Goth makeup is a contrast between white and black and gives the wearer a rather ominous looking presence. This kind of makeup is a subculture that started in Europe in the 1980s after the punk movement. The punk movement was started by a bunch of young people who liked a certain kind of music. While punk was full of bright colors, goth is not. Like the punk subculture, the gothic subculture was founded around music.
The gothic subculture is an aesthetically dark culture. Its followers where dark clothing, usually black and they also wear black makeup. Trench coats, chains and thick black boots are characteristic fashions for this subculture. This type of dress is off putting to many people. The dark colors, the chains and the dark face makeup make goth followers look intimidating.
Goths is also fascinated with the dark side. Followers tend to be interested in death, horror and dark imagery. This does not mean that followers are violent people, though they do get characterized as violent because of their interests and the way they dress.
Fashion is an important to any true subculture. It's almost like a uniform for that subculture. It lets the outside world know that they are a part of something different than traditional society. As mentioned before, the subculture focuses on dark colors, specifically black.
Goth makeup accents the dark look. The basic makeup includes wearing extremely dark, heavy, black eyeliner around the eyes. Followers tend to use liquid eyeliner because it goes on darker and thicker than regular eyeliner. Gothic men and women wear this makeup. Black lipstick is also a very basic look. Some followers will put light gray lipstick on their lips and cross over their lips with darker lines, giving the impression that their lips are sewn shut. Blood red lipstick is also a popular goth style lipstick.
To contrast the dark facial outlines, gothic followers decorate their faces in all white makeup. This contrast helps the makeup standout and is especially effective if there's dark makeup all over the eyes. The whole idea behind this is to make the individual standout. This is why you will never see makeup that is modestly applied.
