I get your thing about authors name dropping brand name stuff. If they are brands that people accept as the generalized name for a product like Oreos or Band-Aids, I'm okay with them. I've also wanted to pull my hair out when we have to read about a character's X brand bag and X brand shoes, etc like the brand was all the description needed. This is on the list of myriad of things I have trouble with for stories marketed towards younger people.
With your comment about no physical descriptions for teenage boys, I also want to throw in the descriptions about all teenage boys being a 6ft+ Adonis with no flaws. I grew up around three brothers and a host of their friends. Yeah, some were muscular hunks but all of them, even the "hot" ones were still going through awkward bodily changes as they grew into their adult bodies. My mom always called my brothers "appetites with legs" and my brothers were the tall, "hot" guys teenage girls often write about.
I am so NOT a visual person IRL that I sometimes don't have a clear picture of what the character looks like unless I have a reference photo! (Seriously. I get lost in my own neighborhood, mistake other people's cars for mine... it's a whole thing).
So it doesn't bother me a lot when there isn't much character description. But I've realized it is important to give people some idea of who you're talking about. I struggle with trying to make it organic, though, particularly when describing a first-person narrator.
I think it is ultimately left up to the author, reader and also the situation overall for the story. For me I went to university to get my writing degrees so there I learned to be more of a visual story teller for showing what happens in my novels instead of just telling about it. So when I write my for my novel on here I always have one of my writing books open and I also have several websites open as well so that when I come across a scene where I want to tell bring out the visuals in my story I have look up descriptive words, replace common words with better descriptive or action words.
For character descriptions to help me out I always try to be as detailed as possible just to provide a visual of what they look like to a certain degree. This helps bring out their personalities, styles, and overall presence they have in my story. I don't go into in depth detail down to the very center because that then leaves some room for the reader themselves to envision how these characters look and how they act.
Sometimes I find myself falling back on old habits of telling instead of showing but then when I look at my work during rewrites I find the places where I do that and then rework it so that it follows more showing than just telling.
For me I love writing detailed descriptions of my characters, for a second I thought you were calling me out ! Haha, but seriously my first chapter was basically a description of my character. I love describing everything, I feel like it's a given if you're writing a novel, just describe everything-- though it's not for everyone I know.
I don't mind it if theres no description for the character, but it makes it hard to empathize with them when I don't remember much about the character except their personality, and a few descriptions here and there, I end up forgetting the small details especially as the story goes on for a long time. I like to remind my readers over and over, though that's just me, if you want an example of what I write.
These are excerpts from my own novel.
"A boy can be seen sleeping in his bed peacefully. With chiseled features and a small button nose and platinum blonde hair that seemed to shine when sunlight hit it, he gave off an ethereal look akin to what many would believe would be an angel. His lips, although thin, were a deep rouge in color. His skin was fair as though he had never worked outside his entire life, but if one looked closely they would see the multitudes of freckles covering a lithe body."
Or for background I sometimes write it out like this:
"It was as big as the soldiers quarters if not bigger. The walls were a deep uninviting gray color; each wall looked as though it were man-made, carved to the utmost perfection with intricate designs in many of the stone. The colors on the ground contrasted heavily with the exterior of the building with the bright friendly flowers planted in front, in reds, yellows, and orange which served to distract visitors from the overwhelmingly haunted aura the building gave, as well as provide a welcome to new guests that decided to visit or enroll into the courses. The surrounding area was devoid of any vegetation, many of the trees were cut down to provide large areas of land where one could see laundry hanging on some of the clothes-line. It made one think if the people taking the courses lived there instead of it being a one time thing."
They're not the best, but they're what I enjoy writing. It's like drawing a picture inside a person's head, but when I read other people's work even the smallest amount of detail can make me imagine the wildest things even if for a short while.
I do the exact same thing, especially for common words...sometimes I would write 'good' as a descriptor. My teacher told me I had the grammar of an elementary schooler, it was embarrassing, so I go onto google to find words that fit the same as the ones I would usually use.
All of mine are drawn first, though I have comics I also have standard books too (wattpad back in the day
), I'll always draw them.
When describing them, I try to get to the point quick as I have a tendency to waffle, basic description, any standout features, their outfit if it looks out of place in any way. I never describe anyone as attractive/beautiful etc, it's too subjective for me and growing attraction to a character will be down to their actions, yet my works are often supernatural so there are shortcuts to this.
