Too often a girl who decides to put on a lot of makeup is misinterpreted. She obviously has terribly low self-esteem, is desperate for male attention and is trying to deceive you. Why else would she willingly spend 20 extra minutes every morning to clog her pores with $36 foundation and produce little spiders on her eyelids with an eight month old tube of mascara? Clearly she’s a fake person because she tricked you into believing that she wakes up with dewy, glowing skin and perfectly arched eyebrows.
The reality is that 90% of girls who wear a lot of makeup don’t do it for anyone else. Guys, they don’t do it to get you to approach them. Girls, they don’t do it because they want to be more attractive than you. Society, she doesn’t do it because she doesn’t love herself. Here are a couple of reasons why I, a self-proclaimed ‘cake face,’ wear makeup.
1. It is fun to put on.
Applying makeup is like drawing or painting, except your finished work automatically gets put on display wherever you go. Not that my face is a work of art by any means, but knowing how colors go together or how different brushes can be used requires a bit of creative skill and imagination that isn’t far from how an artist picks a harmonious combination of tones and the right kind of application tool to make an original piece. People change their faces so that it matches an occasion, an outfit or a mood. It’s by far the easiest and most accessible form of self-expression.
2. It can make you happier.
If that pimple on your forehead is bringing you down, why not cover it up? If it’s not harming anyone else, does it really matter if you are not your perfectly imperfect undiluted self for one week? Wanting to conceal an insecurity doesn’t make you fake; it makes you human.
Maybe your new pair of shoes or your painted nails make you more confident. I’ll notice that your shoes are different from the ones you’ve been wearing for years, and that your nails are not their natural color. But I’ll know that you’re still you, except just a bit happier. And while your new self-esteem boosts aren’t the focal points of your happiness, their 2% contribution to your happiness on any given day makes them worthwhile. One’s confidence comes from how one views herself more than how others view her. When I say makeup isn’t about anyone else, I mean it.
3. It is fun to take off.
Some may disagree, but taking off makeup is relaxing. It sends a signal to my brain that the day is over. It’s a soothing feeling, and makes the morning hassle worth it. It functions as a switch, telling me when to work and when to go to sleep.
When I hear people say that girls don’t need makeup, I agree. I agree that no one should need it as a base for their self-worth. But some people just like putting it on (and taking it off.) Some people just like feeling a little bit more confident, just as you would with a new haircut. People who assume that females are deceptive with makeup and wear it to catch attention are purely narcissistic. They assume that we put stuff on our faces to impress others, when in reality we just do it to impress ourselves.
