There is nothing like having a fresh tan, a new swimsuit, ocean salt in your hair, and glowing beach ready makeup. Yes, that's right, I said makeup. I'm not judging any of you barefaced beach babes so why should I receive judgment for the way I want to spend my days lounging in the sand?
In all honesty, most people won't even be able to tell the difference between my Anastasia Beverly Hills highlighter and the sweat pouring down my forehead, but hey, I'm feeling great. Plus, my tinted moisturizer doubles as an SPF, so really, it's practical too.
But in reality, too many people find ways to tear individuals down for wearing makeup when the choice shouldn't affect anyone but the person who is wearing it. Just in the past two weeks alone, I have gotten numerous comments about makeup when none of them were asked for. Personally, I was unphased, but I can't say the same for hundreds of thousands of other young women out there.
I am extremely comfortable in my own skin after years of struggling to get to this point, but that doesn't mean that I don't love playing with makeup to help me achieve a certain look. To the beach, for example, blush, bronzer, and highlight help achieve a gorgeous sun-kissed glow without having to completely fry my face and add to my ever-growing collection of cheek freckles. Going out with friends, maybe I'll throw on darker eyeshadow and for a gala why not a red lip.
Makeup is a form of expression and it does something different for everyone. It isn't my place or anyone else's to judge what that certain something is for someone else.
In a society full of women tearing down other women, we need to make a change to support one another as we learn to find ourselves. There is enough negativity coming from everyone else and nobody should feel uncomfortable in a space as vulnerable as the beach.
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More importantly, why can't we all continue to live by the motto that was hammered into our brains as children: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. Really, folks, it's that simple. We all have the capacity to simply look away, delete the comment, and go about our lives while leaving each other to shine in our own unique ways.
If that means rocking a full face of makeup, I say do it and don't look back. If it means letting your pores breathe, freckles sprinkled over your cheeks, with a natural sunkissed glow shining through- keep your chin up because you are perfectly and wonderfully made.
