A Brief Defense of Makeup

By Kate Sullivan, Allure magazine

Over on Jezebel, they have a re-post from the blog Rabbit Write, encouraging a No Makeup Week. The concept is not new, and in Allure's October issue, we examine No Makeup Days in our Year in Beauty round-up, including Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb's bare-faced shenanigans on The Today Show in May.

The experiment is a fine idea in the sense that it would be great if we were all more comfortable in our skin and nothing else. But we don't believe that women out of makeup are more "real" than those in it. In a previous post, we said that no woman should feel like a slave to grooming, that products and treatments are about choice. For most of my post-pubescent life, using makeup has been my choice. I've used it as a means of self-expression (today, I'm wearing Revlon Moon Drops Creme Lipstick in Orange Flip), but also, yes, I have used makeup as a crutch. And I'm not sorry for it. (Read on before judging, please.)

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I had cystic acne throughout high school (and college and for a couple of years afterwards). Cystic acne isn't an occasional pimple-it's a series of welts that are deeply set in the skin so they're painful and often cause scarring. When I looked in the mirror at age 14, I saw a gargoyle. I had medical intervention-worthy acne that was so bad that my first dermatologist couldn't stop telling me how rare it was-"especially for a woman." (NOT HELPING!) Makeup was the only reason I could leave the house as a teenager. It was a crutch that allowed me to move. That might sound unhealthy, but at 14, I hadn't had much of a chance to build my confidence yet. And without makeup, I don't know if I could have done so. Concealer allowed me to hide my self-consciousness, to focus on school work, to be outspoken in class, to take a summer job that involved public speaking, to feel pretty sometimes. It by no means hid that I had bad skin, but it did soften how bad it was, and for that, I'm forever in makeup's debt.

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These days, I can go to the grocery store without a face on, and it feels amazing. It means so much to me that I can finally show my bare skin without feeling ashamed. (I still use between two and three prescription acne medications a day, but at long last, I seem to have found my preventative combo.) I don't use makeup to hide anymore, but to stand out. And as it happens, it's pretty great for that, too. (I've even mastered smoky eyes!)

So, if you decide to do a No Makeup Week, more power to you. Just remember that makeup is not the enemy. (It's been a good friend to me.) And consider doing a Makeup Week, too, trying new shades and looks everyday. You might find it liberating.

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