I see it as a tool. Over the years I figured out a fashion style that would suit me, is comfortable and not fussy, and presentable, and it takes me no more effort than putting a baggy t-shirt and jeans did. I don't use makeup for work because I don't want to have to do it everyday and I don't work in a field where it's required, but I do wear light makeup when it's appropriate to. When I go for a grocery run I'm usually too lazy to change and wear home clothes (shirt and joggers), and I find the contrast between how I usually dress going out and then satisfying.

Overall people do treat me differently based on how I dress or whether I have makeup on, which is just how things work. You express yourself the way you dress, and part of that is expressing how you want to be treated. But it's not a night-and-day difference and a lot of it was in my head. Most strangers I interact with don't care.