Some people believe that women wear makeup for men. They sometimes even claim that we are “lying” to them, or that it’s “false advertisement.” Others say that only women with low self esteem feel the need to cover their faces with makeup. I completely disagree.
If you’ve seen my Makeup Monday posts before, you know that I love to beat my face for the gods. I think I was a drag queen in another life. Some people think I’m trying to hide something, but I actually use it to show people who I am.
For me, the point of makeup is to enhance what you already have. My contour enhances my bone structure. Winged eyeliner enhances the shape of my eyes. Lipstick enhances the size and shape of my lips.
Makeup doesn’t only enhance physical attributes: it can also be a physical manifestation of your personality. My crazy false eyelashes add a touch of whimsy to my face. Loud lipstick brings attention to the important and intelligent words that come out of my mouth. My sharp eyeliner wings represent my inner badass, who will cut down anyone who stands between me and my dreams. Glittery eyeshadow helps me leave a little sparkle on everything I touch.
I have used makeup to cover up low self esteem before. I thought I needed it to blend in with the “prettier” girls. Now, however, I use it, because I am confident. I use it to stand out. While I love my face with or without makeup, I use it to reveal my personality to others. It does not cover up who I am. It is the very personal art that I display on my face for the world to see. To me, makeup isn’t oppressive: it’s empowering. I wear makeup, because I know that I deserve to stand out.
The only reason I used to wear makeup was because I thought I had to, I thought it made me look better, and I did have low self esteem. I don’t wear it anymore because I just don’t give a crap. I am not saying I like to look sloppy. I do my hair. I really don’t miss much about it, I could never match my base to my face right, I had to get up early, which was the worst, and then I feel like I wasted so much money, I could have spent that on food! lol. I do sometimes miss the crazy/tacky colors of eyeshadow, and I love glitter everything. I still do wear glitter sometimes though and very rarely lip gloss. I also miss having eyelashes, longer looking lashes, but I just don’t care anymore. I just get over.
I have other things I would rather be consumed with. And yes I was that girl in highschool that did those crazy colors! I mean bluest of the blue eyeshadow. I tried to do rainbows on my eyes. Oh, I am sure people made fun of me, but I didn’t care back then. I honestly cared more about what people thought of me after high school. kind of weird.
I totally get that! When I was in high school, I thought I needed makeup, too. I had low self esteem, and I desperately wanted to be one of the cool, pretty girls. The way I see it, if you love it, go crazy! If you don’t love it, leave it! Several days a week, I just don’t feel like doing my makeup, so I go out with a naked face, no lashes, and my hair in a messy bun. It’s all about what you enjoy, and what you’re comfortable with. I have to say, crazy colors are super fun! And glitter makes everything better. I’ve totally rocked rainbow eyes before, too. They’re super fun! 🙂
I hate it when people say “you’re married, you don’t need to wear make-up anymore!” I REALLY HATE IT! The last person to care about my make up is my husband actually. He has admitted to liking my hair when I straighten it, which I do every once in a while, but I honestly prefer my hair curled, so, I do that way more often 😀 I started experimenting with make-up in my room, with the door shut, back when I was a teenager, and I would enjoy it just for myself. I would take a lot of pictures that have mostly been seen only by me. I would choose a theme, and go with it. Sometimes I’d go for “goth look” or “elegant”, but sometimes it was just “butterflies” or “running away with the circus!”.
I wear simple, every-day make-up when I go to work or have to leave the house for some reason, and don’t wear anything if I stay home (though I always follow a skincare routine!). And if I have a dinner or a party? That’s when I love going all way out! My husband asks me why I spend 2 hours on my face for a 40 minutes event, but I tell him that it’s because I love having an excuse to bring out my brushes, and palettes, and lip colors.
Make up is fun, it’s a great (though sometime a bit expensive) hobby to have 🙂 Thanks for rocking your make-up and sharing to the world that it’s not for or because of them! It’s for ourselves 😉
UGH! That’s super annoying! So many people fail to realize that we don’t wear makeup to impress men. You do you girl! I still sit in my room and play with my makeup. That’s how I come up with most of my Makeup Monday posts! 🙂
Such a great post! I’m totally with you. For me, makeup can be whatever you want it to be , in that (like you said) we can wear it to show our confidence or to hide our insecurities, and neither of these things should be seen as negative. We shouldn’t shame anyone for deciding to wear or not wear makeup, but instead celebrate that she is living her authentic self and expressing her personality. Love it!
Thank you so much, dear! I wish more people would realize this. We need to spend more time raising each other up, instead of tearing each other down.