Yes.
Recently, I’ve turned three of my good friends, all male, onto makeup. Now, not full-on, dare-I-say, girly makeup, but simple, natural, corrective aesthetic enhancements.
Makeup has done more for my self-confidence than any amount of plastic-surgery, psychology, and good friends who lie really well could ever do. I don’t use it to change anything about myself, but to “correct” minor tarnishes to my ego — blemishes, spots, and the dreaded dark under-eye circles. Since converting them to my faith, these male friends have all thanked me profusely, saying they’ve gotten more attention from girls and just feel better about themselves around other people.
Mind you, these weren’t easy converts — I had to drag them kicking and screaming into Sephora and plunk them down in front of the Make Up For Ever aisle while I shopped for them before I got even a smidgen of cooperation — but you should see ’em now!
Hooked.
Most men could benefit from three things: foundation, concealer, and blush or bronzer (depending on their skintone). I’ve found that Make Up For Ever is a great brand to get ’em started on, as the packaging is relatively indiscrete, the products are easy to use and relatively foolproof (even the foundation), and the display is far from daunting.
The 3 Rules of Man Makeup
RULE #1 — Teach them how to use everything, and take the time to do it right (consult an expert if you need to). If things go wrong for them once, they’ll quit using makeup forever.
RULE #2 — Make sure everything takes less than seven minutes, which is a little more time than most boys spend getting ready in the morning. If the process takes much longer than that, it’ll send them running for the machismo hills.
RULE #3 — Do not tell your friends. Men don’t want it spread that they’ve taken to the feminine art of maquillage. They might accept it, even embrace it, but the minute it gets out that they’ve done so, all your hard work will go right out the window, along with the products you’ve spent so much money on.
Follow these three rules, and you’ll have your men not only looking better than ever, but acting as your new Sephora buddies. 🙂 No longer are my friends ashamed to walk into this magical haven with me. Now they proudly walk over to the MUFE aisle by themselves, grab their stuff, and pay for it with eyes not cast askance. And once, with my girl friend along with us, I even heard one of them say, “That’s a great color on you!”
Ah, men.
Written by Sam
Sam is a 17-year-old, oddly tall guy whose love of all things skincare, makeup, and fashion started when he entered the modeling world at 14. Since then, he’s established himself as a freelance makeup artist in the theatre and fashion worlds, and started his own blog to preach the wonders of orange eyeshadow, Asian skincare, and designer fragrances to the masses.
P.S. If you’re new here, thank you for visiting. Makeup and Beauty Blog is a makeup blog with daily product reviews, beauty tips, giveaways and the random shenanigans of a crazy cat lady/makeup enthusiast named Karen (that’s me!). 🙂
i would love to see a before and after of a man with makeup to see what a difference it makes.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/video/2009/may/11/gordon-brown-makeup-tips
There you go then! Gordon Brown inspired beauty, woohoo.
its so great you were able to get a few guy friends to try some makeup! i cant even get my boyfriend to exfoliate and moisturize on a regular basis!
I hear you 🙂 When the bf and I first started dating, I could not convince him to use moisturizer or sunscreen. So I started with aftershave balms. The Body Shop sells some very manly-scented aftershave creams that also moisturize. As time went by I tried to explain to the bf that if he didn’t take good care of his skin, it will age faster than he’d like it to. That kind of did the trick. Today he uses antibacterial skin cleansing towelettes a few days a week, some facial soap for other days, moisturizer and aftershave balm every day. He’s not very regimented about most of the stuff – but moisturizer he doesn’t forget. His skin looks so much better than a lot of men I know 🙂
This sounds really selfish but I would never want my boyfriend to have better-looking skin than I do! Haha. I will, though, have my boyfriend get his regular skincare routine, and hey, he loves shopping at Sephora with me!
i agree! 😀
the hubs has is little skincare stash – that he almost always forgets to use! 😀
amazing artical and on point!! men should take an interest in a little makeup to better enhance there looks.
Nice job, Sam! Like the gals above, I have trouble pushing moisturizer on my husband. I’m glad to see the younger guys are more open to taking care of their skin (and fixing those little imperfections). 🙂
Awesome post! Keep posting
it took a while (and the fact that I work in a day spa helped) but my husband now loves his skin care routine! He cleanses every morning, and moisturisers too – even uses eye gel! But that would be his limit….aside from occasional eyebrow grooming, he wouldn’t let me near him with makeup! Maybe one day…
Hell no.
