When it comes to makeup, society has told us that it's only acceptable for women to wear. Now in today's society, we have men who are Instagram and YouTube famous because they wear makeup. They have broken boundaries that not many people break.
I am a guy who feels secure with who I am, and it just so happens that I am also a makeup enthusiast. The reason I started wearing makeup was that I wanted to get out of my comfort zone; makeup is something that has always intrigued me, but I was always scared to use it. Now I feel comfortable enough to wear it out in public.
Many people have asked me why I started to wear makeup. My response has always been that it makes me feel good and the way I see it, makeup is an artform. It's very therapeutic for me; when I have the time, I can make it look amazing. It is a form of expression. I can create anything from a natural look to a very avant-garde look. Makeup allows me to experiment with different colors and different brands. I can mix and match colors and brands to create out-of-the-box looks, or I can go for something on the natural side.
When wearing makeup for the first few times in public, I was absolutely terrified because I didn't know how people would react. Not many people knew I had started to wear makeup, so when they first saw it their reactions were something like, "Oh a boy wearing makeup." It was even more terrifying for me because I am in a social fraternity and I had no clue how my brothers would react.
Being part of a fraternity, you would never expect that a member would wear makeup. However, I am breaking that stereotype of the hypermasculine "frat boy." I am not your typical fraternity man. I wear makeup. I have even had sorority girls come up to me asking "How do you do it? You're so much better than me, can you teach me?"
Hearing this and receiving compliments about how I look and that the look I went for looks good makes me feel great. I would never have thought I would have the confidence, let alone the skills to do makeup. I will say that I still have lots to learn but it's a skill that I am working on.
I have thought about starting a vlog about my personal experience and maybe a few tutorials on how I do some of my looks. I just am still building my own confidence in my skills. I am just glad to see that I am now more confident in my own skin to walk around and break that social norm where women are the only ones able to wear makeup. Well, all I have to say is that men can also wear makeup. I'll just hope society becomes more accepting of men wearing makeup.
