It started out with an innocent attempt at procrastination. The clock read 8:30PM—that deadly hour after eating dinner when you feel content enough to sleep but you can’t yet justify jumping under the covers.
I had been checking my AOL email account (yes, I am stuck in the dinosaur age) when I ran across a video clip entitled, “Paulina Porzikova Takes Off Her Makeup!” Of course, like any other collegiette with time to spare (or not), I clicked on the link. Models without makeup? Yeah right. That stuff is always photo-shopped, or cleverly edited to maintain the supermodel’s fashion-integrity.
Before I knew it, that 2:43 min video had me in tears. I held the laptop in my lap, and wiped the pesky buggers off my face. The source of my teardom?
Seeing the “everyday” women take theirs off too. The clip starts with Paulina speaking about her decision to take off her makeup on live t.v. after “never be[ing] shot without makeup before.” But the cameras quickly pan to three other women sitting next to her. And let me tell you—those women certainly looked more petrified to bare their faces than our friend the supermodel.
What gives? You would think that the woman whose career sort-of depends on her face would be more terrified to be exposed, but it was the everyday women on the show who held that status. I’ve put the link here, because, well, you need to see this.
Even if you don’t feel chained to your foundation brush, even if you could gladly wake-up barefaced next to your boyfriend (as in my case), it’s hard not to sympathize with these ladies. Who hasn’t felt insecure with the way they look? Or that they don’t fit in with the ‘natural’ beauty shown in countless magazines? Or that no matter how hard they try, they will never be as beautiful as “that girl?”
Well. Well. I for one am taking a stand against all this self-hate. Next time you have that moment where you look at yourself in the mirror, and eyeball that nose-bump, or softish-not-six-pack-but-still-feminine-belly, or small ears, or whatever with a distaste in your mouth, JUST STOP. Stop and say, “I’m beautiful.”
You don’t have to be confined by your mascara. You can own your natural self, and not let what anyone else thinks make you unhappy with the way you look.
Look at Paulina Porzikova. Better yet, look at those ladies next to her. The one who can’t go to her mailbox without makeup. The one who didn’t let her husband of fifteen years see her sans maquillage. And they just took the leap and did it. Sometimes you just have to take the leap and do it.
And boy did they look fresh-faced. Remarkable just how much makeup ages you.
I’ve been inspired. Now, my goal is to use way less makeup for things like class and lounging around. Save the glamour for a night on the town. Believe me, my pores are already thanking me.
Even if you don’t quite have the courage to put down the lipstain, there are other ways you can’t flout a “standard of beauty” and just embrace your own.
Take the lovely Italian model Rafaella Fico, pictured here. Most people would be terrified by the idea of walking down the runway in a bikini (ahem #flourescentlights not so good for the #nooksandcrannies I’d rather keep to myself.) This girl rocks a bikini six months pregnant. Not exactly traditional maternity wear. After my initial thought (tripping in those heels would be a d-i-s-a-s-t-e-r!) I couldn’t help but admire her courage.
Collegiettes, if all these lovely women don’t inspire you to love your own sexy, I don’t know what can. It may be the wrong time of season for bikinis, but it’s never the wrong time to start loving yourself. And what better time to do so than the stead of all these supermodels?
If a pregnant Rafaella can be a sexpot in a teeny-weeny yellow bikini, then I think I can rock a little bare-faced freshness in scarf weather. Just balm-it and go!