THE MAKEUP EXPERIMENT | BY TAYLORED BEAUTY

Today, I've got a great post by Taylor from taylored-beauty.blogspot.co.uk. Taylor challenged herself with the question 'Why do we bother to wear make up?' and has written her thoughts after doing her own experiment. It's one that makes you think and we would both love to hear yours thoughts and experiences too. Enjoy! 

THE MAKEUP EXPERIMENT |  BY TAYLORED BEAUTY

‘Why do you bother to wear makeup?’

It’s a question most of us girls (and the odd boy) get asked almost daily, and I can never give a good enough answer. It makes me look better? I feel more confident? In two years, I haven’t left the house without any makeup on- unless I have filled in brows, powdered skin and jet black lashes, I ain’t going nowhere.

On the quest to find out why I just can’t let go of my makeup brushes, I made a big decision. On Friday, I went about my day without a scrap of makeup on my face *gasp*. At first, I thought I would be completely daunted by the thought of going naked around school (well… not quite naked). What if someone noticed my dodgy overplucked eyebrows? Surely my flushed red cheeks would be a stark contrast compared to my usual foundation-smothered face?

 Instead, few people even noticed that I looked remotely different. Despite my eagerness to disguise myself with a Cousin It style hair-do, I found that I was the only one who really cared. I expected to find going bare faced liberating or freeing, but instead I just felt even more self-conscious and worried. I kept apologising to friends- ‘I don’t normally look like this’, ‘I’ve looked in the mirror, don’t worry- I know the state of my face’. In hindsight, it seems like an awful thing to say. Why should I be so apologetic for going au naturale?

Scientifically, there’s a subconscious corrective aspect to wearing makeup; foundation makes our faces more symmetrical, blush makes us look healthier. I don’t (and hopefully never will) suffer from acne or bad spots, so I have no real reason to use makeup to be ‘confident’- fundamentally, there’s nothing particularly wrong with my skin. I do have eczema though, which has made me hugely self conscious in the past. Although I rarely get eczema on my face, I’ve felt the need to ‘cover-up’ my body because of my scars and awful red patches. Years of teaching myself to be ashamed of my skin have impacted on the way I look at makeup, and most probably why I like it so much. (I’ve written a separate post about eczema over on my blog (read here), and Katie’s written one too (read here)- both good reads if you’re not so sure about what it is, or if you’re struggling with the condition yourself).

So… back to the start.

 ‘Why do you bother to wear makeup?’

I wear makeup because I like the collection aspect; I like hoarding and buying new products (that’s where my shopping addiction comes into it), I like the fun of experimenting with new looks. I wear makeup because it helps me feel good about my skin- although others might not notice, having a little barrier between my pale skin and the world makes me feel a lot stronger. I wear makeup because it’s part of who I am now; I write a blog about it, wear it everyday and have a stash that takes up far too much cupboard space. But most of all, I wear makeup because I like it. There. You can look into some things far too deeply, and there are reasons behind why I feel naked without a layer of L’oreal- but most of all, I enjoy the plain and simple fun of it all.

Why do you wear makeup? Do you agree that it can help you feel more confident, or is it a vanity thing? Leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts.

With love,

P.S- big thanks to Katie for letting me scribble down my ramblings on her blog. I hope I at least made a little bit of sense. <3

Think you could be a guest blogger for Banish Body Hang Ups? Email me: katielewis780@gmail.com with an idea for a post if you are interested! x