Recently I made the decision to stop wearing make up to work
each day.
Now you might be thinking “so what” - but remember, I’m a ‘millennial’ (ugh, I hate that term
but I don’t know how else to describe myself for the purpose of this post) and
I’ve been brought up in an environment that encourages me to wear makeup every
day, even if it’s just to go to my local supermarket to pick up groceries.
I made this decision for several reasons; to give my skin a
breather (literally), to save money on makeup, and to show society that I don’t
have to follow the crowd and I can truly be myself.
I’ve reached a stage in my life where I care less each day
about what others think of me. If you don’t like me for who I am then that’s
okay – but I won’t change just for you. I’m trying to adopt a new approach to
put myself first and look after myself more than I used to.
I was completely caught off guard by the reaction I received
the first time I went to work without makeup on. I work in an open plan office
environment so while I don’t see customers day to day I do have a “walk of shame”
through the length of the department before I reach my desk. I lost count of
how many colleagues said I looked refreshed and as though I’d caught the sunshine,
and I realised that’s because my freckles were on show. My foundation and
concealer usually hides this feature which is something I was never totally
comfortable with so it gave me a boost of confidence to know that people
noticed the difference and were reacting positively to it.
Remember, while I said I care less and less what others
think I’m still not immune to the opinion of others and appreciate a compliment
from time to time.
Fast forward several weeks and while I’ve had the odd day
where my skin has flared up, I’m feeling pretty good about not wearing makeup
to the point that I now feel strange when I’ve worn it to parties.
I’ve never been “good” at makeup and it’s something I’d like
to work on so that when I do decide to put some on for a special occasion I can
feel confident that I’m enhancing my features rather than hiding them. I guess
this is the next step in my journey, to research which makeup suits my
features.
Here’s hoping this is the way forward for me and I can
continue to be comfortable in my own skin, quite literally.