I think it’s a great idea. There are tons of women who can do masculine things–play sports, cut their hair short, etc. So why can’t men do feminine things? I think it’s fantastic when men take pride in their appearance. Men wear makeup in movies all the time, so why not in real life too?
lol I wouldn’t want to have to fight for bathroom time or counterspace. My makeup takes more than enough space to want to share it with a guy. I rather prefer guys in their natural state anyway. Sephora is only for me! hahahaa
Better than good friends who lie really well? Now that’s high praise indeed! 😀
Like some of the other ladies mentioned, I have a hard time even getting the hubs to engage in basic skin care! Sam, I’d love to hear your recommendations on a skin care routine and products for men, maybe if the advice was coming from another guy he’d actually take it 🙂
I think it’s so silly that things such as make up are considered off-limit for guys. Everyone should be able to play around with and have fun creating make up looks. An ex-boyfriend of mine often wore red lipstick and nail polish around- he was teased mercilessly by our HS peers, but I thought it was incredibly sexy how he liked doing something and did it despite social pressure to conform to a more ‘masculine’ image. Make up isn’t just for chicks, or gay men, EVERYONE can choose to wear it or not wear it depending on their personal tastes. And I applaud the men who wear it, and the women who do not; it shows a true level of confidence that isn’t really accepted in our society yet but hopefully will be someday.
This is good advice. 🙂
Although I don’t think rule #2 should be a problem for some men, yet it is. I’ve known some guys who would spend half an hour on their hair alone everyday, yet neglect their skin entirely. But when you suggest 5 more minutes to their routine, it’s like you’re suggesting the craziest thing ever. :p
yes! my brother is anal about his hair but wonders why his face breaks out all of the time…um, because you just brought your grimy skin in from playing basketball and going to work then went straight to bed on your pillow that has been used ever OTHER day of the same routine? blech! lol
Sam, I wish you were my big sister. (Yes, I know there are at least two problems with that statement.)
My husband wears makeup, unashamed. He uses concealer for acne blemishes and a mineral powder to improve his complex and cut down on oil. The powder makes such a big difference because his skin is so oily and he works in a restaurant, so without a long wearing powder by the time he gets home I can practically see myself in his forehead!
I’d love to see a before and after, too. I’m betting a bit of concealer and some powder would go a long way.
My husband used concealer daily and loved his skin care routine. He was a long haired dreadhead, professional rapper. Quite the man’s man, comfortable with his manhood, but vain as he should have been. because he was beautiful!
GREAT POST!!!
When I met my husband 15 years ago, he was using just soap to wash his face and body (ick!).
Now he uses shower gel and powder, proper face wash, moisturizer and uses foundation to cover redness on his face (from psoriasis).
I am a makeup artist, so showing him how to take care of his skin was a priority and he loves it!
-Mel
How cool of you to get a few malefriends to give tips and got them on makeup! I think guys should wear a little bit concealer and foundation.. but not too much because I don’t want them to turn into girls.
I have a friend with really bad acne scars and he uses full coverage. He is better in putting foundation on then I am. 😉
One of my guy friends asked me to go drugstore shopping for some concealer for our prom haha. He asked me to help him pick a product and color and asked that I pay for it instead of him so he wouldn’t get any weird looks. We joke about it a lot but he continued to use it anyway 🙂 I don’t think my boyfriend would ever want to use makeup though and I don’t really mind. I think it’s something everyone has a choice on whether they be boy or girl 🙂
As long as I can’t tell they’re wearing makeup (Mario Lopez is SCARY) then hell yeah! If it makes a man more confident with themselves then I’d gladly love to teach them the ways. I’m just not a fan of the glossy looking faces and gigantic defined eyebrows… on both men and women.
I really like this post, I also have some friends who wants me to teach me on how to apply foundation and concealers without looking visible on the skin. great post sam!
“corrective aesthetic enhancements”
– love this, i can see guys approving of this rather than “make up”
All they have to do is make decent coverage products with a light texture–tinted moisture/sunscreen, tinted eye cream, hair/brow/beard pencil–and men would use it. I’ve sold department store makeup for 20+ years, and women have always purchased makeup for their men–on the sly, of course. I think if a well-known and loved men’s skincare line would roll out a few products, they’d sell really well. Maye even to women looking for easy everyday multitasking products….
Im a guy and me and my boyfirend both wear make-up. I myself enjoy wearing MAC and the boyfriend is such a Bare Minerals fan. we keep it simple: foundation, concealer, bronzer/blush and finishing powder. KEYWORD natural. the adam lambert look is not a look im really into. i.e no eyeliner, mascara, shadow, ect.
As many of the women have posted on here, getting my boyfriend to replicate a consistent skincare routine is extremely difficult. Besides the face and body washes, he refuses to elaborate. He has dry skin, particularly in the winter, but refuses moisturizer because he hates the greasy feel–this is from a one-time trial with Clinique Dramatically Different! Someone mentioned that incorporating aftershave balm might help but my boyfriend doesn’t actually shave (bless his hairless Asian genes). Makeup aside, is there any way I can get him to atleast attempt something more for his skin?
In all, fantastic article! Thank you for posting it. If you could do a mens skincare routine, that’d be brilliant.
I just asked my 16 year old son if he would wear makeup and he said no.
I personally think there is nothing wrong in good skin care for men. But i dont agree with men wearing makeup.