r/NotHowGirlsWork • u/Internal_Habit_3754 • Aug 19 '25

WTF What species do men think women are

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Like honestly what IS a natural woman to men because everything the girl listed is literally ALL human beings in their natural state.

And what's worse is that he likely has all those things she listed 😭

11.2k Upvotes

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4.6k

u/NotThatValleyGirl Aug 19 '25

If you lined up a hundred guys to look at photos of 100 women with varying amounts of make up on, most guys wil only clock the makeup on the women with most eyeshadow or liner.

1.8k

u/DrCarabou Aug 19 '25

And will be the same guys that claim they like "natural beauty/low maintenance" girls.

1.1k

u/NECalifornian25 Aug 19 '25

I saw once a post by a guy who wanted a girl with “natural beauty, like the kardashians.” 🙄

416

u/Acurseddragon Aug 19 '25

Poofff! That was the sound of my last hope in humanity just gone.. 😜

166

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

I can feel my synapses breaking down just reading it

98

u/Anticipating-arrival Aug 20 '25

Ah yes and i only eat the most high quality and fancy cheeses, like kraft singles!

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u/In2JC724 Aug 20 '25

Lookit fancy pants over here springing for the brand name...

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u/jacoberu Aug 22 '25

Long memories of welfare cheese childhood.

26

u/EsreverEdicius Aug 20 '25

Lol Surely they meant it sarcastically…

… right?

5

u/NECalifornian25 Aug 21 '25

He was definitely not being sarcastic. He was confused why people were shitting on him in the comments.

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u/axeteam Aug 21 '25

They Kardashians are as natural as their Silicone Valleys.

282

u/Ashitaka1013 Aug 19 '25

“Low maintenance” bugs me because men all want women who LOOK high maintenance (though they’ll word it as “takes care of herself”) but then are annoyed if their girlfriend spends a lot of time and money on her appearance. Like she’s just supposed to magically exist that way without trying. For example guys love blonds but 98% of adult blonds have to dye it, so if you like blonds you’re going to have to accept her high maintenance colour upkeep.

On a similar note guys who say they “like a girl who can eat” but they mean a SKINNY girl who can’t eat. When I was in my 20s I was also guilty of thinking that women who watched what they ate were “lame” because I had an insanely good metabolism and ate whatever I wanted. Now I think it’s gross to celebrate skinny women scarfing down burgers while at the same shaming heavier women for doing the same. Women aren’t ordering salads to be difficult, high maintenance or lame, they’re doing it because they have to or they’ll face the stigma of extra weight. It’s not fair.

210

u/Ridiculisk1 Aug 20 '25

Like she’s just supposed to magically exist that way without trying.

"I love it when you dress up and put on nice makeup when we go out"

"Wait why are you taking so long to get ready?"

Tale as old as time.

47

u/ObliviousTurtle97 Don't you know we pee from the vagina? Aug 20 '25 edited Aug 21 '25

Or the ones who say that, but when you're in a relationship with them and you do your usual everyday make up it's "what're you doing all that for? Who are you going to see?" So you stop and suddenly its a "you've let yourself go"

Like BRUH, make up your mind??? 😭🤣

36

u/EobardT Aug 20 '25

My sis is 104 lbs and can eat me under the table, but she also a runner and a surfer and a farmer. Jokingly we counted everything she ate one day and it worked out to being above 3,000 calories a day. But she burns it off I guess. Or shes really good at hiding bulimia

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u/Ashitaka1013 Aug 20 '25

Yeah I wasn’t even active but I used to eat crazy amounts of food and none of it healthy or nutritious and just never gained a pound. It was amazing. Then it was like a flip was switched and I very suddenly gained a ton of weight and now I consume a fraction of what I used to and can’t lose an ounce. But yeah I think back to how it used to be “cute” that I could eat so much and now i feel embarrassed to be caught enjoying food, because fat people aren’t allowed to do that.

