Makeup: Paint for the Face

With or without makeup, you're awesome!

All throughout my life, I've heard a lot of the issues that people have with makeup.

For instance, some think it's pretentious, as they assume that we are insecure and hide who we really are when we wear it.

While I'm not here to change anybody's mind about anything, I just wanted to put my personal perspective out there for anyone who enjoys using makeup, yet feels like s/he might be doing the "wrong" thing by devoting time and energy to something that's been called "superficial." Maybe you can relate to something here.

Personally, I don't see makeup as a MUST.

You don't need it to love nor accept yourself.

You don't HAVE TO wear it before you step outside.

Simplistically, I don't think that true beauty has anything to do with externals. What we choose to do with our appearance can say a lot about the kind of person on the inside, but I don't think that someone who is well-groomed--attractive though she may be to look at--is automatically the kindest or most compassionate person.

I also wouldn't go to the other end of the spectrum and say that this person is vain and selfish just because she looks good. That's more of a judgement than a fact.

Being well-groomed is what it is; the person took the time to look nice, but to assume he is either a "good" or "bad" individual because of this says more about the one doing the judging than the one being judged.

While it is true that makeup can be used to disguise what doesn't feel particularly flattering to you, like undereye circles and uneven skin pigmentation, I personally look at it more as a plaything than a lie.

I enjoy playing with makeup because I like being artistic, and if my face can serve as a canvas for this passion of mine, I'll take it. By all means, I'll gladly paint others' faces too, hahaha!

All those colors to experiment with...

All the looks to create and recreate...

Such thoughts make my blood rush through my veins, instead of merely flowing through them.

Besides, I don't believe that our personality is who we truly are anyway (as compared to the soul, which has greater depth). It's more of a tool to navigate through the world, and who's to say you shouldn't be bolder than you usually are, or more soft-spoken today as compared to yesterday, if it pleases you?

Makeup--along with other things, such as your hairstyle and your outfit--can assist you with getting into character for expressing your mood or using the world as your stage if you want to play out any fantasies. It is a tool that helps you look sophisticated one day, wild the next, and avant-garde next week, if that's your thing.

And if it isn't, that doesn't make those who do love it terrible people just because you don't share the same interests. How do we know that the person we've formed a negative opinion about based on our own issues isn't actually a really awesome person? Whether they are or they aren't is, more often than not, not even our business in the first place.

I'll be back on this blog soon. If you found this relevant and want more, you can click HERE for an older post along the same lines, and HERE for a vlog on the subject on my YouTube channel.

Wishing you a BEAUTIFUL day,

~Lea