Does anyone remember those flavored Lip Smackers chapsticks, or even those brightly colored eye shadow and glittery lip-gloss kits from back in the day? Those were some of my favorite things to play with. From the start of third grade, I remember my best friend and I going through her mother’s old makeup. This was the first time I was exposed to real cosmetics. However, I didn’t wear makeup in elementary school, or even the beginning of my middle school days. I only started wearing make up in 7th grade. I’m still not sure why I started wearing makeup. Maybe it was because I knew it existed and it was what older people wear, or maybe because my friend’s mom sold Mary Kay products. Whatever the reason, my go to product was mascara.
My love of makeup grew as I progressed through high school. I started watching YouTube videos of what the best makeup products were for my skin tone and my eye shape. Sometimes I would stay up in bed watching these videos until I fell asleep. I never really got into a skin care routine, as my skin was pretty clear throughout my high school days, however, I began adding foundation, blush, and bronzer (might I add all over my face), eyeliner, and eye shadow to my makeup routine As a result, it took a lot longer for me to get ready and I would find myself getting up early just to apply makeup before school!
Before college, my close friends and my boyfriend were the only ones that saw me without makeup. Being in college, my idea of makeup has changed. I attend Saint Mary’s College, an all women’s catholic college in Notre Dame, IN. While I still love to experiment and wear makeup, I found myself wearing less and less as my years at Saint Mary’s continued. Most of the women at my college don’t feel the need to wear makeup to class. This as a lot different than my experiences at a coed high school, and I liked it. Being pressured to get up early and put on makeup was not my cup of tea anymore. I preferred to sleep in, wake up, go to class, and go to practice. My purpose to come to college was to learn, not worry about my physical appearance in the classroom. Taking makeup out of my routine just make my life easier. I didn’t have to carry around makeup wipes before practice like I did in high school. I began to feel more confident about people seeing me without makeup.
While I still love my mascara, my idea of makeup and makeup application has changed as I have gotten older. The only time I do wear makeup is when I go out. Doing makeup as part of my routine to get ready is something that I look forward to. I realize that I only put on makeup and dress up for myself. I like to wear things that make me feel confident about who I am. It also helps that I am in a committed relationship so I feel as though I’m not trying to impress anyone anymore. My boyfriend and my friends love me for who I am, with or without makeup on. From attending an all women’s college, I feel as though I have become an advocate for natural beauty. I came to the understanding that wearing makeup is not something I do to cover up blemishes or to impress people, but something I do for myself as a way to have fun and keep the love for makeup that started in third grade alive.