I don’t make a point of pointing out when I’m makeup free in my photos.
Why? Because I’m makeup free 99% of the time and to be honest, I don’t care.
I really don’t care whether I’m wearing makeup or not.
I do care though about how much thought we give to whether we should wear makeup or not. Or that women feel compelled to wear makeup to exist in society. I do care that women are shamed for not looking presentable in professional settings when they don’t wear makeup.
So in my small way going makeup free + NOT commenting on it, is my activism. The fact that I don’t make an excuse for my lack of makeup or give a justification IS radical. It’s rare. And I see the change it creates after months of being exposed to it.
I was with a friend + she said to me how she’s not really been seeing anyone and was dreading having to make effort for our dinner until she remembered it was me, that I didn’t care + she was relieved. When you stop conforming, you give others the permission not to as well. “When you look good, you feel good”
…yeah sometimes.
And sometimes when I look my worst, I feel my best.
Like in April, when I was in a cabin for a week with no access to water/electricity + not looked in a mirror for a week. I was so busy being in my body, I didn’t care what I looked like.
Other times, I’ve felt like shit + force| myself out of bed to get changed + felt better for it. In uni, my friends would joke that when I was wearing a bright pink lip, they knew I was in a bad mood 😂 If a bright pink lip makes me smile more, then so be it.
I don’t like these blanket rules. They also lead to people making assumptions like that if you leave the house without being glammed up, that you’ve “let yourself go”, or that you must be in a bad place to not even care what you look like.
Life is not that simple.
Body confidence can’t be assumed by what you wear or how you dress.
We need to start allowing more nuance in body positivity. I’ve been enjoying choosing outfits + putting on makeup lately. My photos reflect that but I’m sure that at some point I will return back to the version of me who hates makeup + shopping 😂 People don’t belong in boxes.
📷: @amalielee