If someone asked you to forgo your precious mascara or eyeliner for a day, what would you say? Now what about if they asked you to post your makeup free photo on Facebook and Twitter for the whole world to see? Alexis Wolfer and her team over at The Beauty Bean, a free online magazine and weekly e-mail newsletter that promotes better body images, are doing just that. And Wolfer wants you to know that going makeup free isn’t as scary as it sounds.
“We’re showing and telling women that it’s ok not to wear makeup and you should feel beautiful the way you are. And that’s really what the Beauty Bean is all about—promot[ing] self-confidence and prevent[ing] eating disorders in all ways shapes and forms,” Wolfer told Chrissy’s Beauty School.
We’ve all heard of “Casual Fridays,” but Wolfer and her team are putting a spin on the term with their “Makeup Free Mondays,” a movement that launched last spring. In an effort to remind women of the importance of real and inner beauty, one makeup free day at a time, Wolfer is encouraging women to wear no or less makeup each Monday. But the movement goes beyond simply asking you to put down your mascara wands and your foundation brushes one day a week. Wolfer and her team are encouraging women to post their makeup free photos on Facebook and Twitter to show just how beautiful they are, and to donate unopened and unexpired makeup to a local women’s shelter, Dress for Success chapter or similar women’s program to help a woman in need find her own confidence.
While the thought of going makeup-free may seem scary at first, MFM is anything but a threatening movement, Wolfer says: “Makeup free Mondays is certainly not about being anti-makeup; it’s just a matter of appreciating it for what it is and not for what it isn’t, and keeping it real. And that doesn’t mean that I don’t love to play around with makeup and have a smoky eye or a bright red lip or whatever it might be, but to know that that doesn’t define me.”
Wolfer launched Makeup Free Mondays last spring and since then, the movement has gone international and has seen some of Hollywood’s and the modeling world’s A-listers join the cause. I chatted with her about the meaning behind Makeup Free Mondays, how charity plays into the movement, and why women always seem to apologize for not wearing makeup. Check out what she had to say!
Chrissy’s Beauty School: So how did the concept for Makeup Free Mondays come about?
Alexis Wolfer: It’s kind of funny. The entire mission of The Beauty Bean is all about real beauty and putting the focus back on inner beauty and wellness, and it always has been. And Makeup Free Mondays, funny enough, sort of happened organically and on its own.
Running a website…Mondays were always so crazy and we all found that we were coming to the office just not wearing makeup on Mondays because we were too busy. And we would be joking around on social media [about makeup free Mondays] and then we noticed that all these people were retweeting it and commenting and writing back and saying “Us too!” and we thought, “Wait, maybe we’ve got something here.” So it was completely accidental. And then as we started to think more about it and we started to figure out what Makeup Free Mondays means and meant and where it could go, then it really solidified from there.
CBS: So what has the experience of going makeup free been like so far?
AW: It [has been] really fascinating. I have my master’s in women’s studies and I love makeup and beauty and I work in that industry. But I’m not somebody who spends 20 minutes every morning putting makeup on. And I still found myself walking into meetings and [apologizing] and then I’d [say to myself] “Why am I apologizing? I’m not naked, I’m not wearing pajamas.” You know, I just happened not to have lipstick on or mascara or whatever it was.
And it just really got me thinking back to that moment that I think every girl has: Where you try on an older sister or a mother or an aunt’s lipstick and you look in the mirror and think “Wow this is so glamorous and fun but that doesn’t look like me.”
And at what point when we woke up in the morning at our most natural selves and we looked in the mirror and we didn’t have on our bronzer or our eyeliner or our mascara or lipstick or whatever it is, [did we] look in the mirror and say ‘This doesn’t look like me because I’m not wearing that makeup.”? And I thought that was really powerful and [wanted] to try to get people back to the point where they appreciate makeup for what it is but not for what it isn’t.
CBS: This concept of apologizing for not wearing makeup is truly fascinating because surely, we’ve all done it before. Why do think we all feel this need to apologize for not looking perfectly polished all the time?
AW: I think it’s how we were raised and I don’t just mean by our parents. I more mean by society and how our parents were raised. I think it’s just the cultural expectations of being put together. My parents are in their 60s and my mom wears lipstick every single day. First thing in the morning, she blow-dries her hair to go to her tennis lessons and at first when I was talking to [her and my dad] about Makeup Free Mondays I think that they were a little bit skeptical. But I’ve gotten my mom to do Makeup Free Mondays for two Mondays now and I think that’s probably my biggest accomplishment so far with regard to make Makeup Free Mondays.
CBS: Some women are pretty committed to their makeup, so how do you suggest they psyche themselves up for going makeup-free?
AW: One thing that’s really important to me with regards to Makeup Free Mondays is that [you don’t necessarily have to wear] no makeup. The Beauty Bean is about being confident and Makeup Free Mondays is 100% in line with that message. So if I woke up with a big huge pimple on my cheek on Monday, I’d probably put some concealer on. And that’s ok, it doesn’t mean that you’re failing or you’re doing anything wrong; it’s a matter of being confident.
Something else that I say to women who are used to wearing full face makeup every day but who kind of want to try Makeup Free Mondays but they’re scared is: “Just this Monday, don’t wear lipstick. See how it goes. Or don’t wear mascara and see how it goes. And just take one thing off and see how you feel and if it goes well maybe next week you take two things off. You go from there.”
But I understand, you know, there are Mondays when you wake up and you don’t look your best, and if you’re not going to feel confident walking out without makeup, then by all means put some makeup on. Because at the end of the day, The Beauty Bean and Makeup Free Mondays are all about promoting confidence and making you feel your best.
CBS: I love how Makeup Free Mondays goes beyond the simple act of foregoing makeup on Mondays; it also has a charitable aspect to it. How important was it to you that this movement include charity?
AW:I was raised to put charity first, always… My feeling with regard to charity in general is that you don’t need to be donating a million dollars to make a difference; that you can donate a lipstick and that does something. And so in creating the Beauty Bean, it was important that charity was involved from the beginning and it was very much the same with regard to Makeup Free Mondays; it was sort of a no-brainer.
And something that I say to women, too, is if you’re not wearing makeup on Mondays, arguably you’re going to wear 1/7 less makeup. So go out and buy a $4 mascara and donate it!
CBS: So where can women donate their makeup?
AW: My feeling is that it should be something that speaks to you and something that empowers women or girls in one way or another.
CBS: If you could pinpoint one end result for this movement, what would you like to see come of Makeup Free Mondays?
AW: I want women to understand and recognize their real beauty and I want that to spread…I hope that we start a conversation.
Get Involved with Makeup Free Mondays!
Here are a few ways you can join the movement:
1. Don’t wear makeup on Mondays (or use less for those who need to do this in baby steps).
2. Stop apologizing for not wearing makeup, no matter what day of the week it is.
3. Organize official Makeup Free Mondays at your school, place of employment or with your friends.
4. Encourage conversations about real beauty and better body image within your own families and friendships.
5. Share your photos with TheBeautyBean.com via Facebook and on Twitter @thebeautybean with the hash tag #makeupfreemondays
6. Donate unopened and unexpired makeup to your local women’s shelter, Dress for Success chapter or similar women’s program.