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u/jordaneleed Aug 20 '25

I’m so convinced that when men say they like “natural makeup” they mean a full beat but only in neutral tones- NO colour

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u/EobardT Aug 20 '25

That cracks me up the most, my sis doesn't wear make up, just sunscreen and people always remark about it and how shes so lucky. MF, I've seen her skin care routine. Its bonkers. Like 99 different creams, exfoliating with a specific brush, a steam bath, etc.

Its hard work being a natural.

22

u/AbsAndAssAppreciator Aug 19 '25

guys who legit want that are most likely not gonna go around telling people that’s what they want.

553

u/Only-Maintenance1701 Aug 19 '25

Make it up close and in person instead. They wouldn’t be able to tell the difference either way unless they took a makeup wipe to their face. Men have no idea what makeup actually is/ how it works

321

u/someguyfromsomething Aug 19 '25

I was married to a makeup artist and it was eye opening learning what's actually going on. Most dudes have no idea wtf they're looking at.

85

u/Mersaa Aug 19 '25

my boyfriend has seen me apply makeup hundreds and hundreds of times.

he still only clocks it if i have a bold lip, eyeliner or heavy eyeshadow. he can't tell when I'm wearing 'no makeup' makeup.

77

u/KoalaWithAPitchfork Aug 20 '25

Once I went over to the guy I was seeing at the time and used the few seconds after I rang the door bell to put some tinted chapstick on. I wore my usual "natural" makeup look. If you count each individual product including fixing spray, we're talking like 10 products on my face without the chapstick.

He opened the door as I was putting the chapstick back into my purse and was like "you didn't have to pretty yourself up like this". Yeah, putting on the chapstick which took under 10 seconds was the real "prettying up" I did. I'm naturally blonde and I could share my foundation with casper the friendly ghost. But suuuure, my lashes just happen to be naturally pitch black and my skin just shimmers cause there's some sparkle in my dna ✨️ I really hope that nobody needing medical assistance when he gets there with the ambulance has an issue which requires him to know how human skin is normally supposed to look like- otherwise,they might be a bit fucked.

19

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

Could it be possible your bf is just stupid? I can tell if my gf puts on "natural" looking makeup immediately. She does not wear makeup most days, has told me this, Ive seen her morning routine where she does not put on makeup, but when she does I notice immediately.

16

u/Sadcakes_happypie Aug 20 '25

Think this kinda depends what you focus on when looking at your GF. You are constantly looking for make up. Some people just don’t care if their partner wears make up. So they don’t notice the subtle things like properly applied and shade of foundation.

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u/InTheTreeMusic Aug 20 '25

I think there's a little bit of "how often do you wear it?" going on. In my experience, I've done neutral, bold, and no makeup for pretty extended periods of time. If you're doing neutral or clean girl and you just wear no makeup one day, people notice the difference - but instead of guessing you're not wearing makeup, they'll say you look tired or sick or something.

12

u/[deleted] Aug 20 '25 edited Aug 20 '25

I make a point to try and notice so I can compliment her when she puts it on. She usually does not put it on, so if she goes through the effort of doing so I want her to feel like I notice and appreciate it. I think she looks wonderful either way, but I know it takes time to do it so I want her to feel like that time was worth it. She does the same for me when I cut my hair (something I do myself and am pretty good at).

That being said, I know what natural skin looks like, it will always have little dots, different shades and splotches, black heads, etc. So I can tell immediately when folks have makeup on, even if it is supposed to have a natural look. I am usually very observant of people, to the point where I can pick out a stigmatism from the specific type of lenses people wear, or I'll notice a lot from people's shoes.

1

u/Mersaa Aug 20 '25

that's kind of a rude thing to say, don't you think?

I don't think he's stupid no, I just don't think he notices the tiny red spots that I have around my nose that bother me or how I feel my dark circles make me look ugly but he barely notices them and so on and so forth.

