Do autistic women wear makeup?

lots do! i know someone who's special interest is makeup she wears so much! it can definitely be a sensory issue for me sometimes but i enjoy doing my makeup and wearing it other times

I only wear makeup if I’m going to an event or meeting otherwise can’t be bothered. I use it as a mask.

I do, but self identify at present so maybe not your target audience. 

I can say I prefer not wearing it sensory-wise and can’t wait to get it off.

there are problems with hair, recently they began to fall out what would be advised

i don"t wear makeup it make me really uncomfortable and never liked it anyway 

Yes, I wear makeup - I even have a diploma in it. 

My default self doesn't enjoy wearing makeup everyday and It makes me happier if people accept me for not wearing makeup at work. It slightly annoys me if someone is a lot nicer to me when I'm wearing makeup. My boyfriend always treats me the same so I don't understand why people are more likely to hold doors open for me if I'm wearing makeup verses none at all.

Yeah, I TOTALLY get that DC. I know what you mean 100% and I’m with you. I have a particular affinity (if that’s the right word) with beauty, in all its forms, and I can certainly appreciate the beauty of people such as Madonna etc but although I appreciate their beauty and know I could also look that way with make up etc, I wouldn’t do it as that is ‘their’ look and mine is mine and like you, I know I’m just as beautiful as them in the greater sense of the word and I have no desire to try to look like them. If people can’t appreciate my brand of beauty, which comes from the inside, then that’s ok, they’re clearly just not open to it. 

I see beauty in every face I see and while I can appreciate the sheer beauty (in the traditional sense) of some people and I can be mesmerised by it, I see it as simply one form of beauty and certainly no more beautiful than anyone or anything else, in the grander scheme of things. 

We are quite unusual to have such a good body image. I had never really thought about it until I was in a group therapy group several years ago, and it became apparent that I had a good body image and nobody else did. It’s just natural to me and it’s the way I see others as well although I did learn, as a kid, that other people had these (invisible to me) rules about who is ‘pretty’ etc, but I still didn’t realise everyone didn’t see everyone as beautiful, including themselves, like I did. I think that by accepting ourselves, just as we are, that fact alone makes us so so beautiful, a beauty more precious than the eyes could ever behold. Like you, I can put on make up and I do occasionally and I enjoy it, it’s fun, but that’s all it is, I don’t do it to try to change my face or hide it, it’s just a bit of fun that I occasionally enjoy. Girl friends in the past have even got annoyed with me because I don’t wear make up, do my hair (I only wash it a couple of times a year) or wear fashionable clothes but I just don’t go in for all that stuff, I wear clothes that are comfortable and I wear them over and over again, I have clothes that are more than 30 years old!!! My hair is down to my bum because I don’t cut it and I wear my wellies everywhere I go! Lol! 

So yeah, I get you, 100% and your beauty is exquisite, rare and seducingly sublime (if they’re the right words ~ I rarely know what words mean but I like the sounds of them) ~ keep on shinning and rocking your own brand of beauty

(Deadpan)...Y-e-e-e-es... Thank You for what you say, Miss ShinyBlue person... I was hoping not to continue upon this topic - of "What is pretty"-  and so I shall try to DISMISS it right here.

I do not have a "self image" problem, or "self-confidence" problem, or any of that. If I looked like a Frog, then I simply say that I look like a Frog, and that is the fact of it. When I meant that I am not "Pretty", I have all sorts of scars, blemishes, illnesses, sagging, Minority-Ethnicity... that sort of "Socially"-singled-out "not pretty"-ness...!

Consider famous people such as Madonna, Beyonce, George Clooney, The Mona Lisa... they are celebrated in that way, pretty, attractive, whatever. That is what I meant by "pretty".

I myself am an Artist/Illustrator, and so I am supposed to know about that sort of thing! And so I know that I am not that kind of "Pretty"...And also I know that I could be, using Make Up or Surgery or whatnot. That is what Make-Up is for. But I am not at all interested in it for myself, Not one bit. But as an Artist, I know how to apply it to either myself or to other people...just as with Photography, where using certain Lighting can flatter or improve or not, depending upon wanted effects. (Pretty, Ugly, Cute, Scary, Dead, Underwater, Young, Old...etc. etc.)

It is all matter-of-fact to myself, it does not have to concern me...And that is all.

