“Are you sick….
because you look like you are…
or do you just not have on any make-up?”
I’ve noticed that within my peers, whenever a girl posts a selfie they’re super excited to announce that they either don’t have make up on, didn’t put a filter on it, or woke up flawless. Thanks Beyonce. I can’t pretend like I’ve never been one of these girls, but recently I began to wonder why we feel the need to broadcast what we “normally” look like. What is normal? Why can’t our make-up face be our normal face or must our bare-faced one be the only one? Why do we crave being told that we are still “pretty” even when we don’t have make-up on?
I began to wear make-up sometime in high school, but it was so minute that you could barely tell. Just a hint of eyeliner in my upper waterline, and a bit of mascara. It wasn’t until the last 3 years or so where I began to fill in my eyebrows, learned how to do a cat-eye and contoured my face with bronzer and highlighter. This is what made me feel “prettier” than I normally did. So then, I began to do a cat-eye regularly instead of only on special occasions. And of course, I couldn’t do a cat-eye without filling in my eyebrows as well or else I’d look washed-out, so this is where I began to basically have a full face of make-up practically everyday. I would skip the contouring and the foundation, but for those who don’t wear make-up daily would take one look at me upon meeting and their first impression would be just that: my made-up face. And that was the face they’d get accustomed to.
Just like any other person, I’d have days where I’m late or in a rush or just didn’t feel like wearing make-up. I’d arrive at work or school and be greeted by confused hellos and double-takes because people couldn’t figure out if it was me or not. Sometimes, when they couldn’t figure out why I looked so pale they would just ask me if I’m sick. It happened enough times for me to finally take a second and realize that I don’t want to look sick just because I don’t have make-up on. That’s like, basically an insult and therefore saying that you aren’t “pretty” without the made-up face. I wanted to stop depending on make-up so much in order to feel pretty, and so I began to change up my daily make-up regime to slowly reduce how much I used and transition the people who already knew me to get used to what I look like without it. Before, I refused to leave out the house without it but now, I could not careless. I learned that everyday you are meeting new people that have no clue how “pretty” you can be, and it’s not like anybodies’ first impression of you is gonna be like, mortified that you’re hideous. Those people don’t know you, and you have no clue how you look to someone upon first glance anyways because everyone’s opinions are so different. I began to look at make-up as a “wow” factor. Look regular everyday and then that one day for a specific reason, show up with make-up and people are blown away by how beautiful you are because they had no clue. Your beauty shouldn’t be dependent on the amount of make-up you wear, but it should just simply be enhanced by it.
Now, I probably only wear this stuff on weekends or when I’m doing things that require a large number of people to be looking at me. This is mainly because moments like these I know I’ll be getting photographed so it’s reasonable to want to have a made-up face. But I finally learned that it’s not reasonable to put on this whole new face just to go to the grocery store and nowhere else. I’ve noticed these days that when I meet people for the first time bare-faced, they still compliment me. Therefore, all my previous insecurities were just that. Insecurities. I was the only person making myself feel less pretty when there are people who didn’t think that at all. I’m not yet at the point where I’m comfortable enough to post a completely make-up-less face on social media, but I think I’m headed into the right direction into getting there.
Unruly Bodies 
Society definitely puts a lot of pressure on us to always “put our best foot forward”, and for females, it usually translates into us putting our best Face forward. There is pressure for us to consume all of these products, such as makeup and clothing, in order to feel beautiful and attractive to others- they profit off of our insecurities. The more insecure we feel, the more we’re going to buy to try and make ourselves feel whole.
The fact is, anyone can look “beautiful” with makeup. When we’re putting on makeup, we’re painting on a mask. This mask conceals our real beauty. It’s important for us to appreciate the features that we (and others) have naturally.
Everyone is struggling with insecurities, and we need to remind ourselves that people aren’t judging us as harshly as we think. As for the people who Do feel the need to judge us or point out our flaws, we shouldn’t concern ourselves with them. There will always be someone trying to put us down, in order to make themselves feel better.
The more we embrace who we are, and the less fucks we give, the happier we’ll be.
“Are you sick….
because you look like you are…
or do you just not have on any make-up?”
I really like your above quote and I can totally relate with that. I also started use make -up after High School, I like it and it is what made me feel “good” than I normally look. But as the years passes I realize that when some days I don’t wear make -up people ask me if I am sick. That always surprise me, that why I look sick without the make-up. I also totally agree with you when you said “for those who don’t wear make-up daily would take one look at me upon meeting and their first impression would be just that: my made-up face. And that was the face they’d get accustomed to”. That is really common and I think because people are not use to see us without make may be that’s why they feel that way. Then I reduce the amount of make-up that I used and on days when I don’t have any make -up on people still recognize me and now they don’t call me pale anymore. I think having make-up on or not is every individual or choice and I respect those who wear make-up and those who don’t. But in either case we always have so much pressure on by society and should a perfect female should look like.
I felt like I could really relate to this post. It’s amazing how fast I went from occasionally putting on make-up, to throwing on a ton of make-up every morning before I did practically anything. I used to feel totally confident without wearing make-up, and now whenever I forget I feel like I look awful! And it’s not like my face changed at all in that period of time. We’re all beautiful with and without it in my opinion.
This post really takes the question out of my head of why it is such a topic of a discussion when a female wheres makeup. I feel as though every one has decided to impose their personal opinions on when and how much makeup should be worn. It has become a conversational accessory when it should be up to the person. It is important to feel comfortable even when it comes to makeup but it should not be based on what other think. I like this post because it is familiar to me. I wear makeup mostly everyday but try to shoot for a more natural look as well.
I can completely relate to this. I wore only a little bit of makeup in high school and now I wear it everyday. I put some time into getting ready in the morning. I want to wear nice outfits and have pretty hair and makeup. I want to look presentable, take care of myself, and more importantly feel good about myself. However, there is a fine line between wanting to look good and needing to look good. There are days where I feel like I have to put makeup and an outfit on to go to the grocery store or the mall. And if I don’t I feel like people are looking at me funny, which of course, they aren’t. I think it is very important to find a balance and love yourself just as much without being all done up.