Two years ago, a friend of mine gave me the most difficult challenge of my life: to go makeup-free for the whole month of March. As a girl who had worn makeup just about every day since she turned 13, this was terrifying. I needed makeup! This thought stopped me–did I really need makeup? I knew that I wanted makeup, but did I need it? This was the point when I decided that what I needed was to do this challenge.
Why did I need to do this? I needed to do this because I realized that I felt uncomfortable with my own skin. I felt like I was only pretty when I wore makeup – that didn’t seem healthy to me. I wanted the challenge to help me come to love myself just as I was. It wouldn’t be easy but it would definitely be worth it.
When I first started the challenge, I decided that I couldn’t go completely makeup-free. I have really dark under eye circles and I didn’t want to look tired all the time so I continued to put on cover up under my eyes. Other than that, I tried not to use any makeup. It was HARD. Initially I wore my glasses every day to hide my lack of makeup. There were also some days I would wake up with a lot of zits on my face and I wasn’t able to do anything to cover them. I felt so self-conscious about my acne and bare eyelids. But one day, I wasn’t self-conscious anymore. No one else cared about if I wore makeup or not. The only person who cared was me. This allowed me to go completely makeup-free (goodbye cover up!) and to ditch the glasses for the final week of the challenge.
This is a picture that I took of myself on the first day of the challenge 2 years ago. I was so self-conscious of my acne when I posted this picture that day!
Was the challenge difficult? Yes. Was it worth it? Definitely. Although I did this challenge two years ago, it has stuck with me ever since. I’m no longer scared to go makeup-free. In the past 2 years I have come to wear less makeup and to go makeup-free a few days a week. But when I do wear makeup, I appreciate it for what it is – a way to enhance my natural beauty and not a way to make me beautiful.
So this year I am going to go makeup-free for March once again. I’d like for you to join me. If you can’t bring yourself to go completely makeup free, then just use a little less each day and make a goal to be makeup-free by the last day of the month. If you already don’t wear makeup, then I want you to give a new ending to this sentence every morning: “I love myself because…”
I believe that every woman is beautiful just the way she is. I hope that you will join me in this challenge and be able to find the beauty in yourself. This was a life-changing experience for me. This challenge is worth it. I promise.