As a child, I was never
a girly girl. I liked playing football and climbing trees and
generally just hanging around with the boys. My own species irritated
me a bit – they enjoyed playing with Barbies and picking flowers
and cried far too easily.
It wasn't until I was a
young teenager that I started noticing boys for more than just their
ability to kick a ball into a net (it was probably Take That and
their sexy dance routines who awakened my teenage urges tbh). Then I
got into make-up and feminine clothes and boybands, and therefore had
more in common with my female friends than my male ones. In my teens
and early twenties I wore lots of make-up, skirts and heels and
actually became a girly girl. Hell, I even started liking the colour
pink!
However, I seem to have
come full circle and I'm not really into all that fuss anymore.
Nowadays, my everyday make-up routine consists of a swoosh of
mascara, a flick of eyeliner and a little dab of concealer under my
eyes, just so I don't look tired. I also carry a chapstick everywhere
with me as I often get dry lips, but that's about it. I have no idea
how to contour and I don't even know what strobing is.
I know that many women
will disagree with what I'm about to write, but here are my personal
reasons for choosing not to wear make-up:
1. I'm lazy.
This has to be the number one reason – I simply can't be bothered
to spend more than ten minutes a day on my face. I'll wash it,
moisturise and then apply the eye make-up mentioned above. I'd much
rather spend an extra half hour in bed (how I love my bed) than
staring at myself in a mirror. When I used to wear more make-up, I'd
also be too lazy to remove it and would end up going to sleep in it
(the horror!) causing bad skin, minging pillows and waking up looking
like the Bride of Frankenstein with mascara all down my face.
2. I don't need it.
Ok, calm down: I know that sounds really conceited, but that's
honestly not the way I mean it. I'm definitely not one of those
annoyingly beautiful girls who can roll out of bed looking stunning
and would even look amazing wearing a bin bag (as much as I wish I
was). What I mean is that I have clear skin, so I don't really
see the need to wear foundation or powder, and I can only wear
minimal make-up or I look ridiculous – so it doesn't make that much
difference to my appearance anyway. Some chicks can wear heavy
make-up and get away with it; I would legit look like a clown.
3. I won't let
society tell me what to do. Unfortunately we live in a society
which places huge emphasis on physical appearance, and many people
(especially women) end up defining themselves by how many likes they
get on their Instagram selfie or how many guys ask them out. I'd
rather be respected for my intelligence or the way I treat others. In
my opinion, it's none of my business whether a guy finds me
attractive or not – I wasn't put on this earth for your viewing
pleasure, dude! (Although saying that, I don't think males even
notice whether or not you're wearing a lot of make-up. The few
comments I've ever received have all been from females. A man has
never come up to me and said, "Why don't you wear more make-up?"
or "Ooh look at you, what's the occasion?" when I've actually
been wearing more than usual just because I felt like it that day).
4. I'm married.
This may sound like an odd reason and may even seem to contradict
what I just said about not wearing make-up so men find me more
attractive, but I definitely wore more make-up when I was single than
I do now. I don't know whether this was a subconscious thing or not,
but now I'm settled I just don't feel the need to do it anymore. Plus
my husband isn't keen on heavy make-up – probably because he
doesn't fancy living with a clown (see point 2) – and while this
does make me feel better about my decision not to wear it, if he was
like "I want you to wear more make-up" I'd be like "Erm...NO."
5. I'm more
confident now. Following on from number 4, another reason I wore
more make-up when I was younger was to feel better about myself. If I
had a job interview, a date, a meeting or just felt extra insecure
that day, I'd put on a little extra make-up. I suppose I used it as a
kind of safety net or security blanket because it definitely made me
feel more confident. Now I don't have to worry about interviews and
dates (as I have a career and a husband) and being a little older I have more confidence in myself and
my abilities so I don't feel the need to hide behind that mask
anymore.
6. I work out a lot.
Another strange reason? You decide. I know that many women who
exercise also enjoy wearing make-up. But I could never wear a faceful
of slap to the gym – that's fine if you're just there to pose, but
by the end of my intense workouts people would think a zombie was
about to attack them. Also after the gym I often have somewhere to be, so
a quick shower and change of clothes is usually all I've got time for. I don't want to have to worry about re-applying my face every time I go out in public.
I'm interested to
hear your reactions to this – let me know your reasons for why you
do or don't wear make-up in the comments. I know a lot of people
won't agree with me so I can't wait to hear your views!
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Image courtesy of nuttakit at freedigitalphotos.net