“I love the confidence that makeup gives me.”

Tyra Banks, Model

Advantages & Disadvantages of Wearing Makeup

advantages and disadvantages of wearing makeup

Most women around the world use makeup without ever questioning whether this is indeed a good idea or not.

While wearing makeup can have many advantages, there are still some issues related to it.

In fact, I show you all the pros and cons of wearing makeup in the following so you can get a comprehensive picture of whether you want to still use makeup in the future or not.

Audio Lesson

Advantages of Wearing Makeup

  1. Wearing makeup is the social norm in most countries
  2. Makeup can make you look better
  3. Makeup can cover your insecurities
  4. Wearing makeup can help to express yourself
  5. Wearing and experimenting with makeup can become a serious profession
  6. You have topics to chat about with your friends
  7. Some people love using makeup
  8. Many people just feel better by using makeup
  9. May increase your chances to find a partner
  10. Looks also matter in the corporate world
  11. Can be useful to take nice pictures

Wearing makeup is the social norm in most countries

One advantage of wearing makeup is that you can conform to social norms in many countries all over the world.

In fact, for women, wearing makeup can be considered as gold standard and women who don’t wear makeup are often considered as dodgy.

Thus, by wearing makeup, you can fit into the socially accepted way of life in many countries.

In turn, wearing makeup can give you advantages in various parts of life while people who don’t wear makeup may have it harder on several occasions.

Makeup can make you look better

Obviously, using makeup can also make you look prettier, at least if you use it in the right way.

Looking good can not only make you more confident, it can also help you in many different parts of life.

In fact, studies have shown that good-looking people have significantly higher chances to succeed in life.

Consequently, looks still matter and the better you look, the higher your chances to become popular and successful.

Makeup can cover your insecurities

Many people also wear makeup to cover their own insecurities.

We all want to look good and want to cover everything we don’t feel comfortable with.

Especially for young people who are not happy with their looks at all and haven’t developed a strong enough character to own their imperfections yet, wearing makeup can be a temporary solution to become more popular in school and to increase their quality of life in general.

Wearing makeup can help to express yourself

Some people also use makeup as a tool to express themselves.

This could mean using extreme makeup and other fashion items to raise awareness of serious problems.

It could also just mean setting new trends.

Since makeup comes in many different forms, you will have plenty of opportunities to find your own style and to also share it with your friends.

Wearing and experimenting with makeup can become a serious profession

Some people are even able to make a living out of wearing different makeup and sharing their experiences over social media.

In fact, some YouTubers make really good money from just talking about different makeup and why makeup A would be much better than makeup B.

Consequently, if you love experimenting with makeup and search for new career opportunities, wearing makeup and sharing your experiences can make you really good money in the long run.

You have topics to chat about with your friends

Since makeup is quite important for women, you will also always have new things to talk about with your female friends.

In fact, girls never get tired talking about fashion and how they can look prettier and therefore, if you know a lot about wearing makeup, you can really become a quite important person among your peers.

Some people love using makeup

While some girls just use makeup to cover their insecurities, others just love to experiment with their looks and trying different makeup is just quite a lot of fun to them.

Thus, if you are a fashion victim and optimizing your looks is quite a lot of fun to you, this could be another reason why wearing makeup can make sense.

Many people just feel better by using makeup

Another benefit of wearing makeup is that some people just feel much better by doing so.

In fact, using makeup is a relatively easy way to cover your imperfections and we have a certain pressure in our society that tells people that they should look as perfect as they can.

Hence, to fulfill those high expectations of others, many people use makeup as a simple but yet effective tool to cover their “flaws”.

May increase your chances to find a partner

Wearing makeup can also help you to find a partner.

In fact, looks really matter in this regard, even though people may tell you something different.

Thus, if you are currently single and don’t wear makeup right now, you may want to consider wearing makeup to make a better impression on your first dates and therefore to increase your chances to find a partner.

Looks also matter in the corporate world

Looks not only matter in your private life, looks also matter in the corporate world.

In fact, many people get a job solely due to the fact that they look good and not because they have a valuable skillset.

Even though this may sound unfair to you, it’s just how reality works and if you want to maximize your chances for a successful career, wearing makeup may also help you in this regard.

Can be useful to take nice pictures

Wearing makeup can also make sense for certain occasions where you want to look as good as possible.

Hence, especially if you want to get nice pictures of yourself, wearing decent makeup can really make you look much better and may also help you look more professional.

