Growing up, beauty was a big deal in my family. My mother would never dare step out of the house without her make-up carefully applied and her hair done to the nines. I was taught that a young lady should always look presentable and most fabulous at all times. When I began wearing make-up at thirteen years of age, it was encouraged and I was heavily influenced by other family members, who would never get caught dead without her “face” on. I developed a complex of always being “on”— that is, always being made-up, hair freshly done, and dressed well. All of the time. There were no “off” days.
Now at thirty-four years of age, I feel like it is a lot to burdened with. On top of all the other everyday things that I have to do: work, kids, school, chores, etc., I do not always want to be “on”— fully made up with immaculate hair and new outfit all of the time. There are times where I long to be fresh faced with my hair in the bun, dressed down but happily so. My ego oftentimes won’t even let me do this because I was brought up to think doing so is most unfabulous. But there are times where I must be real. Stripped down. Bare. Raw. Essentially me and nothing but.
I recorded a video blog on Friday night, and when I did so, I did it make-up less and in a t-shirt. If you’ve ever looked at any of my videos, you know that I am always made-up and dressed fairly well. I’ve never been a t-shirt and tennis shoes kind of girl, but the older I get, the more comfortable I am in my skin. Recording that video probably meant nothing to you guys watching, but it meant a lot to me as the person who recorded it sans make-up. I would’ve never been caught on camera before without my face on but it felt good to do so. It felt good to be imperfect, flaws and all. It’s okay to let your guard down and just let yourself go.
A year or so ago, I posted a pic of myself a few times on Twitter and Myspace (when it was cracking) without make-up, and there were a lot of people who said I should try that look more frequently. I am now to the point that even though I love make-up and trying new looks and being creative, I feel most fabulous in my own skin, bare and true for the world to see.
The older I get, the more comfortable I am being plain old me.
No make-up, no dressing up. Just me. And that is how I want to be loved.
How important is beauty to you? And how do you feel being fresh faced and bare to the world? Are you comfortable with the reflection that you see staring back at you in the mirror in nothing but your smile?
I have often wondered about the women who are always wearing makeup with not a hair out of place. I have often wondered about the women who proudly proclaim that they do not own a single pair of jeans.
I am not one of these women.
I attempted to experiment with makeup around the 8th grade, but I found it to be messy and it didn't make much sense to me. Why spend all that time covering your face – especially if there is nothing wrong with it.
Now that I am older, I realize there are too many things in life that are presented one way, but in reality, they are something completely different. I think this is why I attempt to keep my face bare. For me, it is symbolic of being honest and true.
What i wear is a deeper issue and it's more than I am willing to discuss right now.
This is quite interesting, even though my mom always looked glamorous I didn't pick that up from her. She always let me be and never made me feel like I had to be a certain way, God bless her soul. I wasn't into being "done up" all the time and I'm still not. Strangely enough, I'm now going through a stage where I want to look my best before I leave the house. I don't want to wear makeup daily but I want to put more effort into my appearance, something that's effortless though…crossing my fingers that it won't become a burden 🙂
Ooo, I love the makeup! For me, the purpose of wearing makeup is to accentuate the beauty of your features. Even though I can really get into a smokey eye with a fabulous lip gloss, I also appreciate a bare face that's been well cleansed and moisturized.
I love makeup and nail polish and all that stuff. I'm a girly girl. A lot of times I just don't have the time for a full fac e and just do with some tinted gloss. True beauty comes from within and I think I'm just as beautiful with a full face as I am just chillin, hair pulled back and my glasses on. It all depends on your personal comfort level and I find that the older I get the more at ease I am with the 'natural' me.
I only wear eye makeup, and I do feel beautiful without it. I will run to the grocery store/gas station without any on, but I won't go anywhere (except maybe the gas station) without putting on "real" clothes.
Anywhere else, even to just hang out with someone, I will put on my makeup. I admit, I like to look "put together" when I leave the house. I think some of it has to do with the fact that I work at home, and I don't really dress up or anything much…Great question!
sexy makeup for all time… !!
Sometimes I feel like make up, sometimes I don’t. My mom was always “decked to the nines” Talbot-style, but she only wore lipstick so the need for makeup was not handed down. Fast forward, some days I’m all eye makeup and powder, others I’m just gloss. I like both looks.