Why do we wear makeup?

I don’t wear makeup much. I am just not really a makeup girl. For me, I am aware that whilst my habit of eating too much salt produces black bags, I also have near perfect skin. Makeup neither completes me nor feels necessary, and I take pleasure in only wearing makeup when I feel I want to. Makeup, to me, is just great fun!

Lime Crime Bright and Colourful Makeup

 (Image from the wonderful and bright Doe Deere, making makeup fun!)

Don’t get me wrong, I am not anti-makeup in any way shape or form. I, in fact, love the vibrant shades, the subtle blending, sweeps of dark liner and rosebud lips. But rather than having this every day (and losing precious sleep time!), I choose to only where it when I want to or when it is needed, and am happy to go bare on the days in-between.

At work this week, however, I experienced something upsetting. On a day without makeup I trotted pertly into the office, where a certain member enquired in a concerned fashion about my health. “Are you OK?! Just you have really big black bags under your eyes!”. I stumbled to find an answer, before explaining that no, I was not ill, I just didn’t feel the need to cover my flaws with makeup and that the bags were due to too much salt, which is my form of heroin!

So if girls are being told they look “wrong” or “ill” when they don’t wear makeup, where does that leave us?

Does that mean that those with perceived flaws should coat themselves in makeup day and night, even if they don’t want to? Does that mean the joys of a bright eyeliner, a sweep of spangly glitter or a completely different work of art on your face should be superceded by cosmetic work to correct faces, to fix flaws and to make people look presentable? Does it ruin the fun of makeup, and make it turn from something glorious, feminist and fun and into something designed purely to please the opposite sex, to confirm to societal pressures?

I have no doubt that part of all of these contribute to why we girls feel the need or the desire to wear makeup. And I think that should change. We should wear makeup because it is fun, enjoyable, because it makes us feel better about ourselves, or a dull day, or a questionable outfit. It should be something we choose to wear, not something we need, and definitely not something we have to wear.

Choice, people! It is all about choice!

Do you ever feel pressured to wear makeup or clothes that you don’t necessarily want to? What do you do about it?

About these ads