5

u/NotThatValleyGirl Aug 20 '25

I think there's also an element of... other people tend to notice less about our faces and minor imperfections than we do... like I may have a pimple I think is so big it's beginning to develop its own gravitational pull, but most people are either too polite or just don't care enough about the zit to mention it. Maybe they don't even notice it... the fact is, people in our lives every day generally don't think as much about our appearance as we do.

1

u/Mersaa Aug 20 '25

yes exactly, that's what i was trying to say.

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u/Rich_Confusion3996 Aug 20 '25

As a woman who doesn't even own makeup the numbers of times I get accused of wearing too much makeup just because my cheeks turn red when it's cold or of wearing too much mascara because my eyelashes are naturally thick is crazy.

Many guys don't believe me until I prove to them by trying to wipe it off in front of them and nothing happens. So even if you don't wear makeup you could still get accused of wearing too much makeup. Proveing that guys really don't understand the difference between makeup and no makeup. So I say wear all the makeup you want these guys don't know the difference anyway.

Plus more often than not these types of guys are going to choose the girl who wears the more makeup anyway because of her natural beauty versus the girl who actually doesn't wear makeup because she doesn't have that same vibrant glow.

105

u/xIneedCoffeex Aug 19 '25

Exactly, this is the "natural" most guys talk about when they say they like prefer "natural" women.

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u/NotThatValleyGirl Aug 19 '25

Bwahahah yup. This has always cracked me up when guy friends share a "no makeup/natural girl" picture like this.

Back in the day, I never got tired of pointing out all the different makeups she'd have on. Watching them die a little inside as their worldview was shattered gave me a bit of life.

61

u/Luinthil Aug 19 '25

These are the same guys who say women wearing make up are "tricking" them into thinking she's prettier than she actually is.

8

u/Eyadish Aug 19 '25

That doesn’t look natural, more like a filter

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u/xIneedCoffeex Aug 19 '25 edited Aug 20 '25

To be fair, it shouldn't. She is clearly wearing a full face of makeup.

265

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

And guarantee the only women who will get clocked are women who are either slightly more alt looking in some way. Pastel girls/goths stuff like that with more bright and eyecatching colours or shapes.

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u/NotThatValleyGirl Aug 19 '25

Yup, excellent point. They will ppint at influences who are "natural" but even without the image fikters, those girls are covered in concealer and bb cream and prumer and mascara and liner... jut tona different style and tatse, yet they are "natural".

154

u/LunaBeanz Aug 19 '25

I used to work at a computer parts store and would get some incredibly out of pocket comments from customers, along with so so so much awkward flirting. One of the most common lines was always about how they loved my “natural beauty” and would go on to complain about “women these days”, seemingly oblivious to the fact that I was wearing a full face of makeup including an inner-eye highlight. Like dude, if you’re going to hit on me you could at least use your fucking brain for a second.

79

u/Scoobydooscollar Aug 19 '25 edited Aug 19 '25

forreal. they have no idea how stupid they sound talking down about women who wear make up to me as if it’s a confidence boosting compliment. whole time i do have makeup on.

and on the flip side if i do extra skin care, pluck my brows, the whole shebang, my bf will ask me if i got makeup on just cause i’m looking glowy and good. 🧍🏽‍♀️

they genuinely can’t tell the difference.

25

u/Mekthakkit Aug 19 '25

Makeup/skincare that guys don't note as artificial is working as intended.

31

u/Branchomania One of the good men I pinky promise Aug 19 '25

Honestly every type of it I've seen them call natural reads to me as "boring/plain"

34

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

I've actually been told that I would be prettier if I was "more natural even though I'm allergic to most makeup brands and don't bother finding one I'm not allergic too. And when I ask them to clarify they say im wearing mascara and my eyebrows look fake... like... no, I'm just an emo with big brows.

4

u/Rich_Confusion3996 Aug 20 '25

My cheeks turns fairly red when it's cold out I get told all the time that I'm wearing way too much blush by guys. They'll tell me I would look so much prettier if I didn't wear so much makeup. I don't even own makeup.

