A Week Without Makeup: A Reflection

I thought this post would go a very different way. I wanted to go a week without makeup to see the effect it would have on my skin. But, after a week of not wearing makeup, it had a very different outcome. It was something I never would have expected but it was very well welcomed.

When quarantine hit and my office announced we would now be working from home, the first thought that ran through my head was the fact that I wouldn’t have to wear makeup, I wouldn’t have to dress up and I wouldn’t have to style my hair. I could finally live the carefree, relaxed life I always envisioned free from societal judgements and norms in the comfort of my own home. And in typical Taylor fashion, I knew that if I was going to make a big life shift and not wear makeup anymore I might as well write a blog post about it.

From the moment I started wearing makeup when I was a wee little 15 year old girl, I don’t believe I ever went an entire week without it. A week is a long time. Even when I would go to summer camp or just be staying indoors at home, I would maybe go a maximum of two or three days without wearing makeup. Never a week. And so that led me to ask myself how my skin would react if I truly went a week without makeup and just let my skin breathe.

Well, the outcome was disappointing to say the least. The week I went without makeup was probably the worst my skin had ever been. It was breaking out more than ever, it had lost any glow it ever had and it was both dry and oily all at the same time. Now, I think there are a couple of reasons why this was. First, the stress. I had spent the past week stressing about everything in my life (quarantine is a stressful, stressful thing) and my skin was showing that stress heavily. Second, once again due to quarantine, I was eating like shit. I had turned to all the snack foods (the three c’s: chocolate, chips and cheese) in my life to get me through the stress of working from home. Third, there was no way I was drinking the amount of water my body so desperately needed. Fourth, I wasn’t leaving the house nearly enough meaning my skin wasn’t getting an adequate amount of fresh air. And fifth, when I don’t wear makeup, I tend to touch my face a lot more whether that be rubbing my face or resting my cheek or chin on my palm throughout the day. The oil transfer from my hands to my face is never a good thing for my skin. And so, it’s really no wonder that my face was breaking out more than ever. Dissapointing but not surprising.

But you know what wasn’t disappointing? The effect it had on my confidence. Now this is where you need to listen up. As much as I hate to admit it, I despised leaving the house without makeup on. I didn’t feel pretty. I can probably count the number of times on two hands that I went out in public without makeup on in the past couple of years. I just hated the world seeing my true skin; pimples and acne marks out there in the open. I hated my small squinty eyes that lacked any definition when my blonde eyelashes weren’t coated in a dark mascara. I hated how pale and sickly I looked without blush and bronzer to liven up my face. And I hated how my eyebrows never seemed to hold a nice arch without a brow gel and pencil. I went through life with the stance of why let people see my natural face when I could just create the face I wanted with a little bit of makeup.

Now, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I’m a changed woman and I now like my bare, natural face more than a makeup covered face. That is just simply not the truth. I am a beauty blogger afterall who has worked a quarter of her life in the cosmetics industry. I like makeup. I enjoy applying makeup. But, the real change is that I can now leave the house without even thinking about the fact that I don’t have makeup on. Putting makeup on my face has become a choice, not a habit, not a routine. I now apply makeup when I want to, when I feel like it, not when I have to and that has made all the difference.

I can now style my hair nicely, wear a cute outfit but not apply makeup and still feel just as normal as I would with a full face of makeup. I can not even begin to explain how revolutionary that is for me.

I’m curious to see if this whole mindset will continue after this pandemic ends and life returns to normal (that is, if it returns to normal). Will I still feel comfortable in my own skin? Will I easily go days without makeup or will I convert back to my old habits and apply makeup every single day. Only time will tell but I sure hope it’s the former rather than the latter.