I remember when I was in high school and had finally discovered the benefits of makeup, specifically foundation. I could cover any flaw and it was invigorating. I saw the use of it to be enhancing my beauty, and fellow classmates and strangers on the street took notice of it. I felt confident and I felt beautiful because others saw me as such.

A year later a friend of mine told me that the only thing I had to do to stop receiving attention from guys was to just “take off your makeup, that'll chase them away.” My friend quickly laughed and said that he was just kidding, but something inside of me broke. I felt insecure, attacked and ugly. After that day I retreated home and tried to use makeup to once again “enhance” my beauty, but this time I would make it look natural by using colors closer to my skin tone.

So many years went by since that day and it’s taken me this long to realize that me using makeup to appear “naturally pretty” was not helping with the epidemic that society, especially young women, are facing today. That beauty can be obtained. Beauty is beauty, it is not something that should have to be obtained. We are all beautiful the way we are born and sadly society has taught us that we are not supposed to validate our own beauty, instead we should use “products” to bring it to the surface so that others can validate our appearance.

Wearing makeup is not a crime. I am not trying to put down those who use it. I just believe that we have reached a point in society where we have gone to an extreme. Contouring for example, it is an art form and one I wish I could do on myself, it is so beautiful. Yet, I am continually questioning if those who contour their face every day are actually happy with their bare appearance. Do they feel beautiful once that makeup is off? If they do, then there is no problem with them “enhancing” their features, and no one, especially a man should degrade them for their choice to appear as they'd like. Whether it be a male, female or even a stranger on the street, we all have the right to be comfortable in our appearance.

Though, if you don’t feel confident with your bare face, like I did that day after my friend’s comment, then you are not allowing yourself to be truthfully happy with all of you. To only accept one side of you, that being your makeup side, is denying the face you were born with. The face that will always be there right underneath the ulterior appearance.

Anxiety takes form in our makeup. We cover our faces with it and continually hope it does not smudge or wipe off. If someone cannot love you for your natural presence, then they do not deserve to love you in your "made up" presence. I cannot explain to you how much worry you will be saving yourself if you gave your bare appearance a chance to shine. You'll meet people who are your friend because of who you are and not what you look like. Vanity resides in those who surround themselves with people who value appearance too much. It is not a real or comfortable lifestyle because you are always unsure about how their opinion of you will differ if you were ever seen without makeup.

Today I still wear makeup, and I cannot honestly say that I am 100 percent comfortable being bare either. Yet I have made steps to get myself to that point. I’ve recently allowed my boyfriend to view my true appearance and he still thinks I am beautiful, and trust me, this is not coming from someone who is pimple or blemish free.

We all have flaws to our skin. No one is perfect and that’s what makes each of us perfectly imperfect. Flaws are beautiful, flaws are unique. Embrace the skin you have been given and ignore what not just our peers, but the media, press and super models have presented to us as the "only form of beauty.” Instead look to yourself because your individual beauty is the best there is.