Day One Hundred and Eight: Bare

I am comfortable without makeup.

Okay, so I’ve talked before about how I wear makeup now even though I never used to. The other night I was talking to a coworker who was describing her roommate to me. She told me that this girl had to be dressed to the nines at all time and wouldn’t even show her face if there wasn’t makeup on it. I have a few friends from the South and I know this is a thing down there: women who are actually afraid of going anywhere without makeup on.

Now, I know there are a lot of girls like my roommate who wear their makeup a lot and wear it really well and like to get all pretty even just to go out during the day. They aren’t scared to be without makeup, they just like looking pretty and it’s part of who they are. But there were these girls I knew in high school who believed that going around even at school (an all girls’ school, for Christ’s sake) without makeup somehow made you less of a person.

They told me that when I didn’t wear makeup, I was ugly.

We can debate back and forth on the value of makeup and cosmetics all day. I know that it isn’t for the sake of turning someone ugly into someone pretty. I don’t believe that makeup can do that because these girls were ugly because their hearts were ugly. It had nothing to do with their face. I know that makeup is for enhancing beauty and that it makes you feel good.

But damn it if I’m not lazy.

Right now I’m sitting in a Starbucks without any makeup on with a spot on my nose that’s been there so long I think I’m going to call it Edward.

  And I feel just fine. There are plenty of girls here who are wearing makeup and plenty who are not. But when we smile at each other, we smile back. Because this isn’t freaking high school anymore and no one is judging me on my appearance.

It’s Starbucks….they’re judging me on my lack of Apple products.

Challenge to my Readers:

Be comfortable today. Whatever that means to you. Go makeup free and feel proud. Wear a pair of sweats to the gym instead of those tiny ass bike shorts that cannot feel good in spin class. Take a look around and try to find the people who look the most like they’re comfortable in their own skin. Emulate.