Female Primary students (previous, current and future)...

I worked in a school as a classroom assistant and am hoping to do my primary education this September, the general consensus was light makeup, foundation, blush, natural shades of lipstick or lipgloss were ok but I never saw any teachers coming in with heavy eyeshadow or bright red lipstick.

Keep it light and natural then once you arrive at the school you will be able to get the feel for what everyone there does as different schools have different rules.

Edit* i normally just wore light foundation, mascara because i have really blonde eyelashes, a bit of blush and some lipgloss.

I am curious to know from any current, previous and future female primary PGCE students:

Did/do/will you wear makeup at school? Is it frowned upon by other staff? Or is it expected as part of a presentable front to the rest of the school?

I will be starting a PGCE in September, and want to know what other people do, or think. There have been lots of debates in the last few years about dress codes for teachers, but also there has been a bit of research done from outside the teaching profession, which indicates that a majority of recruiters think that if a woman doesn't bother with makeup, she doesn't care about getting the job, but if she wears too much makeup, she can look "unsuitable".

i'm going for secondary, but my mum was a primary teacher (foundation stage specialist) for 20+ years, and a mentor for 10 of those (she's currently semi-retired doing supply), so i've asked her your question.

she says if you want to wear makeup, natural is the key, if for no other reason than it wont end up smudging down your face in an overheated classroom. however she said to stress that there is no emphasis on wearing makeup being seen as more 'professional', she rarely wears more than tinted foundation unless she's a little under the weather and trying not to look it. equally, her friend and former colleague wore natural makeup every day.

her main advice was to do what is natural for you. on the pgce you're going to have a million things to process in the morning. if makeup is part of your daily routine already so its 'natural' for you to apply it in the morning, and you've got your natural look down pat, then go for it. if makeup is something you've never bothered with, then your pgce year is not the time to start. do whatever makes you more confident.

I will be a mature student when I begin my PGCE this September and I have worked in primary schools over the past 5 years. I've got my make-up down to a couple of minutes in the morning and I feel more confident with it on personally; I keep it light. I can usually tell who isn't used to wearing make-up as it isn't very well done - I don't know if this is down to time and/or lack of practice so as others said if it's not already part of your routine... In my opinion it can look unprofessional if done badly.

have you ever used blur creams? you just apply them like moisturiser as they're not tinted so no faff. perfect half way stage as they just make you look like you're having a really good skin day.

Definitely something to look into.... do they rub off if you touch your face/blow your nose etc?

Definitely something to look into.... do they rub off if you touch your face/blow your nose etc?