Making It Up As We Go Along

I decided to write about this important (possibly controversial) topic because it was starting to wind me up and make me concerned for people who are being picked on. In society today we are all for “Yessss women empower women! Let’s not bring each other down!” Which is great, obviously. However, I just have to ask, if you want to make each other feel better, then WHY DO PEOPLE MOCK MAKEUP? Why do so many women feel the need to comment on other women’s interests and the things that make them happy? I have recently done two makeup courses because I love makeup! I didn’t do them because I thought I was going to become the best makeup artist to ever walk the earth, I did it because I am passionate about it, wanted to improve my skills and pursue this passion further so that I can do makeup on other people. Do I laugh at anybody who goes to study to be a doctor or a teacher or an accountant? Do I sit there and think “Oh my god that is so funny, she can’t do that but she’s still going to study it anyway!” No, I don’t, because you can’t do anything until you learn how to do it. If we all knew how to do everything then what would be the point of learning?

Makeup is an art, similarly to painting or writing, it is a world of endless, creative possibilities and colour. It is also a lot more powerful than other things because what other job do you know that can make you go from a just rolled out of bed three to a ready to slay 10 and suddenly give you self confidence in a matter of minutes? I think I am writing this because even though I did these makeup courses I realised I am afraid of putting myself out there simply because other women scare the crap out of me! I mean, what world are we living in? What are we facing? The Battle of Baking 1066? The Siege of the Setting Spray? The Conquer of Contour? Why can’t I just wear my makeup the way I want to without other women threatening to kill me with the sharpness of their winged liner or the fullness of their lips? LET THE PEOPLE LIVE.

It hit me that I worked hard for and put all this money into something I love and now, at 21 years of age, I am afraid to keep improving my skills because of the bitchy, judgmental comments and sly digs that could be waiting for me in all corners of the internet. Funnily enough, writing is on a similar level, some people will hate my work but I write about the passion that is burning inside me because it’s who I am and what I love. You may be reading this as a person who dislikes me, but you’re still reading it, aren’t you? You probably think “Ugh, what has she put up now?” but you have no reason to mock my passions, you have no right to put down the places where my heart is based and if you do then your own heart is in the wrong place.

Anyway, back to makeup! Makeup is a fun thing to do and the fun part is there are no rules. Can you really compare Michelangelo’s statue of David to The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali and say which artist is better? One is marble and one is paint, one is Rimmel and one is MAC, one is settled and one is still learning and exploring. Some of us love living in a world of colour and glitter and a bold lip with an equally bold eye, then others prefer nudes and neutrals. Who started creating rules? Why are girls being shamed for wanting to pursue the popular job of a MUA?

Everybody is different – some people will look at the clouds in the sky and see shapes, but others will just see clouds. You cannot make someone see the shapes you see and you cannot make someone appreciate your own perspective of something because our minds are so different. The sad part about that is some people let the harsh parts of their minds spill out of their mouth too much. By doing this they are altering the beauty and shapes in the clouds that others see and making them doubt themselves. Women become too afraid to be themselves and stop their creativity flowing because it doesn’t live up to a standard set by social media. You know we all lived before Instagram, right? You know we all started out with makeup out of magazines and our mum’s makeup bag?

Even though it may seem like harmless fun, you don’t know the level of other people’s insecurities. You do not know how early a student may get up in the morning to try and perfect her brows to look like all the other girls in her class, you don’t know about the girls who stay up until 4am watching makeup tutorials just because they feel like they have to to fit in with the Instagram ideal, you just don’t know how important makeup is for some women’s confidence. Personally for me, makeup is something I really enjoy because I’m a creative person, but I do not mind going without it and I have learned to embrace my insecurities. For example, I always joke about my chin because it is so pointy when I smile and I have no top lip at all! My eyebrows have always been bushy and I find it so difficult to shape them properly because they just cannot be tamed. I’m also so pale that even the lightest foundation shades make me look like I’m about to drag Augustus Gloop out of the chocolate pipe!

This generation we’re living in is, to be honest, an absolute joke at times. People spit out comments thinking they’ve been sugar coated on the way out by their expensive lipstick. Writing mean comments will never be anything but mean. How can we raise strong women in a world that is so thoughtless, narrow minded and picky? How can I choose between going makeup free or full on makeup when either choice is going to be criticised? A makeup brush is just like a paint brush, so let people create with it whatever way they want to.

I wrote this post because I got sick of seeing people put down other people when they are trying their best to improve themselves or try something new. I can take a joke as much as the next person but when beauty is such a huge influence in people’s lives today, we can’t afford to have people suffering underneath the burden of it when it is meant to be about self expression. We need to let people do what they want – whether they want to wear no makeup at all or put on layers of different products. In my opinion, your own way of doing makeup isn’t right or wrong because what you may love someone else may hate and that is just the way the world goes round in every aspect of life. Trends come and go, remember when Paris Hilton was the ultimate it girl and now it’s Kim K? My point being it’s important not to get too wrapped up in these fads because they won’t last forever.

As for my own appearance, after many failed attempts to contour away the infamous chin, I realised it isn’t going anywhere and I’m also just one of those unfortunate people that will always have a spot appear during the day on the end of my nose without realising it! I also realised that despite people being so quick to make others feel insignificant, it is a shame nobody is skilled enough to contour away negativity when it comes to how girls see each other. Can we all please take a step back and see what really needs to be highlighted here? Makeup products are supposed to enhance your natural, outer beauty, not disguise your inner beauty.

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