Makeup can be fun. It can be appealing, mysterious, sexy, cute, colourful, ornate, gothic, punk, anything- but it's all varying degrees of costume in the end. It doesn't have to be bad or good but since it is a product, of course we are always surrounded with images trying to condition us to believe it is a necessity, and the face behind the mask is somehow "bad" or "incomplete".
"You're not an attractive enough woman without it."
It's expensive and has warped our views of acceptable, desirable, current beauty to such extremes as ganguro girls, fake tans, bleached, damaged hair, deathly black eyes, damaged skin, lighter wallets and an even heavier sense of ugliness.
I appreciate what makeup can do and why people enjoy it, but when it is not for something special only- when you're everyday face isn't special enough, it makes me kind of sad that this is what so many women and men see as true beauty as opposed to costume flair for special occasions.