Growing up in the age of Youtube and social media, all you see are the "beautiful people." You start to compare yourself to those people who look like they have their lives together from a young age. Most of the time these influencers have some kind of makeup on and their skin looks perfect and flawless. This is how I grew insecure about myself and thought I needed makeup to be beautiful. I was always self-conscious about what I posted on Instagram in fear that I would be judged.

I was introduced to makeup at a young age and was fascinated ever since. I remember my mom would give me different small things. Then as I grew older, I would want more and more. My friends started getting into makeup as well and I felt like I was apart of something. I felt that I was becoming beautiful with the more makeup I put on. I remember seeing the older girls wear all these kinds of makeup and I wanted to be just like them. I always wanted to cover my flaws and hide every blemish I could see.

In high school, I was always the type of person to always have some sort of makeup on. I would wake up early just to get ready and make sure I would look good for everyone else but me. I went to a school where all eyes were literally on me all the time due to NJROTC and having a rank. This caused me to always feel insecure about my natural self. Makeup had me feel complete and put together. I was so under the impression that it could do that to me and I wouldn't dare leave my house without it.

Around my second year in college, I realized the self-confidence I needed to gain back from always hiding my true beauty. I always saw how girls looked without makeup and admired how well they looked. Then one morning I just stopped caring about how much makeup I put on. I realized I could save time from putting on makeup and just get more sleep. We all know more sleep in college is more ideal than waking up early. That is exactly what I did; I stopped feeling insecure about not wearing makeup. If I do wear any now I'll put on mascara, a bit of eyebrow powder and a neutral lipstick.

I have learned that self-love is so important for a young adult and teens to acquire. Between school, work, friends, and life in general, it is something that is needed to get through your twenties. I would want the younger generation to look at me and know that they don't need makeup to know that they are beautiful. I haven't cut makeup out of my life completely, but I have learned I don't need it to survive. Especially because it can get expensive. Just remember, natural beauty is something that reflects through how you are as a person and it showcases how beautiful your soul is.