But what i like about the descriptions you shared is that you are making an effort to describe the world. I feel like I am in the room. In comparison to five paragraphs describing someone's icy blue orbs or expecting me to remember who a character is that was mentioned once ten pages before.
I write with very, very heavy description, but I spend next to no time describing characters, even if it's someone my pov character encounters. If I do describe characters, I prefer to focus a) on vibes, and b) to work elements of character throughout interactions, i.e. the classic of "Light slid across his dark hair like silk."
POV characters, however, they aren't getting anything but their own perception of themselves, and I like the idea of readers drawing images from the way the character acts/thinks. Although I did have to add a couple of pointers on my MC in Stains because someone thought my 22-yr old scrawny, dark-haired MC was a balding, chunky middle aged man 
I think it's because, despite writing a lot of description, I don't laundry list it. All of my description is active and "moving" and entwined with thoughts, so I don't have the place to sit and describe a character outside of my POV character's reaction to them.
e.g. Casper's first time seeing Cain, the love interest - nothing on features, but i think it gives a good sense of him
Then Casper saw him, and he couldn’t quite believe he’d managed to miss him the whole night.
Casper didn’t know what it was about expensive clothes that made them look expensive, but no matter that all he wore was black slacks and a loose white shirt, the scent of money just rolled off them. Perhaps it was the way the watch on his wrist hung real-gold heavy and posed like a work of art all at once. Perhaps it was just the way he wore them – even leant against the end of the bar nursing some of that watered-down whiskey, his posture was a billion dollars. Straight back, easy hips, loose shoulders.
The alcohol warmth lifted into Casper’s chest and spilt over into his groin.
Absolutely fucking gorgeous.
A crooked smile touched the stranger’s lips, one that failed entirely to hide that something breathless in his features as Casper met his gaze.
I find this interesting because I know people whose personalities are so different from the way they look. Case in point, a very slender woman I know, delicate actually, little nose, looks like she'd be blown away by the wind. She installed her own water heater, ripped up the floor in her new home and laid down the new one and knocked out one of the walls replacing it later all by herself. I once watched her get into a grease trap to clean it out. When she's cleaned up she's all "Ms Fashion" but her personality is different from her looks.
Someone told me I looked sweet and kind until they watched me kidney drop a handsy guy in a bar.
I have to think on this, I've never associated personality that closely with looks. Thank you! I love getting things to think about.
So sorry that happened to you. Teaching by embarrassment is so wrong. I have several teachers in my family, I can just hear them clenching their jaws.
I would prefer to describe my characters if I can, but I do have problems in inserting where it could be.
I think it's better to do it in a manner that seems natural based on the current situation. Like when the character looks in the mirror or something.
I would also like to try describing chacters based on others perspective, not their own - I just feel like the characters might feel egotistic if it's from their own POV and they describe themselves nicely (but that's just me, I think)
Personally as a reader, I'd like to get the gist of what they look like. I think it's the writer's duty to make me imagine the scenario and the overall feel of a certain scene or story.
Be careful with the 'mirror' approach 
I'm fairly positive that's considered a cliche way to describe a main character
@WillowTree - yeah it seems so, right? That's why I'm going to try some other ways to do it..
Do you have any suggestions?
I usually don't describe my MC 
The best advice I have is to sprinkle it in. Long hair? Someone shoving it out of their face gets the impression across. Overly tall? Mention how the 'look/glance down' at other characters, or how it was odd to have to 'look up' at someone for once. I'll see if I can find some resources to share who can give you better tips than I can
those are the types of descriptions I usually use. Except for one story where I had to describe him as other people were seeing him. (him being the character)
Generally, I describe characters when they are first introduced within the story and will spend no more than a paragraph on them. I will also reinforce some of their features throughout the story by mentioning them every so often.
This is with the exception of the main character. For protagonists, I will sprinkle their descriptions throughout the first two or three chapters.
When I started out NCC, I had much longer descriptions of my main characters. When I showed off the comic at an art gallery last January, I got the idea to make individual character posters, and I ended up trimming them down to simple paragraphs. I decided I liked the shorter versions better, as they didn't go into too much detail.