Disadvantages of Makeup

  1. Using makeup can be costly
  2. Makeup can let your skin age faster
  3. Makeup often leads to skin irritation
  4. Makeup may contain harmful substances
  5. You should own your imperfections instead of covering them
  6. Using makeup can cause annoying smell
  7. It takes time to learn how to wear makeup
  8. Makeup has the potential to cause allergic reactions
  9. Using makeup can take plenty of time
  10. You have to get up earlier in the morning
  11. Dependence on makeup to feel better is not a good thing
  12. Potential negative health effects related to using makeup
  13. Makeup can cause dry skin
  14. Makeup can cause wrinkles

Using makeup can be costly

Although wearing makeup can have many advantages, there are still some issues related to the use of it.

For instance, one problem with wearing makeup is that it can simply be quite costly.

In fact, some makeup brands charge almost ridiculous sums of money for their products and if you use this high-quality makeup on a regular basis, chances are that you will spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars each year on makeup.

Thus, make sure that spending that much money on makeup is really worth it to you since you could just do many fun things with it otherwise.

Makeup can let your skin age faster

While wearing makeup may make you look younger in the short run, it can let your skin age faster due to the ingredients that are used in many makeup products.

Hence, even though you might look better by using makeup at the beginning, the opposite will be true after a while and you should really consider avoiding makeup and playing the long game instead of just looking good for a rather short period of time.

Makeup often leads to skin irritation

Another disadvantage of wearing makeup is that it can also lead to skin irritation.

In fact, this is a quite common problem.

The skin is simply no longer able to get enough air since it is covered by makeup.

In turn, skin irritations are quite common and your skin will look much worse once you remove your makeup.

Makeup may contain harmful substances

Opponents of makeup also often claim that the substances that are contained in many makeup products are actually quite bad for us.

In fact, some makeup ingredients may have a real potential to damage the skin, especially in case people have sensitive skin.

Moreover, the long-term effects of some makeup ingredients are still rather unclear and therefore, it could make sense to avoid using makeup and relying on your natural beauty instead.

You should own your imperfections instead of covering them

In general, it is far better to own your imperfections instead of covering them in any form.

Only if you own your imperfections, you can really grow in character and develop a stable mental framework from which it will be far easier to operate.

Always remember that your beauty will go away sooner or later anyway.

Consequently, relying on your beauty to make you feel better is generally a relatively bad idea.

Instead, I advise you to be proud of what you are doing instead of how you are looking since you can do good for others long after your looks have faded.

Using makeup can cause annoying smell

Many makeup companies use perfumes in their products to make them smell better.

However, people have different tastes and while some people may love the smell of makeup products, others might hate it.

Hence, if you are a person who doesn’t like the smell of your makeup at all, chances are that you could also improve your overall quality of life by just stop using it.

It takes time to learn how to wear makeup

Especially if you have never used makeup before, it can also take you quite a while until you figure out how to use it properly.

In fact, many people who wear makeup for the first time often look rather silly.

Thus, also if you don’t want to invest the time to learn how to wear makeup in a proper manner, just deciding against it can also save you plenty of time and nerves.

Makeup has the potential to cause allergic reactions

Another disadvantage of wearing makeup is that it can also cause allergic reactions.

Especially people with sensitive skin can really suffer from using makeup since allergic reactions can be quite common.

Such allergic reactions not only make you look rather bad, they can even be quite dangerous to your health.

Consequently, before you use makeup, make sure that you are not allergic to the ingredients in it.

Using makeup can take plenty of time

Another issue with wearing makeup is that it can simply be time-consuming to apply it and to remove it every day.

In fact, women often spend quite a long time to apply their makeup in the morning.

Moreover, they also need some time to remove their makeup at nighttime.

Consequently, plenty of time has to be spent on using makeup and you could spend this time for things you like more by just stopping using makeup.

You have to get up earlier in the morning

Since it will take you some time to use makeup in a proper manner, this also implies that you will have to get up earlier in the morning compared to a person who doesn’t use makeup at all.

Consequently, you will miss out on the opportunity to sleep longer, which can negatively affect your performance at work or also your overall mood.

Dependence on makeup to feel better is not a good thing

In my opinion, it is just not a good idea to use makeup to feel better.

Instead of relying on artificial methods to cover your imperfections, you should rather be confident and own them.

Always remember that nobody is perfect and that everyone of us has shortcomings.

If you rely on makeup to cover your insecurities, you will never grow in character to a point where it does no longer matter to you what other people think.

Potential negative health effects related to using makeup

Some components that are used in makeup production may even be problematic for our health.

Quite often, substances are used in makeup products that can’t be healthy for us humans in the long run.

Thus, also from a general health perspective, you might likely be better off by just refraining from using makeup at all.

Makeup can cause dry skin

Another downside of wearing makeup is that it can also cause pretty dry skin.

