I Stopped Wearing Makeup—and I’ve Never Been More Confident in My Own Skin

I've never really been into makeup.

It was always something I had a lot of growing up, but I never actually used it all that often.

In middle school, I had a brief period where I would wake up early every morning to carefully apply my foundation, bronzer, eyeliner, eyeshadow, mascara—the works.

It became a routine, but one that I wasn't all too fond of—especially because it would usually all rub off by the end of first period. And whatever managed to remain was gone after P.E.

One morning I decided I wasn't going to do the full-face look anymore, mainly because I learned I could sleep in if I didn't do it, but also because it was a lot of work.

From then on, I didn't go all out with my makeup. I started wearing a tiny bit of foundation with a loose powder and some mascara for my every day look. I would still rock a bold lip or some glittery eyes when I would go out, however.

But recently I stopped wearing any semblance of makeup, because I was wearing it for all the wrong reasons.

I've always thought of makeup as an art form through which you can express yourself. It's actually insane looking at all of the intricate art makeup artists create on their face. My mind is constantly blown by the amazing work I see all over Instagram.

While these artists use makeup to show their talents to the world, I've always used it as a way to hide my imperfections. Masked behind foundation, powder and mascara were my dark circles, acne and insecurities.

I personally don't believe that's what makeup should be used for, so why was I covering my face with it in that way?

It was then that I realized I needed to stop wearing makeup until I truly learned to be fully confident in my natural face.

Last week was when this whole experience began. Honestly, the first day had me terrified. I thought everyone was going to call me out for looking tired, but guess what, no one did. I didn't hear a single comment from the peanut gallery. However, that didn't make me feel any more confident.

I've never been concerned with what others thought of me. The only opinion that really matters is my own, as far as my appearance goes.

As the days went on, not wearing any makeup started to scare me less and less. I also found myself being not so critical about my appearance. Heck, it even got me to care about my skin.

(via Shutterstock)

I would always take my makeup off with makeup remover, and that was pretty much all I did when it came to taking care of my skin. Definitely something I'm not proud of. Don't get me wrong, I'd use face masks and scrubs from time to time, but it wasn't a daily ritual.

Now I wash my face twice every day, apply moisturizer and toner in the mornings and treat myself to a face mask when I have the time. I'm finally treating my skin to the love it deserves.

I don't think I'd ever be this vigilant of a skincare routine if I hadn't chosen to give up wearing makeup.

It's been a little over a week since I started this experience, and I can safely say I'm almost 100% onboard with my fresh face.

I don't find myself looking in the mirror scrutinizing the one teeny, tiny pimple lurking on my face or the minor dark circles I've got going on. I can safely say, I'm happy and confident rocking the no-makeup look.

I've learned to be a lot nicer to myself during this whole process, too. I'm no longer fazed or discouraged by a pimple popping up out of nowhere. I just let it happen and move on with my day. It's a pimple, not the end of the world.

(Shaka Brah)

Not wearing any makeup isn't for everyone, and I'm definitely not trying to convince you all to follow in my footsteps. All I encourage you to think about is the reason why you're wearing makeup.

If you're wearing it because it makes you happy, then by all means, rock your fave beauty products. But if you're wearing it because you want to feel better about yourself or to impress others, you may want to go au naturale for a few days to learn a valuable lesson about self-love, much like I did.

 

Maybe you're not ready to give up wearing makeup completely, that's okay! But HERE are a few reasons why wearing less makeup can make you feel more beautiful than ever.