Should You Hide Your Beauty And Grooming Rituals From Your Guy?

The other day, during a morning subway commute, I watched a bare-faced woman sit down side by side with a man she was with, take out a hefty cosmetics bag (about the size of a small cat, if I had to approximate) and spend 35 minutes on her makeup and hair. I was impressed with her finesse…one-handed eyeliner application? Smooth mascara swipes with nary a stray dot splashed on her eyelids? You go, girl.

The guy she was with didn't share my enthusiasm. He looked downright horrified. Granted, she was pretty made up by the end of the train ride. And with each dab of lip stain, each feathery stroke of eyebrow pencil, he looked on, increasingly alarmed. I didn't understand why until she broke out the final weapon in her beauty arsenal—the eyelash curler. If I had to guess, it was probably his first time seeing the contraption, and to him, it must have looked more like a torture device or medical instrument than a makeup tool. It was clear that this half-hour transformation rubbed him the wrong way. Are there certain beauty and grooming rituals we should keep to ourselves, lest men start getting suspicious that we don't always wake up looking radiant? I mean, next thing you know, they'll find out that girls fart.

Valerie Chen at Stylecaster does think that certain grooming habits are best kept to ourselves, putting together "nine gory beauty habits that no man wants to know about." On her list? Applying cellulite cream, bleaching upper lip hairs, examining facial pores, Brazilian waxing, keeping your feet callous-free, wearing retainers, underarm laser hair removal, mud masks, and eyebrow threading.

I was ready to get all up-in-hairy-arms about her breakdown, but the more I thought about, the less of a problem I had with a lot of her list. Callouses and retainers? I don't want to see a dude doing upkeep on those either, thankyouverymuch. But there's a difference, I think, between beauty rituals your guy doesn't need to "know about," period, and beauty rituals that perhaps he doesn't need to see, up close and personal. Eyebrow threading and facial hair bleaching? I'm not going to pluck my eyebrows during dinner, but if a dude thinks I'm about to hide my bulk supply of Nair so I can avoid offending him, he is sadly mistaken. And applying cellulite cream? Girl, if your guy gets a peek at your slathering cream all over your body, he won't bother reading the label to find that what the hell it is.

Next: The gender divide...

More Juicy Content From YourTango:

• What Do Men Think About Bikini Waxing?
• 7 Steps To Waxing At Home
• Should A Man Pay For Your Bikini Wax?