Let’s discuss the bare-faced truth about makeup. Love it or hate it, it may have more negative effects on us (and the environment) than we realise. Makeup is the culprit of clogging our pores, harming the planet and potentially stopping us from accepting ourselves. Here are 6 reasons that may convince you to finally take the leap and stop wearing makeup:
1. Let Your Skin Breathe
As much as you may hate to admit it, makeup just isn’t good for your skin. If something about our appearance makes us feel self-conscious, for example a spot, rather than keeping it clean and letting it sort itself out naturally, we cover it with makeup. This often worsens the problem, meaning we resort to more makeup to keep it hidden. A vicious cycle has trapped us before we know it. So what if we just gave up makeup? We could all happily wave goodbye clogged pores, premature ageing and aggravated acne. Leaving your face bare will allow it to breathe properly. Free your skin from the toxins that are lurking in your cosmetic bag. If you’ve been looking for a great reason to stop wearing makeup, this is it.
2. Cherish Your Time
How long do you spend doing your makeup? Apparently, the average person spends 29 minutes applying their makeup to achieve a natural, no makeup look. It seems crazy to cut almost half an hour out of your day just to appear as though you’re not wearing makeup, when instead you could just, you know, not wear makeup. This time could be spent doing something worthwhile. Try out a mindfulness practice or even just savour that extra half an hour in bed.
4. Look After Your Pennies
Let’s face it, makeup isn’t cheap. Especially if you’re after high end brands or are unable to buy just any high street makeup because you’ll only purchase makeup that is vegan or cruelty-free. Ditching the face paint instantly cuts out a cost that, let’s be real here, we could live without if we really had to. Makeup usually has an expiration date of around 3-24 months, so this is a constant expense to upkeep. Take a break from the cake face and you’ll soon notice that you’ll have a bit more cash to spend on the things that you also now have more time to do – double win.
5. Accept Your Raw Self
Makeup covers your raw beauty and masks what you may view as flaws – why do so many of us think that our natural face isn’t good enough? Whatever the reason, makeup makes us feel good about ourselves. But what if, instead of using makeup to try and fix a problem you think you have, you work on trying to feel good about yourself without it? The more you go without makeup, the more you start to accept your true self. Your confidence will begin to rise, and that will make your face look far prettier than any makeup product ever could.
5. Protect the Earth
Our makeup collections may look good on Instagram, but they don’t look great at the bottom of the sea. With insane amounts of plastic being dumped into the ocean each year, the environment could do with a break as much as your skin. Giving up makeup means that there would be one more person reducing their plastic waste instead of contributing to our plastic crisis. If your makeup collection isn’t vegan or cruelty-free, you also have the added perk of not paying for products that are tested on animals or use animal parts (so I’m sure the animals will thank you for this one, too!).
6. Starve Your Ego
Although there are people who have a genuine passion for makeup, many of us put it on for other people. I mean, how often do you find yourself putting on your makeup to go and watch Netflix alone in your room? Or going bare-faced at a party? We can become fixated on other people’s opinions of us, but this is just our ego coming out to play. Don’t give your ego the satisfaction of doing something for the benefit of other people. Starve your ego and feed your soul by channeling your integrity and doing the same in public as you would in private. If you choose to wear make up, do it for you and not because you’re worried about other people’s judgements. People don’t notice as much as you’d think.