Especially if you rely on rather low-quality makeup, you will soon notice that your skin will get quite dry and rough.

Consequently, to maintain a nice-looking skin that is moisturized in a natural manner, avoiding the use of makeup can also make quite a lot of sense in this regard.

Makeup can cause wrinkles

Opponents of makeup also often claim that using makeup can also cause wrinkles.

While this is not proven yet, the substances that are contained in many makeup products are indeed known to speed up the aging process of our skin.

Therefore, to avoid unnecessary wrinkles at a rather young age, you may also want to avoid wearing makeup.

Makeup Alternatives

  1. Eat healthier
  2. Exercise more
  3. Clean your skin in a natural manner
  4. Protect your skin against the cold
  5. Get enough sleep
  6. Avoid stress
  7. Own your imperfections

Eat healthier

As we have seen from the previous analysis, there are many problems with wearing makeup.

Fortunately, there are also some valid alternatives to makeup use.

For instance, instead of using makeup, you should simply eat healthier.

By doing so, you will not only feel much better in general, your skin will also look much better since your gut flora will become much healthier as well.

Exercise more

It is also crucial to exercise in a sufficient manner if you want to get a better-looking skin.

However, this doesn’t mean that you urgently have to go to the gym and to work out in an exhausting manner.

It just means that you should go for a walk more often.

Just half one hour of walking can have significantly positive effects on your skin as well as on your overall health.

Thus, just go for a walk or play your favorite sport more often and you will see really great results in a rather short period of time.

Clean your skin in a natural manner

Some people also use certain cleaning products for their skin.

However, this is often not a good idea since those cleaning products will often cause dry skin and also skin irritation.

Instead, just clean your skin with warm water and you should be far better off in the long run.

Protect your skin against the cold

It is also crucial that you protect your skin against the cold since your skin will become quite dry during winter if it is exposed to the cold on a regular basis.

Hence, just wear a hooded jacket to protect your skin against the cold and you will be good to go.

Get enough sleep

Getting enough sleep is crucial for us since only if we get enough sleep, we can perform in an optimal manner.

Moreover, sleep is also quite important for our overall well-being.

Apart from those things, good sleep is also crucial for our skin.

If you only get insufficient sleep, you will age faster and your skin will look worse as well.

Consequently, make sure that you get enough good sleep and you will be surprised by how much better your skin will look in the long run.

Avoid stress

It is also crucial that you avoid stress whenever possible.

In fact, stress is the number one factor that leads to bad skin.

Some people even claim that our skin is the mirror of our soul.

Hence, if you feel good from the inside, you will also naturally look good from the outside.

Consequently, if you are currently stressed quite a lot, make sure to find ways to reduce your stress level if you want your skin to look better.

Own your imperfections

Last but not least, as mentioned earlier, it is crucial that you just own your imperfections.

Your confidence and your well-being should not depend on your looks since your looks will fade anyway sooner or later.

Instead, try to build a positive and stable mindset so that you are independent of every negative comment people may make regarding your appearance.

Top 10 Makeup Pros & Cons – Summary List

Makeup ProsMakeup Cons
Makeup can make you more confidentMakeup can be expensive
You can share your makeup tipsWearing makeup can be time-consuming
Wearing makeup can help you finding a jobMakeup can cause skin irritation
Helpful to find a partnerYou don’t learn how to overcome fear
Wearing makeup is in line with social normsCan make your skin age faster
Can help you to cover your insecuritiesUsing makeup can lead to wrinkles
Useful to take nice picturesYou should own your imperfections instead
Makeup can help you express yourselfMakeup can cause dry skin
Talking about makeup can become a serious jobMakeup may feel uncomfortable
You have topics to chat about with your friendsPotentially negative health effects from makeup

Should You Wear Makeup?

As we can see from the previous analysis, there are many advantages and disadvantages of wearing makeup.

In my opinion, it would be far better to build inner confidence and to live a healthy life instead of covering your insecurities with makeup.

Only then will you really be able to grow in character in the long run.

Sources

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/style-beauty/beauty/how-to/a6265/makeup-tricks-every-woman-should-know/

https://www.stylecraze.com/articles/101-make-up-tips-and-tricks/

https://www.thetrendspotter.net/makeup-tips-and-tricks/

About the author

My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people of all ages about our environmental problems and how everyone can make a contribution to mitigate these issues.

As I went to university and got my Master’s degree in Economics, I did plenty of research in the field of Development Economics.

After finishing university, I traveled around the world. From this time on, I wanted to make a contribution to ensure a livable future for the next generations in every part of our beautiful planet.

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