The moment I was old enough to wear makeup felt like a right of passage into womanhood. The first items I bought that was approved by my mother was brown eyeliner and mascara. When I got home I tore into the packaging and started to apply the first swipes of makeup and I was hooked. I started wearing makeup in 2011 which was also when youtube began to really blow up with makeup influencers like Nicole Guerriero, Shaaanxo, Michelle Phan, Gena Marie, Marlena Stell, and so many more. With the beginning of the beauty community I became obsessed with makeup. I wanted to look as beautiful as the influencers in the videos. I wanted to buy all the products they were using and recommended. I used their tutorials to learn how to apply eyeliner, eyeshadow, eyebrows, foundation, concealer, and contour. I was feeling great about my newly acquired skills. I felt so feminine waking up in the morning before school having a skincare routine and makeup routine, but what became a hobby started to make me feel insecure about my natural face. Every-time I wiped the makeup off my face I felt so ugly, I didn't like seeing my natural skin, my short stumpy lashes that grew downwards, or my dark under-eyes. Going through puberty when the internet became more prominent and social media became more popular and mobile, the comparisons were constant. I began to overdue my makeup to hide my face. My wakeup call that my makeup was getting out of hand was that my skin began breaking out from barely letting my face breath. An embarrassing incident was when I hugged my high school boyfriend and my foundation and press powder was left on his black polo shirt. I realized I was wearing a mask. Instead of my confidence being boosted by makeup, it began to decrease. I was becoming more vain and unhappy. I decided that enough was enough. After 4 years of wearing makeup I decided to quit. I wanted my acne to go away and I wanted to learn how to love my natural face. When I went to college in 2016 I decided not to bring any makeup with me to campus. At college I learned to love my natural face and met my husband my freshman year. Throughout my 4 years of college my husband has only known and appreciated my natural face. Not to say I never wore makeup again. I would try on and off throughout my makeup detox to reincorporate it, but I was left feeling gross at the end of the day, like I was wearing a mask. I wasn't honoring how I truly looked. I was convinced that I may never may wear makeup again. Until now.
What Has Changed?
First and foremost the biggest change in my life was becoming a wife and mother. My husband always made me feel beautiful without makeup, but I felt like maybe I can elevate my looks a bit for my husband. Being a mom as been a big change because I felt I needed some form of self care to make me feel human. I began trying to implement a skincare routine which has helped, but I needed something more to brighten my face. I decided to attempt to use makeup again, but this time have a different mindset towards makeup. I set up some rules for my journey back to makeup.
Rules:
1. Start Slow
Something I wish I could've done when I was a teenager was to take it one product at a time. Instead of buying tons of makeup up at once and slathering it on, I would slowly focus on using one product/area of the face before deciding to move on to the next.
2. Emphasize My Natural Features
The next rule for my journey back to makeup was to have the makeup enhance my natural features. Rather than hiding behind layers of foundation and concealer, minimal makeup will allow my true self to shine through. Embracing my natural features will help to boost my self-confidence. When I started wearing makeup I was very insecure about my nose. I would contour my nose to make it slimmer all the time.Since I stopped wearing makeup I think it's beautiful and should be shown as is and not play optical illusions to make it look like another person's nose.
3. Don't Suffocate My Skin
Regularly caking my face with heavy makeup can have detrimental effects my skin. I don't want any clogged pores or breakouts and I only want to cover areas of my face when needed.
4. Less Time and Effort
When I am doing my beauty routine I only want it to take 5 minutes of my morning. I have a day to get through and I have places to be and people to take care of. I don't want to be held up in the bathroom doing makeup.
4. Be Sustainable
Having too much makeup is super wasteful and unnecessary. Limiting my products to max 5 items in a small makeup bag will do me well. By opting for fewer makeup products I am helping to contribute to reducing waste and my own carbon footprint.
5. Must Be Budget-Friendly
I am not here to break the bank. A drug store mascara can do just as well as a high-end one. Same goes for skin care and hair care as well. feeling beautiful should never be expensive and whoever says that is a liar.
6. Always Love Myself
I must remind myself I am still beautiful before I put my makeup on and when I take it off.
.png)
It feels great knowing that i'm growing and I'm learning to love myself in a new way by enhancing my beauty with makeup again. It's a slow and steady journey but worth it to feel and look my best and love myself in a whole new way.
Current Favorites!
.jpg)
.png)
Comments
Post a Comment