Women, take it back. Take back feeling powerful when you are not wearing makeup. Take back radiating confidence on days where you did not spend any time getting ready. Somewhere along the way, we were told that our status and self-worth were tied to our appearance. It has taken us at least a century, but I think it is time that we realize the people who decided that were men. More specifically, they were businessmen who were trying to sell us products to “make us more beautiful” and make themselves a healthy profit.
Beauty Industry
The fact that there is an industry called Beauty is disgusting. How we did fall for the concept that you could bottle up “beauty” and sell it? For starters, you could be the wealthiest person on the planet who owns all the best beauty products but have an ugly soul. You would be considered ugly in my book. I cannot be the only person who has met someone who is stereotypically beautiful and left the conversation being confused about their allure. I get it, but I don’t.
Inner beauty to me is linked to kindness, empathy, friendship, and caring. People who have inner beauty are good people. Their souls are beautiful. Everyone’s soul has an aura that will exude from within and produce an outer glow or vibe. If you are carrying hope in your heart, it shows. If you carry hate, we can see that, too.
I am not here to say that all makeup should go. There are a lot of days where I really enjoy getting ready and putting effort into my look. I am saying that we should have the option to choose. It should not be an expectation that women put an extra two + hours into getting themselves ready to walk in a park on a sunny day.
Limited Energy for Effort
Some days, I would rather put my effort elsewhere. There are so many tasks on our to-do lists that if every day is monopolized by the beauty industry, making progress will be slow. On the other hand, there are days that being productive feels impossible because you are being hard on yourself about your appearance.
I want us to stop. I want us to band together and normalize choosing when we want to wear makeup. Stop feeling bad about yourself when you don’t wear it. Stop feeling obligated to wear it.
Makeup is used as a method to show effort. If we have a big meeting or date, we spend hours getting ready. Now, if we were men, we would shower, wear a put-together outfit, and show up. I feel like the majority of us do this on a regular basis. If the difference of effort for men can be basic hygiene and wearing a suit, I think women should have the same guidelines. Anything past that should be an added bonus, not a requirement to impress someone.
For the record, the beauty industry has started to get one thing right: skincare. Having beautiful skin helps women feel empowered to stop wearing makeup. A skincare routine could be as long as a makeup routine, but it could also be a lot shorter. Skincare is also taking care of yourself. It is a task we are doing for our health. I know there is someone who would argue that makeup could be a task we do for our mental health. Sure, but tasks we do for our mental health should not be a societal obligation.
Challenge
Write a running list of everything you accomplish in the hours you would have spent getting ready. Read it every time you doubt yourself.
