I used to get up a half an hour earlier than I needed to every day to put on a full face of makeup. I'm talking about contour, highlight, the perfect winged eyeliner, all of it. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
When I fell into a deep depression halfway through my freshman year of college, things changed. Not only did I not have the energy to get up and put on that full face of makeup, but I didn't care enough about what other people might think about what I looked like.
Here's the deal: I constantly have bags under my eyes. I have zits on my forehead and chin. Sometimes old makeup gets stuck in my nose piercing. I have lots of red spots.
Despite all of that, I've gotten to a point in my life where I can look in the mirror and accept that as beautiful.
People say all the time that we're so caught up in societal standards, most attributed to those set by social media. We see makeup tutorials on YouTube, we see "Instafamous" girls with perfect skin and bodies and makeup. And those women (and men) are beautiful.
It can be terrifying to take it all off and just strip down to your natural body. Whether that be your face or your abdomen or your legs or anything in between. It's hard to accept the flaws. It's hard to make the decision to show up to a first date with no makeup on. It's hard to snapchat that guy you might like after you've washed your face and brushed your teeth and you're in your pajamas, ready for bed.
Sharing our true selves is terrifying.
But why not try the scary thing?
It took me months to be able to look at myself in the mirror and say that I was beautiful without my hair laying perfectly on my face or without my signature eyeliner look all done or with my stomach showing when I went out at night.
But it's possible. It's possible to look past the dark circles and the zits and the red spots and everything else.
Be brave enough to accept yourself first. Stop thinking about what everyone else is thinking. And think about you. And once you can be comfortable with you, that will radiate outside, where there is more than just you and the mirror you stare into every day in your bathroom.
Accepting yourself inspires a confidence that you may not recognize, but other people will.
So keep wearing your makeup, because you're beautiful. But be brave enough to take it off and tell yourself that person is beautiful too.
