An art teacher once told me that when drawing a portrait of someone’s face, you always want to start with the skeleton and work from there; first focusing on the bone structure and shape of the face. Once you observe and appreciate those features, you can then begin drawing the eyes. If you have an accurate depiction of the face, everything else will look exactly as the person you are trying to recreate. The same concept goes with makeup.

Makeup does not suddenly make someone beautiful. Powders. Creams. Dyes. Those things do not make a woman different from who they really are. Makeup enhances features that are already there. While it is true that certain techniques can change the appearance of say, the eyes, those eyes are still those of which she was born with.

We need to stop “makeup shaming” woman; that goes for those who do not wear any and for those who do. If a girl decides to go ‘au natural’ so be it. If a girl won’t leave the house without her “face on,” let her be. We need to stop telling girls that she would get a boyfriend if she put in some effort, but don’t ever tell a girl that guys only like her for the mask she “hides behind.”

Women should never feel the need to present themselves a certain way to impress others. Maybe I want to wear makeup for me. Maybe I want to feel beautiful. And maybe, just maybe wearing makeup is the only way that I do feel beautiful.