In recent years, the makeup industry has taken society by storm – or maybe that might just be my perspective. Makeup artists have taken over YouTube with their success and have begun moving to other platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter to interact with fans and repost their own MUA (makeup artist) inspired looks. It is to this that I owe my love and respect for cosmetics.

As an avid makeup wearer, who secretly desires to be an aspiring makeup artist herself, I can't get enough of cosmetics. I speak, think and breathe liquid eyeliner, falsies and Anastasia Beverly Hill's brow pomade. The question is: why? What has makeup done for me?

I suppose the better question is what hasn't it done for me? They say that true beauty lies within, that one's physical appearance has no indication of their character. They don't lie, however, these words make it seem as if makeup has no real value in our world when I owe everything to it. It may sound dramatic, but I could not see my life without spending my afternoons browsing my Sephora basket or binge watching makeup tutorials. Nothing makes me happier, and if we're going to spend our entire lives on this planet, why not spend our time here enjoying the things that bring us happiness?

There's something about holding a kabuki brush that gives me an "oomph" factor; I feel empowered. For too long I had viewed makeup as something constructed by society and forced upon women as an expectation, but it has evolved into something even greater. I like to say that it is almost as if I am applying confidence rather than concealer because I am in control of how the world views me and how I view myself.

People may call makeup nothing but deception, but they aren't called makeup artists for nothing; it is a means of expression. If you interpret the message of this art as deception, then so be it. We can't change your perspective. I will tell you that for myself and millions of other women, and even men, makeup has changed our lives.

When wearing a full face of makeup, I feel beautiful; I feel untouchable. I am able to tell the little girl inside of me who was told her chin is extended 15 feet, her eyebrows are too small or her cheeks make her look like a puffer fish, that she doesn't have to worry about those comments anymore because she found a new love for herself and what she is able to accomplish, through the power of makeup.

What I'm trying to say is this: some people are great at painting, others at singing and I have never been great at either, but all I know is that I can blend a cut-crease that makes angels cry and contour my cheeks to cut like a butcher knife. Makeup is an art form, a means that gives me purpose.

It has shown me self-love and allowed me to bond with so many different people that I would have never spoken to otherwise. You might just see a pile of junk when you look into my makeup bag, but it's much more than that to me. With that, I say kudos to cosmetics. May your power reign for the masses and spread the message of self-acceptance.