I remember the very day that I fell in love with makeup. It was in a quite evening after school, my mom had left her bag of makeup behind before going to work and I didn't want to be the cliche little girl that messed with her mothers makeup, but how couldn't I? The pretty colors, the shiny eyeshadows, the dewy finish of the foundations were all calling my name, and I had to. After that day I was given my own little bag of makeup and I swore I was the happiest girl on earth. But that happiness didn't last long. When I started wearing it in the beginning of middle school I realized the stigma that there was around makeup. The words ranged anywhere between “insecure” and “s**t."
As I kept growing up, wearing makeup everyday was a part of my makeup routine and I never gave it a second thought, but the critiques were still there and they kept getting worse as I grew older. My friends would tell me that I was simply trying to hide my true face, that I was being insecure. Boys would tell me that they preferred “natural beauty” (as if I cared), however if there was ever a day when I didn't wear makeup they would all be saying things like: “you look tired” or “you look sick," or my personal favorite, “are you okay?”
They dare to call it “false advertisement," as if I was a product for sale. I am not advertising anything, I do not wish to be bought or owned. When I put my makeup on this morning I wasn’t thinking on ways I could impress some guy, I wasn't doing it because I was insecure, or vain, I was doing it just because. I put my makeup on simply because I wanted to, because I felt like it and because it is my face and I do what I please with it. If a boy ever chooses to “take me swimming on the first date” then so be it. I got nothing to hide. What makes him so important for me to have to hide my very face from him? To makes matters worse, some say that a girl wearing makeup is a way of fooling men. I have quite often wondered if the people that say this are being serious. I mean, how could I fool a man into believing that my lips are just naturally mauve, that my eyelid is of color gold with the outer corners being a deep brown matte, or that I was born with a black, winged line over my eyes. I am sorry to break it to you, buddy, but If you are having trouble with that you need to be talking to a doctor, not me.
I am not scared of going out in public with no make up on, I simply choose not to because makeup is a part of my outfit, is a part of my morning routine and it is simply what I love doing. Me doing makeup is no different than an artist painting on a blank canvas. For me, my face is my canvas and my makeup is my art, my form of expression. I am in love with mixing and creating colors, with testing all of the different techniques. I do it for me, and nobody else.
