If you guys have not been keeping up with "pop culture" lately, recently, many celebrities have begun to stop wearing makeup in a movement called the Anti-Makeup Movement. Celebrities such as singer Alicia Keys are embracing the makeup-free revolution and I am all for it. Now, I am not saying makeup is the spawn of the devil--I actually like putting on make-up every once in a while. But, I am liking the purpose behind the movement and what it stands for.

In an essay to Lenny Letter, Keys stated that she chose to start going make-up free because every time she left the house, she would be worried if she didn't put on make-up; she thought people would automatically judge her and she did not want to base her life around other people's opinions of her. She was over covering up her face, ideas, thoughts, soul, emotions, or mind--she felt like she could not do that anymore. In a world where superficial beauty is THE beauty standard, this is a movement I can totally get behind and embrace.

Most people do not know this, but I have a nervous disorder called Trichotillomania, which is basically a condition where I have the uncontrollable,compulsive urge to pull out my hair whenever I feel super anxious, nervous, upset, or excited. Thankfully, my condition is not that severe--I now only attack my eyelashes, which, unfortunately, leaves me completely void of lashes on my top eyelid.

All through high school, I used to wear loads of makeup to cover it up because my biggest fear was to be called the "weird girl without lashes." But, one day senior year I was running late to school and completely went bare-faced. I was expecting to get weird looks and mean stares/names but no one noticed anything. That was the day I decided to lean towards not wearing makeup anymore. I honestly hated wearing it and I realized I was covering up something that no one but me cared about.

Fast forward three years, and I have completely stopped wearing makeup on a daily basis. I threw away most of it and I only kept a few essentials for the rare days where I wanted to " enhance" my looks. I have always had issues with my self-identity and having trichotillomania has a lot to do with it. I always felt like no one would ever accept me if they really looked at my face and realized that my eyelashes were not there. Now in my junior year of college, I have now realized that my disorder is not going away anytime soon, so there is no reason to cover up this flaw I have. I am truly at the point of my life where if you cannot accept me at my worse, you cannot have me at my best.

The Anti-Makeup Movement is not a movement to shame women who feel comfortable wearing makeup because, in all honesty, some girls seriously slay in makeup. This movement is for ALL women that want to feel free, void of society's twisted standard of beauty. I believe this is a revolution for women to finally feel like themselves in public and I want to jump aboard that train. In honor of the Anti-Makeup movement, the following graphic below will be a makeup-less selfie of myself.

Be free. Love yourself.