As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I am taking the time to go through my old reflections that I had during my trip. They are from my private Facebook or my journal.
Part one will be my reflection on not wearing make-up anymore. I stopped with it about 1.5 weeks into my trip. I had started in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and then moved on to volunteer on a farm.
Below is my old post, followed by my reflection.
Even though I’m not really into make-up, there’s this certain ‘touch-up’ in the morning, just like brushing my hair.
Working on a farm and being covered in mud and dirt daily made it pretty unnecessary 😛
So the first morning when I walked around without make-up, I felt really self-conscious about what my face looked like. It’s so rare for me to be around other people without make-up. I didn’t really like what I saw in the mirror. I thought I looked bland and not pretty.
Almost three weeks later I looked into the mirror this morning and suddenly felt satisfied and happy with what I saw.
I got used to seeing me this way day after day. And I started feeling more confident. So here’s a rare (make-up free) selfie just because I felt like sharing! *(edit: I am going to leave out the picture for now..)
Will I stop wearing make-up? No, because I enjoy its look for certain occasions 🙂
Do I think it’s awesome to be ready so much for faster in the morning? Totally 😀
What did I learn: besides accepting myself for what I look like one other important thing:
You can learn to like your look by repeatedly ‘confronting’ yourself with it (look into the mirror). It’s like creating a new habit: at first it feels forced and uncomfortable but over time, it will start becoming natural. ❤️
Reflecting on this status, I can say that I have not worn any make-up since October 2018 and almost forgotten what it feels like applying it every day.
I noticed coming back that in our everyday life, I was coming across a lot more people wearing make-up. When backpacking, many people will eventually ditch their make-up because there is little reason to apply it when you’re at the beach, hiking or turning beds.
In ‘normal life’ I became a little more self-aware of people’s faces and their make-up. I still think that it can look really pretty on people, I definitely understand why people wear it!! And for a minute I thought about going back to my old me, who wouldn’t leave the house without my regular make-up. And then I felt that I wanted to see how I’d feel if I continued the way I had been doing it for the past year.
Every time I met a friend I thought someone would comment on it. Nobody did. Admittedly, I had never worn heavy make-up, so it might not have been that noticeable.
The most challenging time was when I went to job interviews. I actually thought it might be something of a prerequisite to apply make-up, just like the fact that you’re supposed to wear a suit to certain companies to be ‘well-groomed’.
So I was incredibly nervous when I went to job interviews, feeling self-conscious and expecting to be judged.
Nevertheless, I didn’t feel any different reaction from other people in that setting despite not having applied any make-up except for some concealer to hide a bad night’s sleep due to nervousness 😉
The one time, I still feel self-conscious these days is when I am displayed on video-chat. In a way, I can see why people put a lot of make-up when on camera – it does highlight your facial features and make your face look more engaging. Having said that, I do believe that it is another aspect to get used to and I’m still at the beginning stage of this path of acceptance.
And this is another reason, why I am sharing this post today:
Just like the last sentence of my reflection as well as my Facebook post, I have a feeling many of us are (forcibly) creating new habits and routines these days. And many of us will struggle and dislike them. I am hoping though over time, these habits will settle and you will feel less resistance and more acceptance. And when the time comes, maybe the reverse effect will happen, and you’ll go through a reverse ‘habit shock’. Change takes time to get used to, but it’s worth hanging in there!
How I envy where you are now.
I started wearing a full face of makeup daily while living and working in Seoul, South Korea. The beauty industry is huge there and is fueled by sheet masks , serums, skincare, makeup, and cosmetic surgeries. There was an unspoken thing in some work settings where makeup was encouraged (Or rather a lack of makeup was discouraged). Now that I’m back living in the states, wearing makeup is a tradition I’ve held on to. I’ve managed to scale it back by removing the foundation and setting powders, but I still have a long way to go!
I can feel you. I lived in Japan for a while and the situation is just like in Korea. I’d also say that in Japan you were totally expected to wear make-up at the workplace.
It did help me that for 14 months (when traveling) nobody ‘cared’ and also that I saw my face in the mirror a lot without make-up. I now even think it gives me an extra level of confidence because of my vulnerability to present myself exact as I am!
Maybe there will be a point in life where you’ll find that the time is right to tone down even more 💪