BARE-ing my Face for a Week
Do you ever read Cosmo or Buzzfeed Snapchat Stories and think "ya right?" Well I do. That's why when I stumbled across the Cosmo article that featured the story of a woman who went a week without makeup, I decided to follow suit and test the validity of the story.
The Cosmo story was written by a woman (I'm assuming she worked for the magazine), who decided to spend a week without makeup. She claimed that she didn't wear excessive makeup on a daily basis, and that she had, for the most part, pretty good skin. I also wear minimal makeup on a daily basis, but do occasionally have problem skin that I like to hid with concealer and foundation.
To summarize the article, she talked about how the experiment was much harder than she expected, and that she realized she felt much more vulnerable without makeup. Though I understand makeup is very personal and is a different experience for everyone, I thought this seemed a little dramatic.
Between my skepticism in regards to the Cosmo article, and my curiosity as to whether or not abandoning makeup would improve my skin, I decided to put the "no-makeup experiment" to the test.
Before starting a week without makeup, I primed by face the night before using L'Oréal's Pure-Clay Detox and Brighten Mask, followed by Nivea's Gentle Toner, and finished by using Clinique's Smart Custom-Repair Serum.
Day 1: I won't lie. It was weirder than I expected to not cover my face with foreign substances. I definitely had blemishes that I was itching to cover up and spent the day acutely aware that I looked exhausted and unkept.
Day 2: The perks of not wearing makeup is that it takes a solid 10 minutes off my morning routine. My skin hasn't started to clear up yet but I already care less about the way I look.
Day 3-5: The extra time spent lying in my bed is definitely making this experiment worthwhile. After day 2 I really stopped caring about what people thought of my bare face. I hardly see anyone at work, and aside from times when I would go out in public, I had completely forgotten about the fact that I wasn't wearing makeup. My skin still wasn't free of blemishes, but it felt much healthier.
Day 6-7: I feel as though these were two cheat days... I spent the weekend at the lake (and don't normally wear makeup there anyways). I'm not sure whether it was a week free of makeup, a week of extra sleep, or just my skin's natural routine, but by the beginning of this week I definitely noticed an improvement in my skin.
It's been just over a week since the end of this experiment, and I have yet to return to my 'normal' makeup routine. It seems that a few swipes of mascara in the morning can tide me over if it means 10 extra minutes of beauty sleep!
As for the Cosmo article, I can't say whether or not it was over-dramatized.I think that every woman who wears makeup on a daily basis would have a different experience if they went a week without. Makeup is a great way to promote self-confidence and can be a great tool to express creativity, and although I may be choosing sleep over sponges for the summer, come September (and a social life) we'll see how quickly I reach for the concealer and highlighter.
Yours naturally,
Carling
