MAKEUP brands know what makes us tick. Flawless looking models with perfect pouts and eyes that pop. ‘Maybe she’s born with it. Maybe it’s Maybelline.’ ‘Because you’re worth it.’ ‘The makeup of makeup artists.’ ‘Easy, breezy, beautiful, Cover Girl’.
Concealed in pleasantries, gushing positivity and often a whole loada Photoshop, the combined message is simple: Looking good is feeling good and you can only look good by wearing their makeup.
Of the 1,292 surveyed women, 44 per cent said they feel negative about themselves when they are bare faced with 16 per cent specifying that they feel less attractive without makeup.
But what if we choose not to take their advice for once? What if every woman in the country decides against her morning makeup ritual, and instead opts for that extra 15 minutes in bed. It is called beauty sleep after all.
Saturday 24 March is reportedly National No Makeup Day. Although still relatively unheard of, the annual day of bare faces is gaining in both popularity and debate.
Beauty expert and co-founder of Eternal Skincare natural skincare company, Fay Watt, said for her, the day serves to “Make you think about the condition of your skin. Imagine what it would be like if you didn’t have to cover up redness and blemishes and you could just waltz out of your door knowing that your skin looked greater than it’s ever been.”
Makeup: how much is too much?
However, a recent study in the US by the Renfrew Center Foundation (for the prevention, research and treatment of eating disorders) suggests Fay is largely alone in her quest for fresh faced appeal.
Of the 1,292 surveyed women, 44 per cent said they feel negative about themselves when they are bare faced with 16 per cent specifying that they feel less attractive without makeup.
Almost half said they prefer the way they look with makeup and 32 per cent said that makeup makes them feel good. A quarter of the ladies had been using cosmetics since the age of 13 or younger and 44 per cent said they use makeup to hide flaws.
We’re not going to pretend the prospect of downing tools and heading to work as nature intended - blemishes, imperfections, warts and all – isn’t scary, because for many of us, it is just that.
The majority of women have relied on this method of self enhancement since puberty, and the women in the Confidential office are no exception. When asked if they’d be up for the challenge of a makeup free day most said it depended on the day in question with one suggesting “I’d do it on a Sunday because I don’t see many people”. Another agreed to take part if it’s on a day when “I’m not leaving the house.”
Adrienne Ressler from the Renfrew Center Foundation said that while makeup is 'often a right [sic] of passage for young women', dependence can mean that 'makeup no longer becomes a tool for enhancement but, rather, a security blanket that conceals negative feelings about one's self-image and self-esteem.’
Katy Perry wasn't said to be amused by her now ex-husband Twitter post of her makeup free face last year
Bell Hooks, author of Communion: The Female Search for Love added: 'Think of all the women you know who will not allow themselves to be seen without makeup. I often wonder how they feel about themselves at night when they are climbing into bed with intimate partners. Are they overwhelmed with secret shame that someone sees them as they really are? Or do they sleep with rage that who they really are can be celebrated or cared for only in secret?'
We are certainly slaves to the cosmetics industry to an extent, but the majority response among our female staff was that the use of makeup was predominantly to please themselves rather than loved ones or society.
“It makes me feel more confident,” said one, while another admitted, “It’s just an indulgence of mine and it makes me feel better”. There’s certainly nothing wrong with makeup, so long as you’re able to confront why you’re wearing it and are completely content with the innermost truth you find.
Many of us will find insecurities are a contributor, and it also doesn’t help that for some women, voluntary makeup free days don’t go easily unnoticed by their nearest and dearest.
Makeup free day comments experienced by our female staff have included: “My mum tells me I look like shit and my son tells me I’ve got lots of spots when I’ve got no makeup on” and “People always ask if I’m tired” and “When I’ve not got any makeup on my colleagues often ask ‘What’s the matter, were you out late last night?” Suddenly the joke about putting one’s ‘face on’ isn’t quite so funny.
Perhaps, as Fay suggests, shocked reactions should also be taken as a sign that it’s time to start toning it down and facing up to our own blank canvases before it becomes us.
“I’m a big fan of makeup” Fay said, “but it looks best when it is used to enhance rather than disguise. Mascara, lipstick, eyeliner – they can do wonders and there is nothing at all wrong with that, but if you’re using layers of foundation and concealer just to get your skin looking acceptable then you need to get to the root of the problem rather than just keep covering it up.”
First to reach for the makeup remover was women’s website xoJane.com, who recently ran an online ‘Show Us Your Morning Faces’ gallery. Staff at the publication posted photos of their makeup free mugs, fresh off the pillow and then asked readers to follow suit to 'see how beautiful you are just as you are'.
xoJane.com's Jane Pratt With And Without Makeup
Writer, Jane Pratt, wrote: ‘It's a personal choice, of course. My last two years of high school and first year of college, I wore SO much makeup that my snot was the color of my inner-eye-liner.’ They had an unexpected overwhelming response which you can view in the gallery here.
Yes, the majority look tired – it’s morning after all – and yes, freckles, age spots, wrinkles, pigmentation, you name it, are all visible. But there’s no denying that it’s good to see fresh, clean, untampered faces, because ultimately what lies beneath really isn’t as bad as you think.