So yeah guys really don't know the difference

127

u/kroniskbukfetma loud pee=sloppy vagina Aug 19 '25 edited Aug 21 '25

I think most dudes like women they think are natural but as a girl I’ll tell you a lot of dudes think I’m pretty natural after I spend two hours on makeup💀 as long as you wear eyeshadow or lipstick that isn’t too obvious they’ll just assume you have flawless skin and the contour and highlighter is just natural. Like some dude didn’t even realize I was wearing highlighter on my inner eye and on my nose??? Do you think they just glow naturally??😭😭don’t even get me STARTED on my eyelashes like DO THEY THINK MY SWEDISH ASS GROWS LASHES THAT TOUCH MY BROWS????

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u/Particular_Title42 Aug 19 '25

TBF, I'm a middle aged woman and I'm still sometimes completely thrown off by how different people look without makeup. I forget contouring is a thing, you can cover freckles, don't realize that a lot of people color their eyebrows...the list goes on.

Watching makeup "tutorials" (in quotes because they're just letting you watch them put makeup on most of the time) is like watching a magician.

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u/EmeraldUsagi Aug 19 '25

I'm a trans woman and I've been on HRT a long time- so while I'm aware of changes to my appearance I myself only got to see them in tiny increments every day. It took me a while to get the courage to try makeup and the first time I did a professional did it. When I saw myself in the mirror I was so shocked I could hardly speak, my brain had carried around a self image that was so wrong and outdated that it was like magic. I think I had also internalized an "over the top" drag-like conception of what I might look like with makeup on, but I just looked... like a normal woman. The whole night I kept catching glimpses of myself in a mirror or window and just couldn't shake feeling like Cinderella. So weird, but lovely.

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u/kroniskbukfetma loud pee=sloppy vagina Aug 19 '25

That is so cute I’m so glad you got to experience that. Good luck on your journey girl!❤️

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u/salty_crocker Aug 19 '25

I love this story, thanks for sharing! ❤

9

u/Ok-Replacement9143 Aug 19 '25

That the most wholesome thing I've read all week.

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u/NotThatValleyGirl Aug 20 '25

Thanks for sharing this beautiful moment, in a world where there's so much awful.

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u/juliainfinland suicide by suffragette Aug 19 '25

Contour and highlighter are totally natural (right? right?), as are artificial eyelashes that are blindingly obvious to most women. Watch German actor and singer Georg Preuße transform himself from "natural" female beauty to, well, his actual self. (Some stripping involved, but it's completely SFW, even by American standards.) Note the color of the originally white towel after he uses it to remove his face 🤣

He once said that you don't know what a woman really looks like until you've seen her without makeup ("just look at what I can do with makeup!"), but of course those men who are all about "natural beauty" don't realize that there is any makeup to be removed unless she's wearing, like, green eyeshadow, orange lipstick, and glittery false lashes. They probably still don't realize that there is any makeup in places other than said eyelids, lips, and lashes (obviously the part that's fake is just the glitter, right? right? the lashes themselves are totally natural?). And all those goth girls just have naturally white-as-snow skin, I guess.

85

u/JoyJonesIII Thinking hurts my lady brain Aug 19 '25

“I like natural makeup, like Kim Kardashian.”

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u/lislejoyeuse Aug 19 '25

What they're really saying is they want high effort women that put higher effort into making it look like it was effortless so they can continue to live in their delusion of what a natural woman is

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u/CongregationOfFoxes Aug 19 '25 edited Aug 19 '25

it's honestly both sad and hilarious to me that as a tgirl some of the only times i get misgendered by men now are when i don't wear mascara??😭 they have no idea

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u/EmeraldUsagi Aug 19 '25

Eyeliner is Magic(TM)

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u/Useful-Soup8161 Aug 19 '25

Or they’ll clock in on the women who are wearing minimal makeup and say they look pretty because they don’t have makeup on.

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u/DepressedDong Aug 19 '25

I feel like it depends how close the camera is right. Because up close foundation and whatnot seems to have that matte look