When I saw that Kim Kardashian had released a body foundation, I was immediately annoyed. Even though I support anyone wanting to wear makeup, I think it is horrible that women are pressured into feeling like they have to wear makeup. Our scars, stretch marks, and any other "imperfections" are seen as something that needs to be hidden. Women are always expected to meet an unrealistic standard of beauty and the makeup industry often encourages it. This is what I thought Kardashian was attempting to do by promoting her body makeup.

On her Instagram, she showed a video of psoriasis on her leg and how her body foundation was able to cover it up and blend into the natural color of her legs. The reactions to the announcement of her foundation were mixed and after reading through a lot of them, my opinion on the foundation actually changed.

Initially, I thought that this foundation would shame women that do not have a perfectly even skin tone into buying it because it makes them look more beautiful. I felt like Kardashian's video was giving off the message that by covering her psoriasis with the foundation, it was now socially acceptable for her to show off her legs because no one would want to see the marks left on her skin by the skin condition.

Jameela Jamil shared my sentiments and explained on Twitter,

"I have such severe eczema all over that my legs are covered in huge patches of pigment loss from scratching. I have a tonne of stretch marks, and because I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, *every* time I cut, I scar. I *refuse* to have these normal human marks weaponised against me."

She continued her thoughts on Instagram and mentioned how it is frustrating that there are so many companies, makeup related and not, that specifically target women and our "flaws." Jamil was also asking her female audience to consider why they feel better after covering their scars and marks and who caused them to feel this way in the first place.

I completely agree with the points Jamil made because the reason that so many cosmetic companies exist is that they are profiting off of women wanting to change their appearance in order to attempt to conform to the unattainable standards men set for us. Our society measures a woman's worth by how close she has gotten to becoming flawless like a mannequin, which can cause a nasty cycle in wanting to change yourself more and more to keep getting validation from others.

I was happy to see that Jamil was encouraging her fans to embrace their scars, marks, and skin conditions because this seemed like a much better alternative to just telling women to hide their scars. However, after seeing a Los Angeles-based makeup artist named Katrina Marrufo tweet a photo of her mother's legs and show the difference that Kardashian's body foundation had on the appearance of her skin condition, I realized that not everyone needs to try to make themselves flaunt their scars.

Marrufo said in her tweet that her mom was embarrassed to wear shorts or dresses in public because of her skin condition and that the body foundation made her extremely happy. In her case, telling her to just own her skin condition and wear shorts without using the body foundation was not an option because it would have made her miserable. Seeing her skin tone improve with the foundation gave her the boost of confidence she needed, and ultimately, that is all that matters.

We each deal with scars, marks, and skin conditions differently and that's completely okay. While I would love for there to not be a need for things like Kardashian's body makeup because the entire world accepts everyone's skin no matter what, I know that is not realistic. You can't force someone to use makeup but you also can't force them to not use makeup. It does not make you any less body positive if you choose to cover your scars with foundation. You do whatever is best for your well being.