On a TV show, an American woman said to a Japanese woman, “You’re so good at makeup.”
My English skill is poor. I have more exposure to American culture than the average Japanese, but I don’t understand it enough. So
I don’t know if this phrase is positive or negative. Please tell us your impressions from an American point of view.
28 comments
Unless context indicates otherwise, a compliment should be assumed to be a compliment
I compliment other womens’ makeup on a pretty regular basis, and I always mean it
It’s a compliment. We consider makeup application to be an artistic skill.
It’s a compliment
Yep it’s a compliment!! It’s actually one of my favorite compliments to get 🙂
Definitely a compliment.
I have never heard or used this phrase in my life, so it is not a common cultural phrase of that is what you are asking, but depending on some odd situational context I would take that at face value as a compliment to their skill at the application of makeup.
“You’re good at _______” is usually a compliment unless it’s something that you don’t want to be good at like farting or used sarcastically to insult someone’s ability.
It’s a backhanded compliment at best. It implies that you are ugly, but your skills at make up cover for your deficiency. Especially in a situation comedy skit.
yes. i would say it would be a compliment
however if it was said in a sarcastic tone i could see it being shade
I often tell other women I love their makeup. Even if it’s subtle and well applied, you can tell it’s there. And it takes some skill to apply it well, both subtle and bold.
It’s complimenting a skill I can tell they’ve worked on and practiced ernestly.
For some women, makeup is a form of artistic expression. Telling them they’re good at makeup is a compliment.
However, telling someone who is going for a subtle/natural look that they are good at makeup may not go over so well.
Makeup (and beauty at large) is perceived as a skill by American women, not much different than cooking or carpentry (men see beauty as innate, which is why complaints of “he said he thinks I look better without makeup, so rude” happen since women see that as an insult). It’s a legitimate compliment if you compliment makeup
Unless tone indicated otherwise, I would take it as a compliment. I think that’s a really nice thing for a woman to hear.
It’s positive. They are telling someone else that they are good at doing their makeup.
the only negative i can make see if it’s saying it at someone who is trying to do a really natural no makeup look bc you’re saying that you noticed them having makeup on? but again could just be compliment of someone saying that there natural makeup looks really good, glowy, etc
Makeup is cosmetics…she seems to have paid the Japanese woman a compliment on her skills. However, how she said it – her tone of voice – could make a difference in the meaning of those same words. But ordinarily, yes, that’s a compliment.
It depends on what how one interprets the comment. It depends on what the implication was, or what you infer from the comment.
It’s a bit like ‘Oh my God! You make the cheapest clothes look so glamorous!’, or ‘you look fantastic, have you lost weight?’.
The phrase itself can be either positive or negative. Sarcasm can be a bit hard to pickup, and nearly impossible from text. Often times American insults are not meant for the victim to understand so it’s often confusing.
Assuming her makeup was actually good it was meant as a compliment. If her make up was bad it could go either way. Americans in certain situations will lie to make a person feel better. The other case is sarcasm and the point is to show that the other person is so inexperienced they don’t even realize they are bad. W/out seeing the clip I don’t think we can say for sure what the intention of the speech was.
So I think the context where this would be a compliment is like if someone did someone else’s makeup, maybe a woman saying to another woman “I wish I could do my makeup like yours”. Some people do crazy cool things with makeup and I think in most cases it would be a compliment to say to someone “You’re so good at makeup”.
Many American women wear heavy makeup so I don’t think it was intended as an insult. I believe Koreans tend to prefer a more “natural” look so maybe it is offensive to them. It might have just been a cultural disconnect.
As a man I have complimented makeup on American women and they usually take it positively. Many women here wear wild colors that are clearly not natural, so I think it’s a little different.
I prefer”Are you an arrrteest because you look like a work of art”
But I’m English.
Without further context, it sounds like a compliment.
The American woman may or may not have been genuine — it would be a pretty petty backhanded way to say “your face is hideous but excellent work recovering from that” lol — but it’s a common way in Japan to deflect a compliment about a woman’s appearance. i.e., “Your daughter looks great!” and “Oh no, she’s just good at makeup.”
Unless there was more context I would take it as a compliment to either their skill or appearance or both. It is not negative.
It’s not a compliment if the person you are complimenting isn’t wearing any makeup at the time.
It depends on the context and the relationship. If a woman has a really well done but evident makeup look on, it’s definitely a compliment. But it could be a “backhanded compliment” to a woman who you know does not look nearly as good without her makeup on, or one who you think her makeup application is inappropriate for the setting.
Any compliment can be backhanded. It depends on what the context was. But if I were told this by a stranger, I’d beam.
I would take it as a compliment, but I guess it could be said in a backhanded way.