Let's start a list: Jobs that are makeup-free friendly - Page 2

[GuildJenn]

I work for a women's magazine and the fashion editor doesn't really wear makeup unless she's being shot. I do sometimes and I don't sometimes. I'm on the web side so it's not really an issue.

It's probably most mandatory in sales.

[meemee]

i have been in the front office job meeting clients and i never wore regular makeup either.

however i must say i chose one part time waitress job just so i could wear makeup. i looooved putting on makeup and always did. but we werent expected to even though it was a really high end place.

[LoveOhm]

Originally Posted by Jend1002

I guess I am blissfully unaware of this prejudice as well.

I agree I think society where I live in general is very image conscious.... but I have not experienced or heard of work prejudice in a negative way. Perhaps getting a job or promotion based on how you look but that has less to do with make up and more to do with the natural materials you were born with!!

Originally Posted by Carita

Teacher here, though prof.

I wear jeans, chocos & t-shirt, no makeup

Actually when I was a grad student I was self conscious about how young I looked and wore more fancy clothes and occasionally foundation! LOL... but IDK, somehow now I am more relaxed about my teaching.

This is quite true for me! I look young and I'm a professional writer and preservice teacher. I find that I'm self-conscious about how young I look so I tend to dress up a bit more - wearing heels, skirts, dresses and sweaters with natural looking makeup when I am occasionally on site at a school or in an editorial meeting. I don't feel it makes me look a great deal older or more professional but it makes me feel more confident so I am more take charge and more productive.

btw - The teachers at my dream school to work at ALL wear makeup and dress pretty nicely. But I guess that is what parents are paying 24K a year for, LOL!

[Dingletwitz]

psychologist, counselor, social worker, etc. Well, any health care really.

[meemee]

Originally Posted by Sharlla

Honestly when I wear makeup you cant tell anyway LOL

GOSH mama!!! you are sooooo beautiful!!!

STUNNING!!!!

i have to share this about my xMIL. she never wore makeup ever. but then when she got older - i think during the 50s or 60s she started putting on makeup when her eyebrows thinned so much they 'disappeared'. she was not anal about make up but she did put on 'her face' when she went out. nothing huge but subtle just so you could actually see her thin lips, eyebrows and eyelashes.

truly without make up with her white skin and wrinkled really fair skin she does look pretty washed out without a little colour.

sorry OT - now back on track!!!

you dont need makeup to appear professional. however if you have really bad patches make up is good for self esteem.

[Marsupialmom]

I am in the corporate business world. Barely to no makeup is what I see the most, for the most successful. Neutral tone lip stick/gloss. Maybe mascara. Really simple, not flashy. Less is best.

[marinak1977]

Any science job in goverment or biotech industry, I was a grad student before and never was required to dress up, and now I am research director at a startup and I still do not need to dress up. I would like to do it once in a while (I find suits really comfortable) but I look really strange in our office.

[mtiger]

I've worked in all sorts of jobs from tech stuff to liaising with customers & vendors to retail (where I currently am) and I have never run against an issue of whether I do or don't wear make-up. Nor the fact that I am prematurely grey. Actually, I get a lot of compliments about the latter - and I'm very clear that I simply got tired of trying to cover it and went au natural.

I think it has less to do with how you actually look and almost everything with the attitude and confidence you exude.

[CatsCradle]

I am going to be really honest and state that I have not run into this prejudice. I wear makeup very rarely, and have never felt it to be in any way an issue.

I concur with the above.

I'm sorry OP, that you have run into this. I work in the legal profession and while I'm required to wear suits to court and to dress appropriately for the office, tons of my colleagues appear to be make-up free. I wear make-up simply because I have an uneven skin tone and the occassional break-out, but my guess is that no one even knows that I wear make-up.

I have worked in a variety of fields and have never encountered a "make-up policy." Oddly, I think that make-up was more heavily encouraged (socially) in the little rural town where I grew up in than in the major city where I currently reside. In fact, people were heavily made-up where I grew up - too heavily in my opinion. My own mother tried to get me to wear more make-up for years and then she finally gave up. I almost think it is a cultural thing (not in terms of ethniticity - but in terms of social status in some demographics).

Now, manicures and pedicures, that seems to be a real social requirement in my current town. In fact, I've gotten looks of distain from women on the subway and bus as they stare at my rather colorless and stubby nails. It seems that there are various levels of self-care that people find important. I find these attitudes more in the public sphere than in the workplace.

[Carita]

I'd like to just add - I lived in the southern US for a while and make-up is part of the dress code there a lot more than in the northeast. So some of it maybe more regional dependent as well.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

I work in an office. While my boss and I wear lite makep (very light) the lady who works our reception doesnt wear any, except for a touch of mascara. Although she does dress very nicely. On the other hand, the other lady who works with us wouldnt know the difference between lipstick or eyeliner. Ive never seen her wear a dress or anything coming close to heels, either.

I am pretty sure, too, that if anyone mentioned her lack of makeup, it would be grounds for sexual harrassment/termination. Even the Big Boss.

[Phoenix~Mama]

computer techie jobs! We like to hide in our cubicles and not come out much. lol

Seriously though... I hardly ever wear make-up unless I know I have a meeting with some higher ups, and this is more for a confidence for myself kind of thing, because I'm Irish and SUPER fair and have really light eyebrows, and like a PP stated, I just looked washed out and sort of albino when I don't wear make-up... so um 99% of the time. meh... but, um that like 7 minutes of extra sleep is more important to me at the moment. lol

I've never had a job that cared about make-up or high heels. Even when I was a Buyer and meeting with vendors/customers, etc. We had a business casual dress code, and I had some nice slack sets, but I have never worn heels, as I physically cannot (extreme crippling pain due to my illness). And no one has ever cared.

