Makeup during Shiva
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Question
Is there a prohibition for a woman to wear makeup during Shiva?
Answer
A woman should not wear makeup during the days of Shiva. However, a bride who experiences mourning within 30 days of her wedding is permitted to wear makeup so as not to become unattractive to her husband. Similarly, a mature woman who needs to marry is permitted to wear makeup. Although the Shulchan Aruch explains that any mature woman may wear makeup, our teacher, the Rabbi, holds that in our times, when it is not customary for a 13-year-old girl to marry, the permission is only given at an age when girls typically marry.
Source
In the Talmud, Tractate Ta'anit, page 13b, it states: "A mature woman is not allowed to neglect herself during the days of mourning for her father. But a young girl is allowed. What is this about? If it is about washing with hot water, then a mature woman is not allowed, as Rav Chisda said: a mourner is forbidden to even dip his finger in hot water! So it must be about cold water. No, it is about applying makeup and adornment." From this, the Ramban deduced that a regular woman is prohibited from wearing makeup during the days of Shiva, and he wrote that it is part of the prohibition of washing.
In Tractate Ketubot, page 4a, it states: "We do not prevent a bride from wearing adornments for thirty days" (and the early commentators wrote that this means thirty days before her wedding. Rashi wrote thirty days of mourning).
Thus ruled the Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah, laws of mourning, chapter 381, paragraph 6: "A woman should not apply makeup or adorn herself during her days of mourning, as all these are prohibited like washing. A married woman is only prohibited during the seven days, but after seven days she is permitted in everything, so as not to become unattractive to her husband. A bride who experiences mourning within thirty days of her wedding is permitted to adorn herself even during the seven days. A mature woman who experiences mourning, since she is about to marry, is permitted to apply makeup and adornment, but she is prohibited from washing her entire body with hot water; a young girl in mourning is prohibited even from applying makeup and adornment."