A New Outlook on Makeup

I fall in and out of love with makeup so damn often.

For the period of my life where I thought I could make it as a MUA on YouTube, I was obsessed with having the next best thing.

I adored anyone who reviewed mid-tier makeup and gave semi-disingenuous feedback - you know the ones. The girls who pretended their foundation was the equivalent to an insta filter, whilst neglecting to the their doting fans that they were using one anyway.

I fell out of love in the pandemic. I didn't see the point. No one was going to see me, and it was honestly a bit of a waste of product.

My skin is kinda oily, so my foundation tends to just melt off throughout the day. Was I heck gonna waste my £40 foundation on days where only I saw it.

I know so many said that not wearing makeup did wonders for their skin - to those girls, I just want to say that I am happy for you.

But thats not always a universal experience. No matter to amount, the product, the skin care routine, my skin was gonna do what it wanted to do.

Then I started teaching. At first, I wouldn’t dare leaving the house without a full face. I didn’t want to be the type of teacher I judged in school for not making an effort.

But, as with any high intensity job, I began to value my lie ins more and more, and started reducing the amount of product I used on a day to day business.

It’s during this time I found myself streamlining my daily look. I got very quick at it too: the record still stands at 6.5 minutes for a full face - eyeliner and all.

But not long after that, I was back at home with nowhere to go.

During this time, I started going to the gym a lot, and of course, that meant there was no chance I was putting makeup on.

I think I spent 2 months without applying a drop of foundation to my face. I started learning to appreciate my skin, though my skincare routine was non existent.

Since moving to London, I've started wearing a lot more makeup again.

I’ve also started caring about my skin and my eyelashes a lot more, and I am conscious of the impact my makeup is having on them.

Not just a physical impact though. I’m considering what wearing makeup does to my mental health too.

Sometimes I don’t recognise myself without eyeliner, and on those occasions, I get a little heartbroken.

Sometimes, I hate the little spots that tend to crop up on my chin, or the fact that my face goes bright red if I so much as look at a glass go wine.

Somedays I hate my natural face, and other days I am so grateful.

I’ve started going with what I feel is right for my skin and right for my mental health. Some days, I want to be more glam than others.

Earlier last week I worked a few night shifts. I made the active decision not to wear makeup, as I knew I wouldn’t bother taking it off when I got home.

Makeup is no longer a mask I am hiding behind, but something to make me feel glamorous and sexy.

I’m choosing to wear makeup when it makes me happy. I’m choosing to go bare faced when it makes me happy.