When Can I Stop Wearing Makeup Around Him

In early 2018, the overarching theme of all content I produced fell nether the thought of "perceptions of pretty." The aim was to take a deep dive into the history, etymology, and electric current-day perceptions of the word, "pretty." When brainstorming story ideas, information technology got me thinking about my own thoughts on the word and what makes me feel good virtually myself or, for lack of a improve discussion, pretty.

Working in beauty, I, obviously, have a love for skincare and makeup products, some of which I rely on every single day to experience "washed." As my thoughts progressed, I thought information technology would exist an interesting experiment to skip makeup birthday for two whole weeks to come across how information technology made me experience. Would I feel empowered? Lack confidence? Be able to sleep in an extra 15 minutes? Teeter on the edge of embarrassment? These were all very possible outcomes I was willing to explore. At the end of my experiment, downwards every thought and emotion that ran through my heed for the entirety of my barefaced journeying of cocky-discovery. I besides took some iPhone photos for reference (that you can see below).

For more on what it'southward similar to go makeup-free for a week, continue scrolling.

The Baseline Makeup Routine

To provide a petty context, I don't habiliment a lot of makeup by standard ways. No-makeup-makeup is my daily get-to, albeit achieved with eight products (primer, foundation/cc foam, concealer, highlighter, brow gel, mascara, lip balm, and blush, to be exact). But for this, I quit cold turkey. I actually put it off for the first ii weeks of February considering attention a calendar total of beauty and social events barefaced fabricated me feel broken-hearted (hence the missed deadline getting this in before the month's end, whoops).

The Benefits of Going Makeup-Free

• An easier skincare routine

• No demand to remove makeup at the end of the day

• Less fourth dimension required to get ready each morning

As mentioned, day 1 was great. I really received a bunch of compliments because I had that mail service-facial glow and my eyebrows were on signal. But that post-facial glow does not last forever. In the days that followed, I had a few tiny whiteheads crop up that I had to squeeze always then gently with tissues wrapped around my fingers to avoid big crimson marks that I was unable to cover with concealer. And eyebrows! Luckily, Lien Davies of Brow Confidence (who does my brows) instructed me to use a bar of soap to brush them up, and seeing as this isn't "makeup," I was able to continue this for the two-calendar week experiment (cue the fist pump). Simply other than that, my routine consisted of sunscreen, and that'due south it. Cleansing at night was a breeze as well, seeing as in that location was no makeup to remove.

Every forenoon I took twenty minutes less to get set up, and I am (kind of) proud to say that I simply cheated once. I was filming a Facebook Alive with Alli Webb from Dry Bar, and I used a tiny bit of eyebrow crayon. Simply, in my defense, I was otherwise completely bare-faced on the internet for the world to see. For me, that was a relatively courageous human action.

What to Look When Going Makeup-Free

Overall, I felt smashing when I went makeup-free, though in that location were certainly moments where I would take washed anything for a bit of concealer or a swipe of red lipstick. I had a particularly important piece of work-related dinner issue 1 night during the experiment, and I admit that wearing nada (surrounded past cute women who were made up) made me feel a little inadequate. I wished I had lipstick on or mascara, at the least. Another example is when I received a few photos of myself from a press event in my inbox. When I opened them, it was blatantly obvious (to me) that I was wearing no makeup. To run across it staring directly back at me (and not in the mirror) was pretty confronting.

Simply, on the other hand, I've probably never received more compliments on my skin than I accept in the past two weeks. I'm bold it'south because anybody can meet my actual pare and not just how it looks with a niggling aptly placed foundation. I was really even called a "glow worm" by one of the girls in the manufacture. For someone who is pedantic about her skin, this was a pretty wonderful compliment.

Oribe Dry Texturizing spray $23.00

Shop

While I missed makeup, I felt empowered and confident coming out on the other side. I am actually nonetheless blank-faced as I write this and probably won't wear any makeup to work tomorrow, either. The single greatest aspect of this experiment is how quickly I can be out the door to work in the morning. Skincare, Oribe Texturizing Spray ($48) in my hair, and I'm done. It's changed my forenoon routine for the better, that'due south for sure (I've started jade rolling again with my newfound time, and it'south so skilful).

To go an idea of how much of a transformation going makeup-free actually was, let'south have a wait at how my daily look and routine changed. To begin, I've got a photo of my confront entirely made up (by Terry DeGunzburg, no less). I as well take a blowout, and so my confidence was peaking. While it's a natural look, there is a highly skilled application of creams, liquids, and powders that had me all glowy and even-toned. Ah, the power of makeup, right?

Emily Algar

Before

Next, we take a photo of me arrant, taken on solar day one. But, I will disclose that the nighttime before, I'd had a facial with Melanie Grant (and a healthy splash of Biologique P50), and my eyebrows done past Davies. Too, the natural lighting in my bathroom is on point.

Emily Algar

After

Beneath, I posted one three days prior, minus the lighting and plus a smattering of acne marks and pigmentation. If I'1000 existence honest, coming into this experiment, I was more than worried well-nigh not filling in my eyebrows than skipping foundation, but I'll go to that later.

Emily Algar

The Last Takeaway

So, the answer to the meg-dollar question is: Practise I need makeup to feel pretty? No. Do I feel prettier without information technology? Not always. And would I do it over again? 100 percent. But another thought I had was about the discussion "pretty" itself. Looking back, I'd probably rather sub it out for "confident," considering "pretty" is such a subjective and convoluted term. In short, I overall still felt capable and adept about myself without my daily face paint, and I'one thousand pretty proud that I stuck it out.