10 Reasons I Don’t Like Wearing Makeup

Disclaimer: This has everything to do with me and nothing to do with you.

Flickr / xtina5645
Flickr / xtina5645

We’re bombarded with commercials and images of flawless, “I woke up like this” models, male and female. We often forget that they did not indeed wake up like that but rather had the help of a million and one products from the world’s greatest cosmetics companies. It almost feels strange to see people barefaced (can you believe it? There’s even a word for those of us who don’t wear makeup).

Despite all the hype and whatnot, makeup really isn’t for everyone and for good reason. Here are my 10 reasons why I don’t wear makeup.


1. It’s my choice.

I have always been of the belief that makeup should ENHANCE and not DETERMINE your beauty. If you have beautiful eyes, makeup can make them pop (think eyeliner and smoky eyes). If you lack eyebrows, you can pencil them in, tastefully please, otherwise you look like a bridge (bird, it changes) taking off. If you have a big nose, it can be made smaller by contouring. If you have pimples, you can make them disappear. And so on and so forth. You can hide your blemishes but you shouldn’t hide yourself.


2. It’s so much work.

The only work I’d put in without complaining is eating or cooking the food (though that too leaves a lot to be desired). Women become objects of beauty and criticism because of what they choose to put on their face. ‘Oh, she used foundation but not concealer.’ ‘Oh, that shade is too light for her.’ ‘Oh, that eye shadow was an utter fail.’ Oh this and oh that. Makeup is just another way of getting judged unnecessarily. Being human is judgment enough. Now I must get judged based on what I put on my face? Check, please.


3. I love my sleep and I’m not willing to sacrifice a whole hour to put my face together.

Sleep is to me what water is to plants. Essential. Vital. Of the utmost importance. Without sleep, life is but a symphony you cannot hear. Life is but a cone without ice cream. Life is like…I got carried away. Sleep is everything to me. I know people and have heard of others who wake up a whole hour or more to put their face together. That’s an extra hour in addition to the hour you must add to getting ready so you can beat the traffic, which in bustling cities is a nightmare, and still make it to work on time in tip-top shape. Not for me. That sleep between 3am and 6am is bliss.


4. In my mind, it’s associated with groupies and fake people.

Sorry. My first experience of makeup was superstars and 12-year-olds trying to pass off as 18-year-olds. Many of them pulled it off, but the rest should have just given it up. You just have to look at some of these music videos in certain genres *cough, cough* and you’ll probably never find a woman (who’s scantily clothed, mind you) without makeup.


5. It’s an expensive lifestyle.

I’d rather spend my hard-earned cash on food and sweets. Also, there are so many courses I want to take, programming, design, coding, you name it. I also would love to travel, buy more boots for my boot collection, buy a yacht, buy a summer home in Malta overlooking the ocean…the list is endless. By not buying and investing in makeup, I’m saving up so I can be able to pursue my dreams. Score.


6. I’d always have to worry about white clothes and not leaving my indelible mark on people.

Here’s a classic example of that. I was hugging a tall, lanky guy friend of mine. He’s like 6’5″ and my head reached his chest and as I hugged this fella, I turned and whoops! Lipstick on white shirt on his right breast. As he still stayed at home, he would have to explain to his mother how my Black Opal maroon got on his chest. Sigh, good times. P.S. He never let me live it down.


7. It gets messy.

I’ve seen those movies with women donning mascara and lipstick while driving a minivan with six kids in the middle of peak traffic and at the end of it all, they look like a clown. I don’t like clowns so I certainly don’t want to look like one. I could poke out my eye trying to do eyeliner or else trying to place fake eyelashes on my eye. I value my eyes, thank you very much. I’m four eyes, now I must be no eyes. I’ll pass.


8. It changes people’s perception of you.

When you wear makeup, the world revolves around you and people have a (sometimes unrealistic) perception of you. That you’re beautiful 24/7 and that you woke up like this. No, you look as crusty as (or worse than) everyone else and if they can’t deal, then so be it. I much better enjoy wash and go and still looking like this *inserts attractive picture*.


9. You have to try hundreds of products to find the right one for you, or else you have bad skin.

As a sufferer of acne, I’m not about to clog my pores in the pursuit of beauty. Shoutout to Ponds for helping me to have less shiny and oily skin and really have popping skin. Life is too short for a little Maybelline where Vaseline will do just fine. Besides, trying beauty products isn’t the same as trying different spreads or juices. Different league altogether.


10. It makes me look old!

I literally just have to put on my Ponds and a little lipstick and I look decent. That’s it. That’s my morning regime. Perhaps when I’m older and my skin isn’t so supple, I’ll be forced to give into the commercial world of consumers and beauty. But until then, I’m sleeping in one hour more and when I leave the house, we are both looking great :)


I’m not bashing women who wear makeup so tastefully you’d barely notice they’re wearing it. No. Each to her own. Just that not wearing it is my own. If you love wearing makeup, own it, babe. Thought Catalog Logo Mark

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