I became interested in makeup my sophomore year of high school. I thought makeup was only for mature women, and that people my age didn’t wear makeup, but I was wrong. I discovered that many of my friends started wearing makeup, and I was automatically intrigued by the prospect. I never wanted to cover up my skin because I never acknowledged that my skin had problems, despite the fact that I had acne and pimples covering my cheeks, but because I never really thought about them, I never felt the need to cover them.
Just to clarify, I didn’t start wearing makeup to cover up my acne-prone skin. It was the least of my worries in high school. I just loved the way eyeliner flicked on the side of your eye and eyeshadow could really brighten your face, and mascara can accentuate your eyelashes. I was so fascinated with all of these processes and things you could do to your face, that I knew I wanted to do it immediately.
The first thing I wore was eyeliner, and I was immediately frustrated by how hard it was to create a perfect wing. I would try it over and over again in the bathroom before school and almost always ended up wiping it off because it looked stupid. I watch tutorial after tutorial to try and figure out how I was gonna make it work. Earlier this year I started wearing foundation, and I went through stages of looking orange to looking pale, to finally finding the correct shade and undertones for me. I started wearing eyeshadow this year as well and I’ve been obsessed with hooded eye looks and bold lipsticks, and I’m still learning every day how to do new tricks.
But the more and more I got into makeup, the more I realized the imperfections in my school. I still have acne, but now with dark spots and hyperpigmentation on my face. I had never previously paid attention to skincare and I didn’t even know what a face mask was, but now that I was wearing makeup I had to start paying more attention to the skin underneath my makeup. So I learned about skin types, what pores were (because I didn’t know what the hell they were before), the importance of sunscreen, and all the things that are bad for your skin. I made a consistent skincare routine and my skin is getting better. The extra care that I was taking for my skin really taught me how to appreciate my skin and I can go outside with or without makeup and still feel confident.
Makeup taught me that taking care of yourself is important, especially your skin, and that self-care can be rather satisfying and rewarding at the same time.