Why I quit makeup

Somewhere in December 2016, a radical shift happened and a thought of leading a makeup free life buzzed me. Oh yes! Seemingly impossible when I look back 4 to 5 years ago. I don’t know why and how this sudden stimulus came. Probably I was tired of wasting my precious time every morning in correcting my face to meet the beauty standards given by the society and social media or I wanted to loose the battle to look flawless. This might be an insight to embrace my imperfections. 

I don’t hate make up though. I still believe that make up is a good way to hide imperfections of the skin if someone is much conscious about the outer beauty standards.

Well, I got my Mother’s skin. I was blessed with smooth and even skin, no breakouts, almost unnoticeable blemishes which didn’t require any makeup as such. As I recall a few years back when internet was buzzing over with these make up tutorials from glam make up look, date look, prom make up look, 5 minutes make up look to no make-up look and watching these was always magical. Transforming the next-door girl in diva was so fascinating that I couldn’t resist and tried my hands on this foreign subject ‘makeup’.

My makeup journey started after my first job; it started with lip gloss, lipstick and then moved to eyeliner and mascara and gradually in another few years covered with foundation, concealer, powder, blush, contouring, highlighting and much more. Not that I enjoyed wearing makeup but somehow gradually I convinced myself that without makeup I am not good enough and I look less attractive.

Though I never over did it and never multi layered it but any layer which is foreign to skin gradually creates internal conflict between the skin and consequences could be any skin problems from minor to major as in my case I noticed light pigmentation above my cheeks, dark lip and light dark circle emerged out of nowhere. It was an alarming situation and I decided to do something about it.

It is very hard to take your hands off from something which you have been doing for years and almost every day.  I checked many videos on internet explaining how make-up affects our skin and I was blown away with the fact that best of the cosmetic brands which I used to think are safe for my skin use many harmful chemicals and lead which may cause skin rashes, itching, pre-mature aging, discolouration, dark circles, blemishes, open pores, acnes and even the worst of all skin cancers.

I didn’t want any self-created problems for my skin; so to start with, I followed my 21 days ritual (little detail about this in my saree blog) to make my life makeup free.

I clearly remember my first makeup free day, it was a small get together at my friend’s place and I was so nervous and almost lost my self-confidence. I must have checked my face so many times before I left my house. I was not looking like me, my bare face was looking sad and dull and absolutely deserted. I applied some organic lip balm, put on some strength and courage and left the house.

It was the first time when I realised that no one notices to the extent I thought earlier. Moreover who cares (well I cared back then) it’s my life and I need to set it right.

Second thing I noticed as I reached my friend’s place is that they didn’t care how I look; they all embraced me like always. It gave me enough encouragement to carry on with my makeup free life until today.

After many months I introspected that why was I using it? For that matter why would anyone use it (except for those whose professions demands it)? Knowing the fact that it is chemical, full of toxins and so much lead still we apply it, and another interesting part that it’s not invisible on the skin it clearly shows that there is makeup on the skin.

Benefits of quitting makeup:

• It saves my time – It saves hell a lot of my time in the morning and in the evening. I only need few minutes to get ready because I don’t apply tons of products on my face and don’t need any time to remove my makeup because I don’t apply it at all, which gives me an advantage of having more time for my family or other important work. ahh such a comfort, I always hated makeup removing part. Who wants an exhaustive task of removing makeup before bed coming back exhausted?  

• My Skin is getting better and says thank you– After a few months of following no makeup routine, I noticed my pigmentations are almost gone. My skin is softer and supple. There is no discoloration on my face any more.

• It makes me comfortable and confident – when I used to do makeup, I was always conscious if my makeup is cakey or it is melting or I need to check and do touch up. Now when I don’t apply, I don’t give a damn about patchy, cakey or doing any touch-up. I can be just me. I am as beautiful in the evening as I am in the morning.

• It saves my money–  Cosmetic world is big, products are endless, varieties and options are many and on top of this it’s so addictive, once you start you just can’t stop. In short it’s an expensive affair.

• I started noticing other important things– I realised that the more I disconnect from the outer beauty world, the more I started connecting in the realm of possibilities within. I started appreciating the originality of life.   

• No one bothers– I don’t bother and worry about people’s opinion that what if they see me bare face or judge me. I realised that the trap of looking good was in my head.  Others don’t have enough attention to the details. People only look forward to great humanity behaviours.

• I realised that makeup was never required, it was a deliberate thing that I got addicted to earlier.

How I repaired my damaged face:

It was simple; I followed my kitchen path and started following ancient ways of beauty.

1. I started applying coconut oil on my face and body as a moisturiser in the morning and even in the night before bed. It makes my face super soft in the morning. Coconut oil has an anti-aging properties and it has anti-oxidants such as vitamin A and E.

• For my dark lips I bought Biotique whitening lip balm and started applying three times in a day.

• Every alternate day I use tomato and honey on my face. I cut the tomato in half, take 4-5 drops of honey on tomato and gently rub it on my face for 10 mins, leave it for 10 mins and rinse it off. It removes the sun tanning and regular use of this will fix your white and black head problems and it will bring back lost glow of your face.

• Once in a week I use rice mask on my face. For this I soak some rice and let it get soft, make it in a fine paste add pinch of turmeric and apply the paste , let it dry and after 15 mins rinse it off. That’s it. It exfoliates the skin and shrinks the open pores.

• I keep salt in my washroom and use it as a salt scrub all over my body including face. It removes the dead skin and negative energies.

• I completely switched to paraben, sulphate free shampoo and conditioner. Many a times I wash my hair by soaking Amla, Reetha and Shikakai. I learned this shampooing technique from my mother; she used to wash my hair with these when I was a kid.

After no makeup routine for almost two years (sunscreen + lip gloss). Now in parties or meetings sometimes I do apply eyeliner and lipstick but thankfully it’s not wearing makeup. I make sure that my eyeliner and lipsticks are vegan/herbal/organic and cruelty free.

I haven’t sworn off makeup. In wedding or in super special occasions I may wear it but certainly those days will be like once in a blue moon occasions.­­­

Whole life we spend with our own perceptions of getting judged but not thinking and focussing on our lives and possibilities around us.

When we shift our focus from the least important things, we get our focus right to the most important things in life.

Choose wisely, face-worth or self-worth!