15 February 2013 - Au Naturel

Au Naturel: ‘according to nature, in a natural state, not artificial.’

When I first started wearing make up I was only in my early teens. I would use a thick layer of a nasty "As Seen on TV" bronzing product called Natural Glow every morning in excess to camouflage my freckles, which I didn't like, and because I'd come to the belief that the more bronzed your skin was the more beautiful it was.

Then one day, after an emotionally turbulent morning being fed up with the mask I felt I was putting on daily (not to mention the shameful make up stains around the collars of my white school shirts) I just stopped. It took some time but I came to realize that I could not only feel good about myself and my appearance in my natural state; but I could actually feel more beautiful that way than ever before. 

It's difficult for women in a day and age where a certain image of beauty is held up as what looks good and can be attainable to us if we just try hard enough. We're encouraged to use Spray tans, Fake eyelashes, Hair Extensions, Breast Enlargements, Cosmetic Tattooing and our Make up kits in order to 'enhance our appearance' (and to resemble a Barbie doll?!) instead of being encouraged to embrace and celebrate our unique looks and bodies just as they are.

Ironically the ideals we strive for are often based on the desire to attain that which is most unnatural to us. Filipino women, for example, purchase beauty products that promise the lightening or bleaching of their naturally darker skin tone which probably seems as ludicrous to us as our obsession with fake tanning does to them (you mean to say you apply a cream to your skin to dye it darker?! Why? You already naturally have the lighter skin that we are striving for!)

Well I'm over it. I'm never going to look like a barbie. And who would want to anyway? If a person of her proportions existed she wouldn't be able to walk. And I like walking. And I like my face and body just the way they are thank you very much. 

I recently realized after over ten years of colouring my hair nearly every shade possible that there is one colour that seems to really suit me and I've been striving to match the natural shade of my re-growth ever since. I think the hair colour I was born with really brings out the colour of my eyes. And the beautiful freckles I was lucky enough to be born with too. And I owe my freckles their day in the sun and an apology for ever feeling as though they needed covering up in my younger years. 

I love the way these high school students came together to support each other and to speak out about what beauty means to them by holding a "No Make Up Day" at their school. Maybe this day should become a worldwide thing? Who's with me?