In 2015, singer Demi Lovato started a weekly "No Makeup Monday" tradition where she posted a makeup-less selfie every Monday with the hashtag #NMM. She started the trend to promote positive self image for young people.

I've followed Demi Lovato on social media for a while now and always wanted to be as comfortable without makeup as she seemed to be, confident enough to post about it on Instagram. But, since I was in seventh grade and first found my way into my mother's bronzer, I've worn makeup ever since and haven't found the confidence to go makeup free.

Here I would usually insert a picture of myself from the old days, complete with bad bathroom lighting and a distinct orange line down my chin. I can (thankfully) say all of those pictures have been properly destroyed.

So that visual is up to your imagination.

I don't think I have gone more than a few days without wearing makeup since middle school (On a side note, I am happy to say I moved on from the sparkly bronzer). I find a comfort in the routine of putting on my makeup every morning. I watched my mom do it for years, and doing it myself has always made me feel grown up. It may sound very surface-level, but I love makeup, always have and always will.

Then due to the combination of winter quarter stress and my own 14-year-old insecurities coming back to haunt me, my face broke out recently.

So I thought to myself, when would be a better time channel Demi, than now? So I took a little inspiration from #NMM.

I decided to go without any makeup until the start of my spring break. Which, from the day I started to the last day of finals, was the length of eighteen days. It doesn't seem like a long time, but as someone who basically regards Sephora as a second home, it really felt like ages away. But I kept with it faithfully, and what started out as a little much needed TLC for my skin turned into a life lesson (as all good things do).

I absolutely hated not wearing makeup at first. I felt awkward at work without even a swipe of mascara, and on days when I would usually use lipstick to make myself feel better, I couldn't. There were a lot of days I thought about just quitting, but I kept with it. It was only two and half weeks—who couldn't do that?

Then the good things started to happen.

My face did begin to clear up, but that wasn't the only thing I gained from my little experiment. I enjoyed not getting up early to apply a full face of makeup and not worrying that I would look like a raccoon after absent-mindedly rubbing my eyes. It was nice feeling like my face wasn't caked with foundation and that when people looked at me, they saw me, not a contoured clone.

In only 18 days, I learned that Demi Lovato really was on to something. Even just a day without makeup can really teach you something about not only the way others look at you, but how you see yourself, and that lesson in itself was worth all the days that I wished I could just put on a little blush.

Now I am back to wearing makeup and spending my free time getting as many samples of lipstick from Sephora as possible. Those 18 days couldn't change me into someone who stopped wearing makeup forever. But it did change me into someone who can be comfortable going makeup free every once and a while. I know now that there is nothing to fear about showing the world what I really look like.

So I encourage you to try to go without makeup. For a day or for 18 days, I promise you will see the difference…on your face and the way you feel.

I was afraid to let anyone see me without makeup, not anymore! Check out a few photos I took to chronicle my no makeup challenge.

The first day!

About half way through...

My best friend and I on the first day of spring break, marking the end of my 18 days!