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Thursday 17 December 2009

Makeup In The Workplace and Reasons Why I Wear It!

This post is sort of gonna be a rant about a couple of things that have been bugging me lately and I want to share it with you all so that I can get some feedback because I cannot be the only one that feels this way.

Let me just begin by saying I am not bashing the company I work for (I'm a concession) but rather a well known department store in the UK.
I've worked for this particular department store in the past and I can honestly say I hated it, not only do they operate in an old-fashioned manner but they also pick on you on a personal level.

Recently a girl I work with had to swap to said store for a little while to cover someones shifts but on her return I found out that the floor managment had said that they wouldn't want her over again as she was not to their standard.
By this they mean she didn't dress smart enough for them and didn't wear enough make-up however the store she works in normally as no problem with her, she's not scruffy and does wear makeup but likes it to look as natural as possible, basically she doesn't look like your typical cosmetic counter girl.
I had the exact same problem when I worked for them a few years back, I'd had a Microdermabrasion treatment done and couldn't wear anything on my face for a couple of days cause my skin was so dry it was flaking off and they reported me to managment,shortly after that I got moved to another deparment store.

If you think that's bad then try and get you head around this one.

One of the othere girls who used to work there (funny how they all get sent to us in the end) got told off for wearing too much makeup and that she should tone it down.

Hand on a second, first your not wearing enough then your wearing to much, make you minds up people!
It's up to the individual how much makeup they want to wear and as long as they look tidy and presentable it shouldn't be an issue.

I've lost count how many times I've walked into the cosmetic section of a department store and seen certain sales assistant caked in so much badly applied make-up you could scrape it off and build an house, rather than make me buy something it makes me run a mile.
Those type of sales assistants are also usually the ones who look at you as if to say "you can't afford none of this shit, what are you doing in here" just because you dressed down for the day.
Painting your face like a clown does not make you sell more because if your bitch to me I'm buying nothing from you and I'm going elsewere, I could't give shit what you look like, I'd much rather spend my money with the girl who's makeup-less but friendly and helpfull.

Now I'm not saying I hate people who wear loads of make-up because I don't, I wear quite a lot myself even on a "bare" day but it's well applied and done for my benefit only.
This brings me to my second issue of why people feel the need to ask me if I'm trying to impress someone on the days were I'm wearing a stronger look.
I've literally lost count of how many times I've had stupid comments or questions relating to a particular look I've done on myself that morning.

Couple of examples:

Example number 1 - A nice lady who hadn't seen me in a while had the following conversation with me.
Nice Lady: Don't you look pretty today, who are you trying to impress?
Me: (blank confused stare) I'm sorry what do you mean?
Nice Lady: Girls only put that much make up on if they are trying to impress a man.
Me: Actually no, there's no one, I just felt like wearing my makeup this way today.
I then had to explain repetedly to the lady how I happened to have had more time that morning and how my makeup varies with my mood and that it had nothing to do with me trying to impress a bloke but I still don't think she belived me.

Example number 2 - This is probably the stupidest one but also the one I get the most of and that would be the red lipstick. I can guarantee every single time I wear red lipstick someone will question me if I'm doing it to impress a man and not because I simply felt like it, not to mention the amount of times certain customers have felt the need to mutter the words "slut" or "slapper" under their breath.


I do my makeup for ME!! No one else, I couldn't care less what people think and if they don't approve what I'm wear I really couldn't care less.
I still cannot believe there are women out there who do feel the need to wear makeup in order to impress a man or to compete with each other on who's the prettiest and it kind of saddens me that they are so insecure about the way they look.

Please comment and let me know what all your thoughts on the subject.

2 comments:

  1. Fab post - I have to say, I completely agree with the sentiments expressed too - I hate having to justify my makeup decisions!

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  2. I 2nd Mizzworthy's comment. It does seem that for certain counters you have to look a certain way and have on the required colour/amount of makeup, like its a uniform.
    I know what you mean about people thinking its about impressing someone,I wear makeup for myself, I like the process of putting it on and doing different looks, its about how it makes me feel not the impact it has on others.

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