I remember my first encounters with makeup happening right before middle school. I still know the feeling i had when I was rushing through my mom's makeup bag when she wasn't home, frantically brushing glittery bronzer all over my face, swiping her deep brown lipstick onto my lips (maybe coloring a bit out of the lines), and drawing the closest thing to a wing of eyeliner onto somewhere that was almost my eyelid, but probably was more like my brow bone. From there on, my obsession with makeup grew at a rapid pace. I spent my 7th grade Saturday afternoons scavenging up and down the isles of my local CVS for hours, just to decide on buying a bright pink $1 Wet n Wild lipstick that I would never actually wear.
During middle school, I found myself watching beauty videos on youtube and I would follow along to the videos, trying new makeup looks. As I grew a bit more mature, I would put together all of my money that my parents gave me for snack stands at basketball tournaments that I never actually used, and buy a good amount of drugstore makeup. After practicing on myself and more or less forcing my younger sisters into being my test subjects, I would say I had a niche for doing makeup.
I am happy to say that I never fell down the hole that many girls do where they feel completely insecure without a full face of makeup. I attribute this to playing sports and going to an all girls high school. When I was playing sports, I didn't care what I looked like--I only cared about how I performed. Also not having the pressure of impressing anyone at school gave me the confidence to rock my bare face everyday. However, this does not mean that I didn't feel prettier with makeup on.
I had been working at a restaurant since I was 15 years old and had worn makeup every single shift up until I was 17. I remember one day I was tired and didn't feeling like wearing anything, so I challenged myself to not wear an ounce of makeup on my face. Of course, people noticed and said things to me like, "you look different". Even though I was uncomfortable at first, I soon realized that nobody really cared whether or not I wore makeup because it didn't change who I was as a worker. If anything, it was liberating when I didn't have to go to the bathroom every hour to check on how I looked--I was able to focus on what actually mattered... work!
Nowadays, I still wear makeup from time to time, but I look at it differently: instead of using it as a mask to hide behind, I use it to highlight my natural facial features. I love using very natural looking products that make me look fresh and awake without weighing down my entire face. I never lost my love for makeup, now it just manifests differently in my life.
Whenever I am getting ready and decide to wear makeup, my steps are very short and minimal, but I think the outcome is better than when I would sit down for 1.5 hours, trying to transform my face. I now skip the foundation and concealer all together, add my favorite combination of bronzer and highlighter, swipe on some mascara, and finish everything off with a glossy lip. I can walk out the door in 10 minutes, knowing I still look true to myself, just enhancing what's already there.
If you are feeling weighed down by the pressure of feeling like you are constantly needing to pack on a full face before leaving the house, I have a couple of tricks for you to love the skin your in, but still put your love for makeup to use:
#1. Look at yourself in the mirror and notice something you love/want to accentuate on your face.
Maybe you have super thick eyebrows, long lashes, bright blue eyes, round cheeks, full lips---work your new makeup routine around that feature to really make your unique-self pop! I personally always have some kind of product on my lips. I prefer a clear gloss, even if it's just throwing on some Aquaphor and calling it a day, just adding that small touch makes such a difference to me. I also have relatively chubby cheeks, so when I add my highlighter to the high points of my cheeks, it adds a really pretty glow and structure to my face without me trying to carve out cheekbones that definitely aren't there.
#2. Less is always more
Don't spend time trying to pile on the foundation to cover up all of your natural freckles or any acne you may have at the moment. If you find you are trying to cover up your skin, try to emphasize changing your skincare routine so you don't feel the need to add tons of foundation. Use small amounts of product, gradually building up. By using too much product, it can start to look a bit over the top, which isn't the exact look we are going for.
#3 Challenge yourself to go out somewhere with no makeup on.
Just like I felt liberated in wearing no makeup to my hostess job (where the first thing a person saw when they walked into a restaurant was me), I believe owning your own beauty is just as powerful as wearing a full face of makeup. After this experience, I bet you will feel more empowered and confident to rock your bare face on any occasion!