Au Naturale: You are Beautiful, Just the Way You Are

There is such an emphasis on beauty in today's culture. Everything in movies, TV shows, ads, commercials, magazines, etc. is obsessed with beauty. The problem I have with that (or one of the problems, I should say), is that the focus is not on natural beauty, but rather, on all the things you have to have in order to achieve an artificial beauty. I'll admit. When I was younger, approaching age 16, I couldn't wait to be allowed to wear makeup. I wore my mascara, cover-up, and sometimes a bit of blush faithfully, every day. After a few years, I got tired of making that much effort and slacked off to wearing just mascara. Part of me always felt uncomfortable wearing makeup, and I always tried to wear as little as possible so that it wasn't apparent that I was wearing any. Of course, if I didn't want anyone to be able to tell that I was wearing makeup, why bother in the first place? That got me thinking about the whole makeup issue, but part of me still felt like I needed it. (You see, I am blonde and have very fair eyelashes, and though I had been complimented on the length of them, I always felt I needed mascara to make them visible.) The beginning of sophomore year I started having an allergic reaction to my mascara. I figured maybe it was because I was using waterproof mascara, and switched to another brand. No good, the skin around my eyes kept bothering me and getting worse and worse. So I stopped wearing makeup. Completely. Suddenly, I didn't have to spend the time every morning to put on my mascara, time every night to take it off, and I didn't have to worry about smudging it at any point in the day. I felt a little awkward for a while, going around without makeup. Then I started to realize that I really shouldn't. I don't want to be viewed as pretty just because I'm wearing makeup. As if it's the makeup that's pretty. I want to be pretty as just me, nothing added, nothing changed. I want to feel comfortable being natural.

Since when did it become necessary for women to use makeup? (Some of you may disagree with the following, but it is what I believe, and I won't refrain from speaking my beliefs for the possibility of someone disagreeing with me.) God did not create woman and then say 'Oops, I forgot something. You're not quite enough yet. Sorry, you're gonna have to create some products to cover up who you are and make yourself more attractive.' No. Not at all. God created man and woman, smiled, and said it was good. When did we decide it wasn't good? When did we decide it wasn't enough? (I'm sure at this point someone could bring up the issue of sin and how man and woman began to cover themselves and wear clothes. I'm not saying that clothes are also unnecessary... and I don't want to get into any kind of debate involving clothes and makeup. I'm just writing about my opinion.)

I am comfortable without makeup now. In fact, I feel very uncomfortable on the rare occasion that I wear makeup for something like a big performance, a formal, or a wedding. My wish is that all women could be comfortable with themselves au naturale. I wish that everyone would see and appreciate the natural beauty in themselves and others. I don't know who will read this, but I want you to know that you are enough, just the way you are. That you are beautiful, just the way you are. If you don't feel comfortable around others au naturale, how comfortable do you really feel with makeup, knowing that you have to use all these products and change how you look just to appear more attractive to others. What does that do to you inside? Do you think-- 'I'm not enough without the makeup. If people saw me without it, they wouldn't like me as much. I wouldn't be beautiful without it. I have to have the right cosmetics in order to be perceived as beautiful, and without them, I'm not.' Don't become just another product. Be you! Let people see you for who you are. Don't hide. It may be hard to get used to at first, but I guarantee you, people will look at you and think-- 'They are comfortable with who they are. They are confident in who they are. I like that.' If you are comfortable with yourself, that will come across to the people you interact with, and they will be more comfortable with you. I would love to see you, and to know that you are comfortable with who you are. And I would love for you to see others for who they are and encourage them to be comfortable with who they are. Because-- you are beautiful. Whoever you are.