In the Nude: Being Confident in Your Own Skin

When I was in 7th grade, I started putting on foundation every day before school.  About 13 is when I became aware of other girls being skinnier, prettier and having better skin that me and I wanted to fix that.  Over the course of several years I went from just foundation, to discovering eyeliner and eyeshadow, and then going all out with a full face routine. Every. Single. Day. I was so self conscious about my appearance that I refused to go to school, or anywhere that anyone other than my parents would see me, without wearing makeup.  When I turned 18, I developed moderate acne from having relatively clear skin before so the makeup use only got worse.

One day I was out with a friend to get foundation and she picked out a tinted moisturizer for me.  I was skeptical when I used it, and my self esteem issues sky rocketed when I applied it only to realize it didn't cover acne at all.  My friend made the harsh suggestion that maybe if I didn't cover my face with so much makeup it would go away.  At first I was horrified at the thought. I'd never been able to let anyone see me without makeup, not even long term boyfriends. But as the weeks went by,  I decided to try it out.

I now only wear makeup when going out or other special type events.  I'm comfortable enough to go barefaced to school, work, and my boyfriends house.  I cannot possibly express what a huge accomplishment this is for me.  My acne is hormonal, so going au natural didn't improve that much but the confidence I have gained from this experiment was a monumental achievement.  I no longer feel like I have to wear mass amounts of makeup for people to want to talk to me or take me seriously.

The How-to:

Making this life adjustment is not easy, especially if you're someone like me who wears makeup for confidence-boosting reasons.  I've been doing this for a month and even though I never used to take makeup-less selfies, I still wasn't quite comfortable going filterless for the blog's photo.  It takes a bit of time to get used to seeing your face without it on and you might feel sloppy or unattractive at first.  I think a great first step is to use a lighter foundation before you stop wearing makeup completely.  This way you get used to how your skin looks when blemishes, or other things you're bothered by, are more visible.  I went from full coverage foundation to tinted moisturizer and it was a shock to say the least.  However, after a couple weeks of using just such a light coverage foundation every day, I realized that going bare faced wouldn't look much different.

When you finally decide to make the brave move of going completely barefaced, its okay to only start with a few days on and a few days off. Even just going makeup-less once in awhile is so much better for your skin than 24/7 face paste. Along with proper cleansing, exfoliating, moisturizing and drinking plenty of water the condition of your skin can greatly improve.  Its so easy to forget to take off your makeup and night, or to use the wrong products for your skin type, things that can cause your skin to break out or become dull/dry.  You'll love how much better your skin looks and feels after a few days of going makeup-less and you'll love that extra 15 minutes you can sleep in the morning that you would have otherwise spent time staring at your self in the mirror.

All this being said,  I still love makeup and I like how I look while wearing it. I love be able to accent my eyes and wear different colors for different occasions. But I also love that now I can look in the mirror and think my eyes are just as beautiful without makeup and they are while wearing it. I love that I can see the "family heirloom" birthmark on my forehead that I would never see before because it was covered up with foundation. I needed to learn how to be more confident in my own skin and I love that after 10 years I was finally able to achieve that.

So if this is something that you're interested in because you want more confidence in yourself or you think it might improve your skin then I encourage you to give it a shot! Don't be afraid to take small steps and don't be afraid of what others might think or say. You. Are. Beautiful.

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