I’ve never been a girl for makeup. While my friends in middle school would start playing with lip gloss and eyeliner, I left my face blank. Makeup seemed like too much effort. It was irritating and something that I would sweat off in minutes at soccer practice.
As time progressed, so did the amount of makeup girls used. There was a sudden jump from the little bit of makeup parents allowed other girls I knew to use, to being covered in it. Foundation would rub off from their neck onto their sweatshirts; eyeshadow would cover their eyelids in a rainbow of colors; cheap, sticky lip gloss was replaced with bold lipsticks.
Never did I feel left out. I always had the mindset that, if people wanted to comment on my looks, that they’d comment on my true looks. The features I was born with were the ones I wanted to keep, not change.
But recently, I realized that makeup wasn’t truly a changer – it was an enhancer. Last month I was watching videos on Snapchat when I stumbled upon the story of James Charles. He was funny, entertaining, and wore makeup that made him stand out. Going to YouTube, I wanted to learn more about what he did. I discovered that his makeup wasn’t all about vibrancy, but that there were natural looks too.
Linked to his account was Jeffree Star, another makeup influencer who would rate products from various cosmetic lines and approve or disapprove their functionality. I became addicted to watching these videos. So much so that I decided I wanted to try some of the products myself.
This is how I found myself wandering around Ulta for over two hours looking at the different types of makeup that each brand seemed to offer. Eventually, I decided what I wanted and brought it back to my dorm room. Immediately, I played around with the different shades of eyeshadow and blush. For once I was excited to wear makeup!
Since then, I’ve been alternating between when I do and don’t wear makeup. The Morphe 25B palette has done wonders. It has varying shades of brown that look natural to my eye color that sometimes it doesn’t even look like I’m wearing it. But now I’ve learned that makeup doesn’t mean beauty, it means feeling confident and good about yourself. Most importantly, you don’t have to change how you look, but can enhance and embrace who you are.