I have loved makeup in all stages of my life. When I turned thirteen, and my parents allowed me to get my first colored lip gloss, mascara, and blush. I was thrilled; I felt older. I felt like a big girl who could use makeup just like my older friends. When I was fourteen, I loved how my friends and I could pull out our makeup and do makeup games during sleepovers, like the blindfolded makeup challenge. When I was fifteen, I loved the creative aspect. I could reconstruct my face into whatever I wished from that of an elegant model to that of a green alien from outer space. By the time I was sixteen, I love how I could use my makeup skills to make friends with people who were less skilled and wanted help learning how to apply their makeup best. Makeup for all these years was a positive thing that I loved. It wasn't until recently that my bubble was shattered.

On my family vacation with my cousins, my role model of an older cousin asked my other cousin and me to help her buy some makeup. My older cousin, at this point, had worn little to no makeup, because she didn't enjoy it. I thought maybe she was becoming interested in makeup as a hobby. I, of course, eagerly agreed to help her. While helping her pick out products, I could see she was not enjoying the experience as much as I was. I told her that if she didn't want to buy makeup and instead just wanted to play with mine over the week to see what she like, she could. Her response shook me. She responded, saying, "I am not getting the makeup for fun. I need makeup to make my way in the professional world." My cousin was one of the smartest, strongest, and most independent people I knew. She had a number of achievements. I felt as if she could concur the world if she wished, and yet she felt reliant on this product.

I went home that evening and looked up to see if makeup really was a large factor in the professional world. I was saddened to see that 49% of employers say that they prefer to see women wearing a little bit of makeup. In another survey, it stated the two-thirds of employers are less likely to higher women without makeup. Why do men not have to wear makeup? It is not as if makeup is cheap, either. The average woman will spend around 200,000 dollars on makeup in her life. That is enough to go to college and buy yourself a nice car to drive around campus with. We as women already have to spend more money on hygienic products than men. We don't need another pricy requirement to be successful.

The worst part of this is that there are women who feel like they have to wear makeup to be pretty. They feel as if their natural looks are not of value. No girl should ever feel that way, and the media is just helping that get worse. If an actress or singer or some other female idol that a young girl has goes outside without any makeup on the news goes wild. Her pictures are exposed, and it becomes a trending topic. This makes young girls think that showing their true face is a shocking thing and that their best self is their covered-up self.

Even worse, though, is what this statement is truly saying, which is that a woman's professional value is based on how she looks. A woman is more than how she dresses, how she does her hair, and whether or not she wears makeup. She is her knowledge, her experiences, and her wisdom. Yet the professional world has just confessed that to them, women are still just a pretty face. They aren't appreciating the value we bring. In the end, I was appalled. I wanted to go to my cousin and tell her not to buy the expensive makeup; that she didn't need it because she was beautiful, smart, and could make it without it. I didn't tell her this, though, because, in this judgmental world, I didn't know if my female hero could be successful without makeup.