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"doing" makeup?

EdisonBhola

Senior Member
Korean
Hi all, does "do" go well with "makeup"? For example:

Give me a sec. I'm doing makeup.

Or should I stick to "put on"?

Many thanks! 👁 Smile :)
I suggest you forget "doing" here.
Is the most natural way of saying this "I'm putting on make-up"? 👁 Smile :)

Do native speakers have other ways to say this?
I would say that "I'm doing my makeup" is a perfectly normal phrase. However, "I'm doing makeup" (without "my") sounds odd if you're referring to applying it to your face. Both "I'm putting on makeup" and "I'm putting on my makeup" are fine.

Google gives about the same number of results for "doing my makeup" (444,000 results) and "putting on makeup" (441,000 results). "Putting on my makeup" gets about 326,000 results.

"How do you do your eye makeup?" is what you might ask someone when you want to know how they achieve a certain look. To me, "how do you put on your eye makeup" doesn't work as well in that context. It sounds more like you're asking what tool they use to apply it (a brush, a sponge, etc.).
"wearing" is not the same as "putting on," which is what the OP seems to suggest.

Perhaps you could explain why you're saying that "wearing" is not correct. The use of "wear" as a verb with makeup is normal (as is put on), and I hear it most often.👁 Smile :)


verbs for make-up? (post#2)
For no particular reason, I hear and use "do" more often when I am concentrating on one aspect of makeup or a special cosmetic effect, rather than the whole of a face:

I'm doing / need to do my eyeliner, lashes, contouring, smoky eye, brows, gradient lip, etc.
Perhaps you could explain why you're saying that "wearing" is not correct. The use of "wear" as a verb with makeup is normal (as is put on), and I hear it most often.👁 Smile :)


verbs for make-up? (post#2)

It's the same difference you can see in "wearing clothes" (having clothes on your body) and "putting your clothes on" (getting dressed).
It's the same difference you can see in "wearing clothes" (having clothes on your body) and "putting your clothes on" (getting dressed).

In other words, the former expresses a state, the latter an action.


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I am with Ekhy - I'd use "I'm doing my makeup" (but not "I'm doing my face" or anything else about face - it doesn't sound wrong, but it sounds very not me - I don't think of the makeup as being my face, probably because I only occasionally wear any makeup)


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