My Story // I've loved make-up for as long as I can remember, even in my 'too much foundation, too much eyeliner' phase when I was younger. I've always loved applying it and learning about how it can transform your face. But I soon started to realize something, I was beginning to rely on make-up to make me feel good about myself and confident with who I was. If my boyfriend stayed over, I would wake up before he did and get myself sorted and put make-up on. If I had to make a quick run to the corner shop, I'd put make-up on. If I had to get up early and take the dogs out, I'd put make-up on. Whether it was a full face or just foundation and mascara, I just couldn't leave the house without something covering up my skin. I quickly began to notice that I felt so uncomfortable in public when I didn't wear make-up and I knew that needed to change. So here's a couple of my thoughts on the matter. I want you, reading this, to realize just how beautiful you are and you don't need make-up to let that show.
The Inside // The change to feel a lot more confident about yourself without make-up definitely needs to start from within; You need to trigger something in your mind to begin to think more positively about yourself. It is one of the most hardest things to do, and it is certainly not an over night thing, but positive thinking is key. It's crazy to think that you are the only person in the world who looks exactly like you and you are your own person - isn't that mental? Everyone is so beautifully different and you should completely and utterly take that thought and embrace it as much as you can, feel blessed to be you. Ignore the heavily photoshopped girls that you see in magazines and everywhere else in the media; They don't portray a real person and they shouldn't fool your mind into thinking that that's what you need to aspire to be, because you don't! It's also very important to learn to disregard what people think. If you were to walk down the street with no make-up on, I guarantee you that 90% of people wouldn't bat an eyelid. Nowadays, I think that people appreciate the girls that have the confidence to walk outside au natural in an ever-judging world... If there's one thing I hate about my face, it's my nose. I've forever joked about getting a nose job and deleted 80% of pictures that I've taken purely because of how my nose looks. But one day I just woke up and thought to myself, 'sod it', who cares if my nose is a little bit big. But the funny this is, any time I'd mention it to someone, they would say that they 'hadn't noticed' which made me think; If I was to wear no make-up, would people notice? Yes, yes they would. But would they care? Probably not. People don't care for what you look like (and if they do, please ignore them), they care for the beautiful human being inside and if you radiate that through positive vibes, you'll begin to see your confidence grow ten times over. Realise your worth, recognize how strong you are and let it shine.
The Outside // It's a lot less important that the inside, but I wouldn't have had the confidence to go outside make-up free if I never began looking after my skin properly. Investing in a good and thorough skincare routine and drinking plenty of water really does help the appearance of your skin. Even if it's just doing the basic cleanse, tone and moisturise. It's little steps like this that will aid you in feeling more confident and eventually those small steps can help change your mind into thinking in a more positive way.
I'm still not 100% but I'd love for you to join me in the journey for being confident without make-up on and upload any make-up free pictures you have of yourself to Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #ProjectBareAll. Let's all feel beautiful in the skin we're in and show the world how confident us women can be and that we don't need make-up to feel good. This is such a huge post for me, so I'd love to know your comments down below. It really does make me a million times nervous to be putting my naked face on the internet. Thank you so much for reading.
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