At this point, most of us have grown up surrounded by the beauty and makeup industry. We’ve grown up watching TV shows and movies with women wearing stunningly perfect makeup, and have watched countless YouTube videos learning how to replicate it. Makeup has become ingrained in a lot of our everyday routines and for some people leaving the house without makeup can feel like leaving without clothes on. We’ve been taught by society and by the current beauty standards that to be seen as presentable or even beautiful we need to wear a little makeup.
For me, personally, I didn’t even realize how much I relied on my daily makeup routine until this past week when I went to the Drew Barrymore Show in New York and it was a completely makeup-free set for the episode. When I first got the tickets I had no idea that it would be a makeup-free show, but a few weeks before the taping someone on the show’s team emailed me detailing the change. I remember feeling extremely nervous because I had barely gone to my classes without mascara on and now I would have to be on live TV. The idea that people could possibly see me when I didn’t look my best (in my opinion) was terrifying. I woke up that morning, looked at my face and I felt naked without at least my eyebrows and lashes done.
What I don’t understand is how I got to this point. Growing up in elementary and middle school, I hated makeup and I felt so beautiful with or without it. How much have I changed that now I couldn’t go to the grocery store without swiping some mascara or blush on?
I’ll admit even after experiencing the Drew Barrymore Show without makeup, I still didn’t feel like myself without my makeup. Because of this, I decided to challenge myself to wear no makeup for the next two days, including the one night I went out. Going without makeup to class was rough, and I couldn’t stop overthinking, and my insecurities were back worse than ever. However, once I went to a couple more classes and began to realize no one was judging me, staring, or even caring about my lack of makeup, I began to relax.
I can’t quite believe how much I’ve allowed society to dictate how I should feel if I decide to go out bare-faced. I want to feel confident and beautiful whether or not I decide to wear makeup and I don’t believe I’m the only one that feels that way. Feeling beautiful without makeup won’t happen overnight and it’s a long process of learning to love yourself… but it’s incredibly worth the work. Even though I struggled with my insecurities and a slight drop in self-confidence, I do think I’ll be doing more makeup-free days in the future. I challenge you to try it out once in a while because even though it can be hard some days it’s so freeing.