"Take her to a swimming pool on the first date to see if she's actually pretty," was a joke used all over social media platforms for a majority of the last couple years by makeup shaming scumbags. The idea behind this offensive line is that when someone takes the person they are interested in dating out on a first date, the couple should make a trip to their local swimming pool to see if any makeup happens to drip off. In other words, a sexist should take their date, who most likely spent their valuable time applying makeup for said sexist, to a place they've planned to humiliate and reveal their date's natural appearance. In my opinion, any man or woman who jokes about planning something as demeaning as this, or truly believes that the true measure of someone's beauty comes from a bare face, is ugly anyways and frankly, not worth anyone's time.
In today's society, there is lots of bad connotation around the term "makeup." Some people seem to think that the only use of makeup is to cover up the flaws on someone's face, and that it's hard to believe that some people wear makeup because it generally brings them joy. Wow! That is truly amazing! Somebody is doing something for their own, personal enjoyment instead of desperately trying to conform to society's beauty expectations!
The minimization of makeup as a hobby is quite offensive. Until you've tried it yourself and understand how hard it is to make your eyebrows perfect or your eyeliner wings even, you can't insult makeup lovers. The amount of precision and practice it takes to flawlessly apply makeup is praiseworthy. The confidence level it takes to pull off some makeup styles is wonderful as well. Even a sliver of confidence can go a long way to help quiet someone's insecurities and make them feel fierce and beautiful.
This article promoting makeup is not to say that anyone who prefers a natural look is missing out, it is to say that we should appreciate and accept that it is no one's business but your own how you choose to present yourself to the world. We all need to work a little harder to love each other and stop looking for things to pick on that are as shallow as someone's external features or the way they choose to look. You want to wear lots of makeup in bright colors? Awesome! You prefer to stick to nudes and neutral tones? Great! You feel more confident natural? Cool! None of these choices are better than the other, they're all just different.
Anyway you prefer your face, stick to it because it is YOUR face. Don't let anybody's opinions get in the way of who you want to be. Don't worry you look great, and anybody who doesn't think so can take my Morphe M441 brush and stick it where the sun doesn't shine.
(Also, you try and ruin my makeup at a swimming pool- there's a little thing called waterproof buddy).
