In a day and age where makeup is highly admired and advanced, my bare face tends to stand out in the crowd. I used to be in love with makeup, trying new palettes of shadows or blush, or experimenting with my eyeliner, and mascara was my go-to accessory. However, after tiring of wiping off the globs of makeup left on my face by the end of the day and dreading the half hour it took out of my morning to get ready, I decided to try being makeup free.
At first, it was weird… I looked at my face and felt naked. My eyes seemed smaller without my butterfly voluminous lashes. My cheeks seemed dull without my peach blush. My lips felt strange without my vanilla flavored lip-gloss. I spent the first few days seeing myself in the mirror and wondering who I was. I hadn’t realized just how much makeup was consuming my life and my self-confidence.
I decided to look at myself in the way that my high school art teacher, Ms. Perry, once explained to me while we were studying self-portraits. She would say “look at all the details, all the pieces that may seem to be imperfections. Each of these details: freckles, wrinkles by the eyes, scars… all of these and more are the details that make a person unique. Each imperfection is beautiful.” This has stuck with me, and it is something that I used to embrace fully. I would look at my “imperfections” and see the beauty behind them.
However, as I got older, and I worked less on self-care and knowing my self-worth, this message was hidden under the clothes I would wear and the makeup on my face. It was almost as if each day I piled this makeup on, a piece of me was withering away subconsciously. It wasn’t until recently that I had the realization that I was relying on makeup to feel beautiful. Without it, I felt ugly.
But, deep down I knew that I didn’t need it to feel beautiful, and Ms. Perry’s words began repeating in my head, reassuring me. I decided to embrace my imperfections. Any time I would begin thinking negatively about my appearance, I would remind myself that “imperfections are beautiful”. Through doing this, I have been looking at myself in a better light. I know that I can wear makeup if I choose to, but I don’t need it to feel beautiful.
At this point, I have been makeup-free for 5 months! And although I would normally wear makeup for special occasions, I haven’t felt the need to. I feel beautiful without it. Who knew that going makeup-free was going to be the breakthrough I needed for my confidence? I had not expected such positive things to come out of something so simple.
So… I challenge you to try going makeup free! Even if it is just for a few days or a few weeks, you may be surprised by the results. And remember, our “imperfections” are beautiful!