I'm with you, sam, barbie (get well soon barbie!).

Make-up is great fun and it really does change me from plain to much better. I guess I have the right bone structure, but I certainly have inter-facial relationships that are waay less than ideal and make-up goes a good way to creating the illusion that they are better, I'm less tired and I'm younger.

What's not to like? Well the time. Learning and practice. I took some lessons. I think a lot of women frankly could do with taking some. I'd alwsy loved the stuff - it was like messing around with paint, and I'd recreate 'Ziggy' faces. But I needed to learn to deconstruct my face more objectively and learn techniques to change things for the better.

I agree Violeta that "sometimes you may 'think' the woman didn't cake on makeup and has 'minimal' makeup on, but it can actually be a lot of makeup, done strategically to look 'natural'." I can have the full works on and people think it's not much. It can take a lot of work to buff that foundation til it looks like it nearly disappears, but is still concealing. Or the hardest of all - to look like you aren't wearing any blusher.

And Bug - so glad nothing else happened to you - men may prefer a natural look (are they all the same?), but I don't do it, consciously at least, for men (complex subject that). I have really pale skin, with blue veins, but it means I can take some really striking colours, like fuschia. Some days I'll wear really strong colours cos I feel like it and sod what anyone thinks.