I think I am safe to say that I am among millions of girls, even women, who wear make up on a daily basis…correct? The list of makeup products available on our shelves today is almost endless! You have foundation, powder, mascara, eye shadow, bronzer, lipstick, lip liner, eyeliner, blush, primer, concealer, brow gel and the list goes on and on and on and on! When I wake up in the morning and commence my morning regime including breakfast, brushing my teeth, getting dressed, doing my hair, and finally I begin to put my make up on.
The other morning I found myself looking in the mirror and thinking, what is the reasoning behind all this makeup madness?
We go through so much effort everyday applying products to our face and it becomes like clockwork; a habit. This thought brought me back to being a little girl. I remembered watching my Mum and my Aunties put their makeup on and I used to think “I cannot wait to get my hands on all this stuff and be able to look as pretty as them!” and I can bet almost everyone reading this would have an embarrassing baby photo of themselves smearing their Mum’s lipstick all over their face! I used to love it when my Mum would let me play dress ups and let me attempt my own makeup, even if it did look terrible it made me feel glamorous: like a princess. Then I thought about primary school and how I used to come home from school looking like a dag! Messy hair, dirty clothes and face, but always with a big smile! As long as I was having fun, image was not a concern of mine.
And then of course I reached high school. Automatically I noticed a different image was being portrayed by my school friends. Their hair began to be neater and styled differently every day, suddenly girls began wearing makeup, and they would reapply lip gloss numerous times a day, as well as check their image in the mirror during lunch time. Of course, I began to feel like this was normal. I was surrounded by a behaviour that I thought was needed and I caught the makeup buzz! I must admit it is a nice feeling to look in the mirror with nicely applied makeup and feel good about yourself, and it was nice to feel feminine and pampered. I loved it.
Let me tell you ladies that although we love makeup and it helps us to feel better about our appearance in some cases, it is what lies underneath that matters. Every single one of us is beautiful, with or without the help of modern day beauty products.
Yes we spend money on products to feel ladylike and nicely presented, but we are all naturally unique in our own image and we should be proud to embrace it! If you wake up one morning and find yourself looking in the mirror like I did thinking “Why am I going through all this effort?,” just take a moment to look at yourself makeup-less and treasure the wonderful woman you see. Don’t feel afraid to spend the day with no makeup on, be yourself and show everyone how confident you are with bare beauty!
Some days now I don’t even bother putting makeup on and I love it! Believe me it saves a lot of time, effort and money! But of course, I still wake up majority of days and pull out my beautiful collection of makeup and spend time applying it just the way I like to. Before I go I will say you are all beautiful inside and out, regardless of what someone else tells you! Don’t succumb to peer pressure and feel free to let your natural beauty shine! Enjoy ladies and don’t be afraid swim against the current every once in a while.
Jess
What do you think?
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