Beauty - A Love/Hate Relationship

I'm short, my eyes don't match (did I ever mention I have a lazy eye?) and don't even get me started on my brows! Uneven as can be. Not twins or sisters. They're more like second cousins twice removed. My front teeth are huge (they look like chiclets) and my nose is crooked. My forehead is big and my skin isn't perfect. But this is who I am. It all comes together in some generally decent way - I think. I'm good with how I look. Not in a conceited way, but in the sense that I feel good about myself. Confident in who I am and how I've been put together. Our features shape who we are. My moms lips, my dads hair - it all tells a story. So, when I put on my makeup in the morning, I'm not looking to mask who I am. I like who I see and I'm not looking to change it. I have come to love makeup because I look at it as two things. (1) To enhance and shape the features I have and (2) as a form of art - a way of transforming one thing into something else that's not more beautiful, but different in a fun and interesting way. I used to love going all out with makeup on one side of my face and seeing how it can alter features so dramatically just with color and shading. It honestly just blows my mind sometimes and I love playing with shapes and color. It's a form of expression. Unfortunately, this all gets lost sometimes. Why is she wearing so much blush? Her eyelashes are tiny. I can't believe she went out looking like that. Therefore pushing us to feel as though we can't leave the house without checking the mirror a hundred times or like we're not acceptable to the world without a false pair of lashes. But, even worse than that is that we do it to ourselves. Obsessing over every detail and comparing ourselves to others. Ugh, her skin is flawless. I wish I had her hair. Pushing us to want and do things to ourselves to morph into things we are not. So today, I wanted to talk about my love/hate relationship with beauty. The things that nag me and the things that make me fall in love.

HATE!

I hate that makeup and the beauty industry creates a false illusion of what women really look like. Zero pores, big lips, huge eyes, thin noses, chiseled cheeks, etc etc etc. We're human. We're normal. We're different. We are not Barbie dolls or Disney princesses. We have normal sized eyes and crooked noses. It's OK. And if anyone tells you otherwise, they're not worth your time. 

I hate the feeling of thinking you have to do something a certain way . You don't have to contour the crap out of your face. You don't have to wear black eyeliner. If you want to - cool, but don't feel forced into doing your makeup a certain way because that's how you see all the other girls (or boys) doing it.  Beauty is an extension of who you are and how you want to show yourself to the world - not how you want to replicate it.

I hate that it makes us obsessive about plastering over all our pores and so on and so on. Stop obsessing! No one is inspecting you.

This I hate! - Ever hear one of the theories of the history of beauty? That it started out with emulating what women look like at their sexual peak (cough cough). Blusher emulating the flush you get in your cheeks, etc etc. This makes me want to chuck it all out the window. How dare men! lol. Do what you do for you and no one else. 

I hate when we're nervous to take our makeup off. Never be afraid to take it off.

LOVE!

I love that makeup can really enhance the features you do have. Emphasize something that might otherwise go unnoticed. Like a belt emphasizes a tiny waist, a little liner can bring out your eyes.

I love that it keeps us creative. As we get older, we put away the crayons and finger paints. Makeup keeps a lot of us in touch with our inner artist. You can try new things and literally paint away using your face as a canvas. Explore and have fun. It's really the same as what you learned in art class. Color theory - what compliments and what contrasts. Light and dark - shading.

I love that it gives us confidence. Sometimes you've got something you wish was not as it was and it becomes distracting to the features you want to show off. It happens. An unexpected spot, a funny gap in your eyebrow, anything. Makeup can be like spanx. A little cheat that no one has to know about.

 I personally like to go pretty simple everyday because I like to look like me, but on a day out or a morning that I have some time on my hands, I love to sit for an hour doing my makeup all out and having fun with it. I think makeup and beauty should be fun. Not stressful and disguising. Don't wear a lot or wear a lot. It's up to you, but do it for the right reasons. To have fun. To give yourself a boost. To experiment or be creative. Don't get hung up on the imperfections you have. No one is perfect so don't worry about trying to be. You are just fine just the way you are. Cheesy as it may sound - it's the truth.

What do you love/hate about makeup and beauty?

Talk soon. Kisses, J