How I Feel About My Face

Almost everyone who knows me knows that I wear makeup every day. I really do love makeup, which is the main reason why I wear it. Many people have commented on my wide variety of lipstick shades (red, maroon, fuchsia, light pink, purple, etc.) and often remark on how confident I must be. The truth is, I wear lipstick, specifically, because it makes me feel more confident. I feel like my external self matches my internal self when I have a bold color on my lips.

I have received at least a hundred compliments from women (and men) of all ages, but I absolutely do not wear makeup for compliments or attention. 

First and foremost, I am a feminist. I base my entire life and belief system around this value. I believe that women are NEVER required to wear makeup and I encourage others to embrace their made-up AND naked-faced self. Even though I put makeup on every day that I leave my apartment, and even some days when I stay at home, I envy those women who are confident enough to feel free in their natural skin. I also am envious of men and the fact that our society often tells men that they're perfect enough just they way they are, but women, on the other hand, are not. It seems that everywhere you look, tv, movies, and magazines (even a damn Sears catalogue) features women with makeup on. It seems that there are very few women taking a stand against the expectation that American culture places on women to look perfect.

Shailene Woodley, who is known for her role on The Secret Life of the American Teenager, was chosen for the part of Hazel in the movie adaptation for John Green's stellar novel, The Fault in Our Stars. Woodley chose not to wear makeup for the film because she wanted to stay true to Hazel's character, who she believed wouldn't wear makeup. Award-winning musician, Colbie Caillat recently took a personal stance on natural beauty and photoshopping in her music video for her single, Try. (Both pictured below, makeup-less.)

My husband Dylan told me, "Although you're beautiful with your makeup on, I still think you're prettiest without it. That's because with makeup on it, feels like you're hiding something. At the very least you're hiding the little imperfections that are fundamentally you. And without it on, I feel that much closer to you." 

Now, I can give any kind of makeup tip you can come up with and I can suggest any kind of product that you may be looking for, but I cannot give you self-confidence. Hell, I've barely figured out how to have any level of self-confidence for myself at all. Dylan is right, I do use makeup as a tool to hide something about myself, to hide my insecurities. But I firmly believe that there is no shame in wearing makeup or not wearing makeup. Every human being on the planet is beautiful, no matter what they put on their face, because human beings, and the entire human experience is beautiful. 

The way I look at it, life should follow the simple guidelines of Cat Stevens' If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out, because every lyric used in that song inspires people to do exactly what they want to do. "There's a million ways to be, you know that there are."