Last week after rowing in our boathouse: Four women – six men. All of them Masters. We were just about leaving when a very interesting topic came up: Makeup in sports and makeup in rowing

We were discussing  sunburns and how to protect your skin while rowing. Belinda asked the queston: Besides sunscreen lotion – should athletes wear makeup during sports? The range of answers surprised me: From … No Go … to … I always have something on me. A journalistic challenge.

Makeup for rowers

Isa, 48, joins us rowers every Thursday. She arrives right after her office work, gets changed and joins the crew. She always wears makeup while rowing. “When I know that I’m rowing in the evening, I’m not putting much on, less makeup and some mascara, but the lipstick and eyeliner remains a must.” “Yes, but the makeup causes pimples and impure skin,” says Steffi the Coxswain.

Makeup and Rowing: A conflict?[/caption]

Makeup while rowing:

We talked about this for more than 30 Minutes. Is makeup in the rowing boat a real no go?  If someone takes the risk of leaving  the boat with a sweaty eyeliner, that’s a personal decision. What do experts say?

“Before you put on makeup before the sport, you should think twice about it”. Petra Degenhardt, head of the medical and cosmetically oriented Institute for Skin and Beauty in Bremen, GER, warns against putting on a “war paint” before training: “Sport and makeup do not go together. Even new makeups, which almost merge with the skin, look good, but in sports you should rather do without it.”

Can your skin exchange temperatures?

Sweat is the name of the game. Apart from a light row, you do sweat. “After all, the body has to activate its air conditioning system to cool the body temperature, which also opens up the sweat and tallow pores. If you apply plenty of make-up, you risk of blogging and closing the skin pores.” If makeup / sweat covers your pores, the body can not start the heat exchange. “The skin can not breathe, and the heat/sweat can not be transported to the outside. That might lead to small signs of poisoning on the skin”, explains the skin expert in “Tainingsworld”.

Only a little! Rowing and Makeup

Makeup artist Holger Weins in Womenshealth,” Camouflage might damages the skin during workouts. It often clogs the pores due to its covering consistency.” However, light makeup for sports is allowed, “says Dr. Yael Adler from Berlin. “Outdoor sportswomen in particular even benefit from the sun

Makeup in Sports: German Soccer Team  Credit: Focus.de/Ghetty Image

protection factor that many modern makeup products contain, “says dermatologist Michaela Axt-Gadermann from Hamburg. It certainly makes a difference whether I go for a  30 min. run or have a 90 minutes rowing session. This is also the women’s opinion in our club. The majority of the ladies in our rowing club believed, that very light makeup is fine.

Good Company

Can I – as a male – draw a conclusion? Difficult and dangerous. I know, that a lot women teams use make up. Focus a german magazin reported a while ago that some of the soccer ladies in Germany used makeup during their matches.

I think, ​​Isabellas is right. If she feels fine by using makeup – great. She will be the first one to know if her pores get clogged.