I spend about 30 minutes getting ready for my day. I do my hair (sometimes) and my makeup because I want to and because it makes me feel good about myself. But I would be lying if I said that I didn't put a little more effort in because of my boyfriend. Don't get me wrong, we have our lazy days where we veg out on the couch wearing sweats and I have no makeup on and my hair is thrown in a bun. It's not that I'm not comfortable being completely natural around him, but I like looking good for him too. But I wondered about a question that many other girls have considered too: Do men understand and appreciate all it takes for us to put our best face forward?
So I decided to conduct a little experiment. I asked my boyfriend if he would be willing to do my makeup and then we each would write about what we learned from the experience. For this experiment, we decided to document how I do my makeup, me without any makeup, and how he did my makeup. He was allowed to ask me what products were (otherwise I would've been wearing mascara as lipstick), but I was not allowed to tell him what order to put everything on in or how much to use.
Step 1: How I do my own makeup.
I try to stay pretty natural with my makeup, having a cake face just isn't something that appeals to me.
Step 2: No makeup
Okay so this isn't awful. I obviously fill my eyebrows because they're a little sparse, but other than that I really am just trying to cover up some pimples.
Step 3: How my boyfriend did my makeup.
Okay so I will say that up until the point that he decided to draw eyes on my eyelids with liquid eyeliner (he thought it would be cool to always look like I'm awake), it wasn't going too bad. I think the wing of the liquid eyeliner definitely tripped him up the most, as well as not knowing how much of each thing to use (or in most cases, how much to not use).
The Results:
My findings from this experiment are that I should definitely always do my own makeup rather than making a habit out of trusting that to him. With that being said, he told me several times as I was taking my makeup off for the experiment that I'm still beautiful without it. Again, there have been plenty of times that I haven't worn makeup around him and I've completely bummed out, but it still felt good to hear him say that. Ultimately, I don't do my makeup for him though, I do my makeup for me because it makes me feel good about myself. Do I necessarily feel like I need it? No. But it makes me feel more comfortable and confident in my own skin - a notion that many guys probably need to get through their heads. All in all, it was a really fun time! It was funny to see him that much out of his element and I definitely think it made us appreciate one another a little bit more.
My boyfriend's findings were different but similar. I had him type out his response for the purpose that I would include it in this article. He wrote:
"What did I learn? Absolutely nothing. You could put the whole makeup kit in front of me and I would have no idea what to use and what was what. This experiment just proves that I would be a very ugly girl. My eyeshadow would be caked all around my eyes, I would put so much blush on my face I’d look like a plump tomato and I could never put one of those eyelash thingies that close to my eye… Why Kenna let me do it is beyond me because yikes! Also, there are way too many brushes for too many different things and I just couldn’t handle that kind of madness in my life. I must say, though, I do know to apply that lipstick pretty well so I’m not completely helpless. This is just one of the may reasons why I’m thankful that I'm a guy. I’m fine with the way that I get ready for the day; rolling out of bed, showering, spending a minute fixing my hair and BAM! Ready to take on the world! Kenna’s curling her eyelashes right now and let me tell you, I am not a fan. Let me just say one last thing; men, be thankful we don’t have to put up with doing our makeup because we definitely take all that magical stuff that girls do with makeup for granted. Just remember, it’s not about what's on the outside of the girl with the makeup covered face. It’s about what’s on the inside. That’s what really matters, right?"
So with that being said, ladies: the right guys will love you regardless and will appreciate your natural beauty, but they will also recognize that the most important part of beauty is what's on the inside. And if you, or they, don't believe me, have a guy do your makeup or style your hair so that maybe they'll understand just a little more of what it's like to be a girl.
For a time-lapse video of the experiment, click this link!
https://www.facebook.com/mckenna.harbaugh.1/videos...