I agree DC some nt’s also choose not to wear make up but it has been cited as a trait in females with autism. I’m not sure if that’s an ‘officially’ recognised trait but the women who does the list of female traits lists not wearing make up and bothering with hair and stuff. My hair is very long, thick and wild and I only wash it a couple of times a year and I only brush it once a week or so to prevent dread locks and I don’t follow fashion but I do appear to have developed my own ‘style’ ala la wellies :-D lol! 

p.s. DC you ARE pretty, every girl/woman is. It’s when we start to compare ourselves to a false idea of what pretty is that we can feel less so, but that’s bs because we are ALL beautiful and we are all beautifully different and no woman needs to cover herself in makeup to try to disguise how she looks. We get an image in our minds (fantasy) of what we think ‘pretty’ is and then we tell ourselves we don’t meet this fantasy standard and tell ourselves we’re not pretty, but there are as many versions of pretty as there are girls/Women on this planet and you’re one of them and you don’t need anyone’s agreement on that. If somebody else doesn’t think you’re pretty, that’s their problem, they’re not seeing you as you are but through some fantasy filter that they have placed on themselves so in their limited view of the world, we may not be pretty, but we are, without a shadow of a doubt. 

Thank you for the instructions to make a poll, I will try and make one one day.

Greetings. With regards to Polling, CARETWO wrote the following answer in the following Thread, which says:

After clicking 'Reply' (or clicking 'New Thread') to begin a new post, move the pointer to the place where you wish to insert a poll in the text box and then select 'Insert' from the menu below the text box and select 'Insert Poll'.

...This is a Link Directly to that Answer:
community.autism.org.uk/.../66370

(I have yet to do this myself, yet probably cannot...)

However, as my own answer to the Main Question and to Miss Song, I myself am Allergic to most man-made things: Thus, although I certainly/socially do need make-up - because I am not at all "pretty"! - I do not wear it. I believe that the choice has nothing to do with Autism, for lots of NTs would also make the choice not to wear it, or would also have Allergies to it, or would not know how to wear it effectively.

I suppose so in a sense, though I’d hardly say I blend in as I wear a lot less makeup than all of my female colleagues. I would agree with the avoiding question though.

I just find it very difficult to be told I don’t look well. It makes me feel very awkward as I can’t lie and say I’m fine (because medically I am not), but then I don’t know how much to say without appearing I am whinging. Also, I am quite private and I don’t want everyone to know about my health problems, but I don’t want to be rude in telling them it’s none of their business. I can’t tell if people genuinely care, or they are just being nosey to spread gossip, so that’s very disconcerting for me. It therefore gets difficult for me to know what to say and it causes me anxiety, so in that sense it’s much easier to wear a little makeup and not have people question my health!

So... is it so you can pass through your day without drawing attention...blending in... avoiding question

Absolutely not - I wouldn’t be able to stand the smell of the perfume! I actually work in finance, but there is somewhat of an expectation to wear at least some makeup if you are working in a profession. Also, I tend to get comments that I ‘look ill’ if I don’t wear any makeup (probably because I am ill), but adding a little colour to my complexion wards off such comments and I then don’t have to explain to everyone why I look so ill.

There are some days I don’t wear any makeup in work at all however - I ultimately go with what I feel like over what other people think - but normally a very small amount (such that most people can’t tell I have it on, but that it stops the ‘ill’ comments) doesn’t bother me much.

Do you work in the beauty industry and that is why you feel the need to wear it for work? Do you work at one of those makeup counters? 

I rarely wear make up and when I do, by the middle of the day or after a few hours, I want to take it off. I can put make up on and it looks good but as soon as I put it on I want to take it off again for all the reasons you mentioned ~ it doesn’t look like me, it doesn’t feel good etc etc. So I wear it occasionally, maybe a couple of times a year at what seem like totally random times, it’s not for example, when I’m going to a wedding or night out or something like that, it’s just when I feel like it, but 2 or 3 hours is my maximum for wearing it and then I want it off. It’s the same with nail varnish. I love looking at people who wear loads of make up though and they do it really well, I think it looks amazing, I just can’t keep it on my face! lol! I think it’s linked to autism. It would be interesting if someone could tell you how to do the poll thing. 

I can't stand the feel of stuff like make up. I don't even like face paint. And I really don't see the point in it at all. I think I would also look like a clown if I tried to do use it as I wouldn't have a clue what to do with it. It's something that has never made sense to me as to why so many people rely on it.

Hi Song! I hope you're well. 

Yes, I love makeup. It's one of my interests. However, when I'm depressed, anxious, focused, unhappy, I can't bring myself to wear it.

I would add that lipstick annoys me. I end up getting rid of it during the day. 

 Well said