Most people who don’t live under a rock know that makeup has become a big trend in the past year or so. This makeup trend has also brought out trends like contouring, highlighting, and an array of YouTube videos like, “My Boyfriend Does My Makeup Challenge,” or, “Dollar Tree Makeup Challenge.” Now you see girls, and yes, boys too, flocking to Ulta and Sephora to buy makeup. One of those people flocking to makeup stores is me and I am not ashamed of it.
Like most popular trends, there will always be people try to find a problem with it no matter what the trend is. With makeup, people are claiming that the trend is causing girls to criticize others who don’t wear makeup and that it gives them another "unrealistic beauty standard" to worry about. They even say that girls only wear makeup just because they are insecure of how they really look or to just “look good for boys.”
Yet another complaint is that they think it's a waste of time and money. Although many people think this is true, I believe it’s really not. Yes, there are the ones who will rudely criticize other girls for their makeup or lack thereof, but that’s not because the trend is adding pressure on them to wear makeup. It’s simply because those are just rude people as a whole. Yes, many girls are insecure, but they don’t wear makeup because of it, and believe it or not, most girls don’t wear it to look good for guys at all or even care what guys think about their makeup. In addition, so what if they spend their money on makeup? It's their money and they get to freely choose how they get to spend it.
From what I have personally seen throughout social media and even in person, most girls are complimenting each other’s makeup, regardless of their skill level. They even form a bond by exchanging tips and tricks and recommend products to each other, and if someone is not wearing makeup or decides they personally don't like wearing it, makeup wearers don’t even say anything bad about it and move on. I have seen many people of different races, ages, shapes, sizes, genders, and religions, be brought together all because they have the similar interest of makeup.
The only people I have seen turn makeup into something negative are those who think they are better for not wearing it, those who wear makeup that think they are better than those who don’t wear up or have the lack the skills to, and some men that think girls look ridiculous with “so much” makeup on. These are the kinds of people who are just looking to bring people down for what they love. Everyone else pretty much has no problem with it whatsoever and they think of it as a beautiful art form. It is not meant to be a strict beauty standard, but more of a preference for your own look.
I personally believe that makeup is a form of art like most other people do. It’s similar to painting, but in this case, your face is the canvas and the paint is makeup. You have the freedom to create whatever masterpiece you choose to on your face. This is one of the main reasons I love it so much. I have had an interest in makeup since middle school, but I didn’t fall in love with it until about a year ago.
Since then, I have made many amazing friends because of makeup and developed a great hobby to keep my mind off the bad things going on in my life. I now hope to one day become a professional makeup artist and maybe even work for big brands like Sephora, Tarte Cosmetics, or Too Faced. I use makeup as an art and a form of self-expression. I don’t wear it to hide my insecurities, to look good for boys, or to put people down for not wearing it. I wear makeup because it is who I am and it makes me happy. It's as simple as that.
