on magazines, in the internet, even along the streets, with women wearing heavy make-up and super slim, it’s not surprising ordinary women to be insecure, which is sad. We should focus more on natural and inner beauty.
I think otherwise. I don’t put make-up at all. The most important thing I do before leaving the house and before going to sleep is to wash my face with a kojic soap which I religiously use. It moisturizes my face just the way I need.
I don’t put make-up at all. The most important thing I do before leaving the house and before going to sleep is to wash my face. I’m not addicted to make-up and other stuff but I’m still addicted to “beauty” and I guess most of us are. And I agree with Amelie when she said, “We should focus on natural and inner beauty”.
I presume these women live a fairly boring worry free life if the last thing on their minds before they sleep is their beauty regime?! Mine is important to me for sure – I adore make up and beauty (fashion too) and its important to me that its in my life, somewhere, but surely there are so many more important and meaningful things to reflect on at the end of the day?! I dedicate quite a lot of time, money and energy into looking good, but… to me its along the same lines as brushing my teeth or having a shower – its just something I do! I enjoy it and think about it while I’m doing it, but it doesn’t take up any head space when I’m not!
What I often do find, is that because I’ve always got my hair, make up, nails, clothes etc looking good and you can tell I’ve made an effort, people presume I must take ages to get ready, or that I’ll go mad if you dare to mess up my hair – high maintenance basically! However, I find I easily get ready in half the time than my friends who come out with things like ‘why are you so dolled up for the pub’!
Its hard to explain what I’m getting at but I think once you’re comfortable in your routine and see it as a superficial enhancement of your appearance – then you just sort of get on with it and worry about the more important things!
Make up and beauty I see as something you put on and *then* face the world and live your life, not something that’s there for you to face up to, or to live for!
I definitely do, very rarely I’d go out with nothing whatsoever on my face (and face cream doesn’t count!). It’s one of the fist things I try and find in new shops, in any new shop be it clothes, shoes, anything. Oh and an interesting find – you can get butter London polishes for…..£5 in Oasis shops. Think they’re on sale or something! Loving the pretty colours x
I think women have been dressing for other women for years now! Men don’t pay attention to the tiny details that women notice unless it’s something really unusual.
I think what this doesn’t mention is the ritual of making oneself beautiful. I thoroughly enjoy speind hours to get ready with scrubbing, lotion, perfume, and then the makeup and hair and if that makes me sad I don’t really care!
I’ve always believed that women wear makeup more for other women than for men. If we did it for men we certainly wouldn’t wear lipstick or gloss, since most men don’t like it. I also think we dress for other women. I’d say that Annabella got it right, men don’t pay attention to the details, women do. It’s other women who will be impressed by your new shoes or your Channel nail lacquer. I do think men notice if you are wearing makeup or not, but it just registers as, “She looks nice today.” or “She seems a little pale, I wonder if she’s ill?” sort of thing.
I’m not sure if using the word ‘judge’ is the right one since everyone is taking it in a purely negative way. Sure, I’ll notice if another woman has too much blush on, or if she has that line of foundation around her jawline when it doesn’t match her skin tone. But I also notice the fabulous shade of lipstick or the perfect flick of eyeliner. It’s not necessarily sitting in judgement, we just notice the details!
I feel like some of that survey is a set up. I’m sure most women remove makeup, cleanse their face, put on moisturizer etc right before bed. If they were reminded that this is the usual routine before the survey they will most likely answer that it’s the last thing they think of at night. The same with being asked whether they need a nice invigorating shower, with nice smelling shampoo and body wash to help them wake up in the morning, might get them to answer that they think of this part of their “beauty routine” first thing in the morning. But this is where I think Kim got it right. Most of us are on auto-pilot and just do it. We’re not really in deep contemplation over our beauty routine the way that this survey is trying to imply.