[_ktg_]

Originally Posted by Mama Soltera

There is so much prejudice out there in the work world against women who don't wear makeup. The sexism of it really upsets me, since a man would never be passed up for a job or considered "unprofessional" for not wearing makeup. I was thinking we could make a list. Not having to dress up uncomfortably (including high heels) would be good too.

OP- I am curious how you have experienced this?

I am a director for some of the componets of the IRB at a medical instutition, and I have yet to wear high heels (ha!) or dress uncomfortably. With that said - I do have days it would be a good idea for me to be in a suit given the scope of meetings I am involved in, but it has to be comfortable pieces. Other days such as today I am wearing a flowy white button down shirt, green cargo pants and flip-flops. Simple, comfortable, but looks put together.

My boss who is older - always wears a suit jacket, and tie, button down shirt. Its like his uniform - I swear.

I do not wear makeup, except for some neutral lip gloss every once in a blue moon.

[SusanElizabeth]

I work in Manhattan for a magazine. Although I always wear make-up and feel uncomfortable without mascara on, I have never encountered a prejudice against women who don't wear make-up. I've never even heard anyone say that another woman would look better with make-up. I don't usually think about how much make-up other women are wearing - and often don't know if they are or are not wearing it -except in cases where it's really obvious.

[nina_yyc]

I'm a video editor and the guys in my department wear ancient t-shirts, jeans and hiking boots. We also have the aging banger who favors hockey jerseys (winter) and wife beaters (summer.) So you would think this job would make the list, but sadly it doesn't. The other female editor and I dress nicely and wear makeup. It's a complete double standard. Virtually every other women in the company works with clients or on-camera so it is noticed and appreciated if we make an effort.

[provocativa]

Hm. Lots of mamas answering here that they wear light make-up, but haven't experienced the no-makeup prejudice. If you wear light make-up, then you're not make-up free. Light make-up is enough of a cultural signal that you accept the cultural reality that women should make-up. It is artifactual communication of that position. In many jobs one can communicate this by only occaisionally wearing makeup to important meetings. But go short hair and totally butch, and see if you get treated the same way. You won't. I was mostly a waitress / bartender / restaurant manager, which are great ways to use your Women's Studies and Literature degrees. I did a chart and compared: I always made less money without makeup, even if the makeup was very subtle (like only mascara and a bit of lip shine). Makeup is a sign / signal of aquiescence to the status quo. People are more comfortable with the status quo, you are more likely to get promoted by following it. Yes, there are jobs that openly flaunt their opposition to this status quo, but you will often find that even among these, the folks who get promoted or make more money are the ones who wear makeup or dress like realtors. I am also bisexual, and I have played with gender roles over the years. I always earn more money and get treated differently when I am presenting a femme identity rather than butch. There are many jobs now where no one is required to wear makeup, but that you don't get to move up the ladder if you don't paint at least part of the time. Maybe doctors don't HAVE to wear makeup to work, but they are wearing it in their advertisements to get clients, which is part of their work. The male doctors aren't wearing makeup in their ads afai can tell.

[Skippy918]

If you work in a cleanroom environment (semiconductors), make-up is not allowed.

[littlest birds]

Men who don't shave also come across as unprofessional in many setting IME. It's not makeup or a shaved face are "required" but that it is part of the unwritten rules in many professions.

Skirts at work with obvious unshaved legs on women are probably a bigger deal than either of the above.

It's a game I don't play but there's a lot of games I don't play that are part of mainstream culture. There are many professions I would never consider because I would never be willing to put on the type of act and costume expected.

[SusanElizabeth]

Originally Posted by provocativa

Hm. Lots of mamas answering here that they wear light make-up, but haven't experienced the no-makeup prejudice. If you wear light make-up, then you're not make-up free. Light make-up is enough of a cultural signal that you accept the cultural reality that women should make-up. It is artifactual communication of that position. In many jobs one can communicate this by only occaisionally wearing makeup to important meetings. But go short hair and totally butch, and see if you get treated the same way. You won't. I was mostly a waitress / bartender / restaurant manager, which are great ways to use your Women's Studies and Literature degrees. I did a chart and compared: I always made less money without makeup, even if the makeup was very subtle (like only mascara and a bit of lip shine). Makeup is a sign / signal of aquiescence to the status quo. People are more comfortable with the status quo, you are more likely to get promoted by following it. Yes, there are jobs that openly flaunt their opposition to this status quo, but you will often find that even among these, the folks who get promoted or make more money are the ones who wear makeup or dress like realtors. I am also bisexual, and I have played with gender roles over the years. I always earn more money and get treated differently when I am presenting a femme identity rather than butch. There are many jobs now where no one is required to wear makeup, but that you don't get to move up the ladder if you don't paint at least part of the time. Maybe doctors don't HAVE to wear makeup to work, but they are wearing it in their advertisements to get clients, which is part of their work. The male doctors aren't wearing makeup in their ads afai can tell.

I don't wear make-up because I think women should wear makeup, or because I am accepting the status quo. I wear mascara in particular because I like the way I look more than when I don't have it on. It makes me feel good. I don't think anyone else, including my husband, really cares whether I wear it but I wear it for me.

[mama2landon]

Originally Posted by *MamaJen*

Print journalism. I rarely wore makeup, and only if I felt like it. I dressed professionally but there's a lot of room for quirk in a newsroom.
Now, TV journalism is a totally different animal. Ugh.

The nice thing about TV journalism is that the guys have to wear makeup, too. Well, the ones in front of the camera do, anyway. Working behind the scenes, we definitely weren't required to wear makeup, unless we randomly felt like dressing up. It always seemed like a 50/50 split between those that did, and those that didn't. It seems like if you worked behind the scenes in any way, it was just a t-shirt and jeans job.