Social media: the beacon of giving girls a reason to wear makeup… or is it? Is the comment “she’s wearing makeup to impress guys” a valid statement anymore? When a girl puts on lipstick or a flick of eyeliner, does this mean she’s fake or is it more likely to mean she feels empowered by it? Let’s talk about that!

So let me introduce myself: my name is Alaa Al-Haddad, I’m an 18 year old girl and I don’t wear makeup on daily basis. Not because I don’t know how to, but for reasons I’ll explain further in the article.

Growing up, I rarely ever saw my mom wear makeup (unless we’re going to a wedding or anything of the sort – and even then it was never heavy makeup. It never masked her face).

Makeup was made, I believe, to enhance beauty and to make certain features stand out. However, makeup is now used for the contrasting purpose: it is generally used as a tool to cancel out all of your features and to ‘paint’ them back on. It no longer  enhances your natural features, it masks them and, in due course, it can begin to make you feel self conscious about your natural face.

I know you probably don’t wear makeup in order to impress anyone; that you’re doing it for yourself… but I ask you to take the time out to deeply reconfigure your thoughts: by putting makeup on, are you, in effect, hiding the real ‘you’?

 

“… you should not have to hear comments like “Are you sick?”, “Have you been eating?” or “Someone looks like they stayed up all weekend watching all seasons of Breaking Bad again!”

 

On the days you don’t wear makeup – perhaps because you were in a rush or you just didn’t feel like it – you should not have to hear comments like “Are you sick?”, “Have you been eating?” or “Someone looks like they stayed up all weekend watching all seasons of Breaking Bad again!”. When you take off your makeup at night, my opinion is that you really should just be wiping off some colours, not a different face you had on.

I once went through a phase when I wanted to put eyeliner on literally every time I went out. However, I began to realise that people just got used to it and – when I didn’t put it on – they commented on how I looked tired. Let’s keep in mind that this was only a black line on my waterline: no contouring, no filling in eyebrows, nothing. I didn’t want that. I didn’t want to hear these comments. I wanted people to notice when I wear makeup not when I don’t.

I’m not telling anyone what to do and I’m certainly not judging anyone. I just personally think that makeup has taken a wrong turn as of late. I want girls to be confident with what they naturally look like: your confidence should not be based upon powder and shimmer. It makes me sad to see absolutely gorgeous girls be self-conscious about being seen with no makeup.

 

The two selfies featured above are of myself: one a few days ago on the beach and the other one is on the day of my graduation party. In one I have absolutely no makeup on and, in the other one I went over-board. However, I did not post this to say I shouldn’t have worn the makeup because I look better without it (even though now that I look at it I’m positive I do). I posted it because I think so many girls might be blinded by makeup, thinking that they don’t look good without it while in fact they look better.

However, if wearing makeup makes you happy then wear makeup! Do what makes you happy. Do what makes you feel empowered. Contour; wing your eyeliner; highlight your face; fill in your eyebrows; and make your lips bright pink! Again: do whatever makes you happy.. but try not to build your confidence around it. Love the face you see when you wake up in the morning and let the world see that face too. Let them see how much you love it and how confident you are in it. Don’t go after those ‘no makeup’ makeup looks; because the only no makeup look there is is your actual face without makeup. I can also guarantee it is the best you’ll ever look as long as you love it!

Embrace self-love.

Love yourself with makeup but don’t forget to love yourself more without!

 

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Article by Alaa Al-Haddad

Alaa is an 18 year old student of Dentistry, based in Cairo, Egypt. With a love for Art, DIY and baking, she expresses herself through the medium of writing and photography.

For more Alaa, you can find her on Instagram at: @alaa.alhaddad