I’ve gotten criticism from many people in my life about my obsession with makeup. Even people close to me often say that I don’t need makeup to look beautiful, or that my looks don’t matter. Anyone else tired of hearing that?
They don’t understand that I love myself and don’t need makeup to feel beautiful. A true sense of beauty really has nothing to do with what one looks like. To me, beauty is a sense of joy and wholeness within one’s self. In order to achieve this sort of beauty, I do things that make me feel satisfied and accomplished. For me, one of those things is makeup.
From middle school through freshman year of high school, I would not leave the house without mascara on because I thought it made me prettier. Then, during my hippie phase of tie-dye shirts and radical liberalism sophomore year, I stopped wearing mascara because I wanted to prove to myself that I could feel beautiful without it.
I didn’t wear any makeup for about six months. I focused on other things that made me feel truly beautiful, like painting, sewing, and listening to music that made me happy. Later on in this period of self-discovery, I realized that I wanted to go back to wearing makeup. Only this time, I didn’t see it as something I put on to look beautiful. I saw makeup as another outlet for my artistic self-expression. I started playing around with the cheap bits of makeup that I had and doing my makeup quickly became another form of art that made me feel accomplished. That is where I found true beauty in the art of makeup.
So here I am today with a drawer dedicated to my makeup collection ranging from high end to drugstore that I play around with whenever I get the chance. Do I look darn good at the end? Yes. Is that why I love makeup? No. I love going through the routine of it and discovering new techniques and using different colors. I see the true beauty in makeup as being a form of art that makes me feel happy. I feel beautiful when I do my makeup because I use my skill to create something that I like.
It may be difficult for many to understand that and I see where “but you don’t need makeup to feel beautiful!” comes from. Just know that I am not wearing it for anyone but myself! I actually do not care what you think about how I look at all because that is not how I value myself. What I do value is my creativity, my skills, and my passion.
Before you assume someone doesn’t think they are beautiful because he or she wears makeup, think about why you wear the clothes you do or why you hang those posters in your room or why you prefer the musicians you do. These things are all part of your unique mode of self-expression. Makeup is too.