The Day I Wore Makeup

Coming up on three years ago I wore makeup as a daily thing for the last time in my life.  Why?  Because I had noticed a bunch of people taking over my facebook talking about the “No Makeup Challenge” or “No Makeup Monday”.  The posts were mixed.  Some people raved about how much they loved the freedom and empowerment that came with the challenge.  Yet others lamented about how tired they looked.  My biggest take-away at the time was anger and frustration.  No one was critiquing men for deciding to wake up and not wear make up.  No one was using a crazy facebook trend to tell men how to wake up in the morning.  Hello inequality.

So I decided to try going without it for a week.  I continued to wash my face twice a day and used my moisturizing creams, but no makeup at all.  I went to a job interview in a new school district without any makeup.  When they offered me the job, I decided this was a great opportunity to keep it going.  I haven’t looked back.

But I have wondered.

Today, I wore makeup again.  I’ve worn just eye shadow once or twice for special occasions in the three years, but today I wore everything.  This was my Makeup Challenge aka the Day I Wore Makeup.  Takeaways:

• It takes forever.  Seriously.  I’d forgotten just how long.
• You don’t forget.  I didn’t need to find online tutorials or look up tricks.  I still remembered how to apply it.  It’s like riding a bike.  Something I also may not have done for three years, actually.
• It’s HOT.  Instantly I felt myself sweating right at the hair line.  Then I started stressing about how the sweat would react with the makeup.  I started sweating more.  It was a dangerous few minutes.
• Speaking of stress…I spent the entire time worried about accidentally touching my face and ruining everything.  Eating, scratching, wind blowing stray hair…anything could happen!
• I didn’t look prettier. Honestly, I didn’t.  I didn’t catch myself in the bathroom mirror after forgetting I was wearing it and thinking “dang, I look good.”
• I didn’t feel prettier.  I felt hotter.  I also got in my car after an event (to be fair it’s Phoenix and it was like 96 today) and I could see beads of sweat on my nose that had mixed with makeup.  That’s not pretty.
• I could also smell it.  I swear I don’t remember this smell from wearing it daily.  I guess it is a smell you don’t realize you are accustomed to until it’s been gone and is thrust up your nostrils again.
• Washing it off SUCKED. OMG.  I didn’t remember how hard you have to scrub your face to get that crap off.  It stung.  My pores felt like they were burning.  It was like chopping jalapenos and then rubbing your hands all over your face.  Terrible.  Awful.

In short, I’m glad I made the decision to cut and run from the makeup industry.

Naked face for life.