How Much Makeup Should I Wear (How Much Is Too Much?)

How Much Makeup Should I Wear

How much makeup you should wear is a question with many answers. Because for the most part, the answers lie in what you want for yourself.

But, to answer this as best as I could, I checked with my friends and asked them the question: “how much makeup should I wear?” 

There came a variety of answers where a couple of friends told me that this wasn’t something they had much control over because they had to wear makeup for their work, others could give me a guideline of how much makeup they liked to wear because they are free to do so.

They also said, and I completely agree with that, that you should wear however much makeup you want to wear. Now, there is something like too much makeup, and we’ll talk about that later in this article.

But, below you’ll find my take on the matter and I hope it helps you somewhat in making your decision

How much makeup should I wear?

As said earlier, how much makeup you should wear is often dependent on what you like to wear. I like the more natural look so I don’t put on lots and lots of makeup. I like to experiment with different kinds of makeup but will always make sure that it looks somewhat natural.

If you are inspired by someone who wears lots of makeup and you love that, then by all means please go for it! It isn’t a question of how much makeup you should wear, but more about how much you need to look like the woman you want to look like.

So, do your research on how she created the look and start applying it yourself. 

So, again, it depends on what you like. But there can of course be different versions of you! Maybe in your line of work, you don’t need a lot of makeup or it isn’t expected of you (if you don’t like lots of makeup, you’re in luck with that kind of job!)

And the other version can be of you on a Saturday night out with your friends and you can go with as much makeup as you want! I hope the point of making sure that you wear the amount of makeup you want to wear comes across :).

What makeup should I wear every day?

To answer this question, I asked for help from some of my friends. I thought it would be a good idea to list their jobs and what they wear makeup-wise. This way you know a little bit more about what people were in everyday life and you also know a little about which jobs require more makeup than others!

Tamara – Flight attendant

First, I asked my friend, Tamara. She is a flight attendant with KLM here in The Netherlands. She said the following about how much makeup she wears every day:

“As I flight attendant I must wear makeup. We are expected to wear a full face of makeup and touch up when necessary so that we look our best the whole flight. Luckily I do like makeup and don’t see it as a necessary evil. There are some girls I fly with who don’t like it and then try to wear it as little as possible. They also favor cream products and products that they know are good for your skin.”

So, Tamara has to wear a full face of makeup and doesn’t mind!

Nadine – Real estate

Nadine works in real estate where she must give tours to potential buyers. Here is what she has to say:

“For my work and everyday life, I have to wear makeup. Luckily not to the extent where my whole face is covered in a thick layer of makeup, but I have to wear some. I have to look presentable and professional so that is what I’m aiming for every day. For me, this means I use foundation, concealer, lipstick, and mascara.

It’s not that I particularly like it (I would rather go all Eau Naturelle, but with the amount of makeup I need to wear, I don’t mind.

On the weekends though, I try to wear as little as possible. Even when we go out I like to let my natural beauty shine ;).”

Kayleigh – Emergency nurse

Kayleigh is a special girl. I know her since I was only 5 years old and we are friends ever since! We both grew up to be beauty enthusiasts and share a lot of information together! This is what she had to say about her everyday makeup:

“I’m an emergency nurse, but I do like to wear a full face of makeup when I’m going to work. Not because I have to, but because I enjoy it. I have dry skin, so I have to be careful with what kind of makeup I use, but what works for me is hydrating skincare, hydrating foundation, and a matte setting powder. I also wear lipstick, give my eyebrows a touch-up and wear mascara and eyeliner. Really a full face of makeup! I just love it!”

Have I lied!? If you’re an Emergency nurse and still have the time to wear a full face of makeup all the time, you’re truly a beauty addict!

Girl with a normal amount of makeup on her face

How much makeup does the average person wear?

To answer this question somewhat correctly, we first have to look at how many beauty products the average woman owns (it’s a shock!)

As a beauty addict myself, I have to admit that I have too many beauty products… I don’t need them all but I’m just some kind of hoarder I guess! But when I read about how many products the average woman has, my mouth fell open and I couldn’t believe it.

The average consumer owns almost 40 makeup products! That’s a lot, right! Think of all the blushes, nail polishes, setting powders, foundation, lipsticks, and such that you have… Do you come close to that 40 items?

Now here’s the thing, the average consumer owns about 40 beauty products but doesn’t use them all. Most of the people only use and carry 5 of them daily!

Most of the time it is a combination of these 8 products:

  • of 8 Brow Pencil.
  • of 8 Small, Neutral Eyeshadow Compact.
  • of 8 Hydrating Concealer.
  • of 8 Foundation or BB Cream.
  • of 8 Lightweight SPF.
  • of 8 Sheer Lip Balm or Lipstick.
  • of 8 Mascara.
  • of 8 Blush.

