Two of our lovely writers decided to challenge themselves and go a week without makeup to see not only they felt, but how other’s reacted as well:
Brittany Thomas:
I LOVE mascara. That is my go-to makeup item. Though I was excited to start this week, I was a bit nervous. The first day without makeup was touch and go. I woke up and did my normal morning routine and almost forgot! Putting makeup on when I get ready is just habit. I felt naked and weird the first day and I was worried I looked bad to people. I even got a few “Are you okay?” and “You look tired”’s. Many of my friends (boys, mostly) said they didn’t even notice when I said I wasn’t wearing makeup – go figure. After the first day, it got a lot easier. I had extra time in the morning to actually SIT and eat breakfast, I didn’t have to scrub my face every night to get the makeup off and I became more comfortable with a bare face. I will admit that I cheated only a little bit everyday and put concealer under the chronic, designer bags under my eyes. I used to think that I needed makeup to complete my outfit or look pretty, but I don’t think that anymore. I don’t care if I am or am not wearing makeup around certain people anymore. I realized that my friends shouldn’t care what I look like without makeup, and if they do then they aren’t really my friends.
At the end of “no makeup week”, I was speaking to one of my best guy friends and he told me, “you should just not wear makeup. You don’t need it, you look good.” While that was very sweet of him and he probably said it because he doesn’t know the difference between “that eyelash stuff” and “that dark stuff under your eye”; it made me think of the societal standards that has made women believe that they NEED makeup to feel pretty or noticed. That is simply not the case. Everyone is beautiful in the skin they were born in; no makeup needed.
Nici Cortes:
I love makeup, which is probably an understatement… I am actually obsessed with makeup. I probably spend more hours a week watching make-up videos on youtube than sleeping – not to mention more money on makeup than I even spend on food. I don’t think it’s unhealthy to love makeup, it’s an art form. Plus, when I walk out of the house with a killer face of makeup I feel fierce.So, I cannot honestly tell you what was going on in my head when I thought that not wearing makeup for a whole week would be a good idea. I think at the time I thought it would ultimately be refreshing and a time saver, but whatever I was thinking was so wrong! It was a week in hell. Although, there were some upsides; I got to sleep in an extra 30 minutes each morning and when I took my afternoon nap I didn’t have to worry about waking up with makeup smeared all over my face.
However, for me at least, the bad strongly outweighed the good. It started with subtle comments from people. “Are you okay, you look sick?”, “You look like you had a rough night”, or “Are you hungover?” I even found myself saying I was sick because that seemed better than just saying this sickly glow was my natural face. I tried to make the best out of the experience. I bought a ton on facial mask and made a spa day of the whole and I probably around three masks a day – which was fun but it still didn’t fill the void. The worst part was probably the weekend though. I worked a long shift in retail and went to the bar with no makeup on, it was terrifying really.
Somehow I made it through the week, and was reunited with my makeup on the 8th day. Sometimes I wish I could be a girl who doesn’t wear makeup, but I’m happy with my love for makeup. In no ways do I think wearing makeup makes me lesser than anyone who doesn’t wear makeup or vice versa, but It was an experience that’s for sure. Sometimes you have to say goodbye to something to realize how special it is to you.