So the average person only wears about 5 beauty products on a day-to-day basis! Neat huh?

How do you know if you’re wearing too much makeup?

Wearing makeup and experimenting with it is awesome. I know that now after years of doing it. But when is too much makeup really too much? 

As you might’ve guessed, this is a matter of personal preference. What “too much” is for you, is not enough for someone else. I think the best way to go about this is “you know it when you feel it”. When you are just starting with wearing makeup, only 1 or 2 products can feel too much, but with a bit of experience, this can be a whole other story.

Remember, the only one who can decide what is too much makeup for you is you! But to laugh a bit, here are some things to look out for if you think you’re wearing too much makeup…

When is too much makeup, too much?

You can barely move your face
When it is obvious that you’ve put so much makeup on your face that you can barely move your face, it might be a tad too much.

You have obvious contour lines
When you’re seeing very obvious contour lines, I think it’s safe to say that it would be good for you to lessen up a little.

Your shirt collars are stained with makeup
Now besides the fact that it is a pain in the ass to clean, it can also be a sign of wearing too much makeup. So, do you have stained shirt collars every day? Then you might be wearing too much makeup!

Your face and neck are different colors
This one I find funny! This is something that I sometimes see walking down the street! You see someone with loads of makeup on them (good for them if they want to do that) but it is so much that their makeup doesn’t blend well with other parts of the body anymore. I think it’s safe to say that you wear a little too much makeup when that happens!

What age group wears the most makeup?

This is hard to say, but I think that when people get older they are starting to use more and more makeup.

When you’re young (and start to experiment right around age 13) you do not need much. It might be something your mom thought you how to wear a little bit of makeup, you found it awesome and you start with a little foundation.

As you grow older you will see that you get more experienced and you start to use more products. You know how to treat your skin right and you know how to give yourself the look that you want (or need for work). Say around the age of 16 to 18 you start to wear more and by the time you are in your early 20s, you have a full makeup ritual!

Yes, of course, some people have full-blown makeup rituals by the time they are only 15, but I think this rough estimate is quite right.

If you want to read about when women started to wear makeup and why I recommend you read this article.

What makeup do you really need?

Now, as you already read, I’m the first one to tell you that I have too much stuff. Too much makeup and beauty products I rarely use, But I just like hoarding them.

When I think about it, I think we can boil it down to about 6 makeup essentials you need even for a basic makeup routine.

Below you’ll find the 6 makeup essentials I think you need, with a little bit of explanation.

1 – Face primer
Lots of products are unnecessary, but a face primer isn’t one of them. You surely need this! It’s a great extension of your skincare routine and it keeps your skin in the right condition to apply makeup.

2 – concealer
Yes, you definitely need a concealer! It is one of my favorite makeup products to use cause it just works like a miracle for me! It lets me look and feel great throughout the day and with concealer, I feel that I can take on the whole world. I just feel better. 

What is concealer? Concealer is essentially a color corrector. You can neutralize discoloration with it like dark circles under your eyes or blemishes.

3 – Foundation
Oh, foundation is great! If you use the right foundation for you, it is going to look (and feel) amazing. Your skin will look awesome and it just overall radiates! Now, you have to make sure that you get the right foundation for the right skin complexity. So make sure that you know which kind of foundation you need. Once you know that, you are golden!

4 – Blusher
Blusher is one of my favorite products because with this I can go from looking tired and somewhat pale, to fresh and radiant in a matter of seconds. It wouldn’t be the first time for blusher to save the day!

5 – Mascara
For someone like me, who has a face with eyelashes that aren’t very visible, mascara is a godsend. And let’s be honest, a makeup essentials list without the basic mascara wouldn’t be a makeup essentials list. Mascara can transform your eyes from ordinary to sparkling in a matter of seconds!

6 – Lipstick (or some other lip product you want to use)
Lipstick is a small thing that can make your whole face light up. Applied well, your lips will pop (depends on the color) and your whole face will light up because of that. Now some form of lip gloss is also okay of course! The great thing about it is that you can hoard all the colors you want and start experimenting with them. You can have lipstick for every day of the week if you want to!

Conclusion

So, by now I hope that you know how much makeup you should wear and that it is ultimately up to you. There are no standards for wearing makeup and I’m glad it doesn’t exist. This way you are free to experiment and do whatever you want!

Further reading material

If you want to know more about makeup in general, I think I have something interesting for you. Below you’ll see a couple of links to articles I selected for you that you might find interesting. Just click on one of the links and start reading!

How to prevent eye makeup from running under eyes?
How do you keep your makeup on your face while kissing?
Does setting spray set eyeshadow?

Leave a Reply

Recent Posts