4 {ANNOYING} MAKEUP STIGMAS AND HOW TO OVERCOME THEM

written by makeup educator Natalie Setareh in this guest blog.

I’m tired of the stigmas surrounding the use of {men and women} wearing makeup. I’m tired of the stigmas surrounding {mostly women} not wearing makeup.

Unfortunately, wearing clothes is almost mandatory in most societies but wearing makeup is not. Unless you are from the South—like my grandmother was, wearing makeup was mandatory, like wearing underwear (calm down southerners, this is a gross generalization).

Sure, if you really don’t want to wear makeup and have no interest at all, that’s okay. I’m guessing you probably don’t care much about fashion or style, which is also totally okay.

But if you love fashion and style and aren’t into makeup, I would strongly consider asking yourself why, since they are complementary of one another. 

If you love fashion and style but aren’t into makeup because of a lack of time, money, or both, those are all areas where beauty blogs (like mine) or working closely with a makeup artist who can teach you the art of proper application and what products to buy is a great resource.

Adding makeup to your fashion and style completes the puzzle. After all, who “learns” how to wear makeup unless taught by someone who applies it well, with good quality product?

TEACHERS

In my case, both my mother and grandmother were amazing makeup artists for their own faces. I watch(ed) them take care of their skin, invest in products that look(ed) nice on them/color matched, and have always been captivated watching exactly how they applied makeup.

I think that’s also why I love (and you too) watching makeup tutorials. They are addicting and mesmerizing! But unless you grew up learning how to properly shop for, apply, and wear makeup, makeup can be an intimidating accessory to add to your getting ready regime… “What’s the right color for me?” “How do I apply foundation?” “There’s too many choices, I don’t know what’s best for me!”

So you give up! OR You can spend hours scouring the internet for the perfect product only to make the trek to the store to purchase, get home and realize it’s not a good fit/true color match for you. This happens at every price point! Then you feel defeated because you tried, and failed. So you give up!

Many of you give up and fill that extra time to get ready with something else. Then you become part of the camp that “doesn’t have time to apply makeup.” Now, I’m not saying all but many who give up end up inadvertently/unknowingly judge others who do use and wear makeup well. They get defensive and they become more and more opposed to makeup and the stigmas grow and ensue.

Let’s get to the stigmas I hear the most about makeup in general and then let me address them!

MAKEUP STIGMA #1 – MAKEUP IS SO SUPERFICIAL!

Ok, this this image is the FIRST image that came up when I googled the word “superficial.” Stigma enough? Well, technically applying makeup is superficial unless you are including tattoos as part of makeup application (an entirely different blog post). But I completely disagree with the stigma that using makeup is “superficial.” Actually, the use of makeup is {almost} instinctual. Ancient history suggests women and men have been adorning their faces dating back to 10,000 B.C.

Remember, makeup also includes a good skin care regime! In my opinion, it’s almost more unnatural to not want to wear makeup than to just dab on a little here and there. Just like most of us love fashion and dressing well or dressing to compliment our different shapes, so too do we like to adorn our faces. So stop fighting it. There are plenty of days (trust me) that I do NOT wear makeup.

IN-LINE WITH YOUR PERSONALITY

I don’t always have a desire or need to wear makeup. If I’m staying in all day or don’t have any particular desire to wear makeup on any given day, I don’t. Wearing makeup is in line with the rest of my personality. I like to dress up. I like to feel confident. I like to hike and camp. I like to be all natural. I like to break stereotypes, after all just because I wear makeup doesn’t mean I’m “girly,” right?

If I know I’m going to be out and about, just like underwear, I personally like to at least put on my 3 essentials…and let’s be honest, these days I mostly use makeup for the benefits!

Not only does the makeup I choose to use awaken my face for the day, but it also acts as a barrier to exposing my bare skin to the elements of the world, as I try to use makeup packed with great skin hydrators, SPF, and vitamins. Of course with anything you consume, digest, or apply to your skin (clothing included), you should understand the risks involved with certain ingredients (and materials).

Just because it’s expensive doesn’t mean it’s good for you and vice versa. Do your homework. Let makeup WORK FOR YOU!

MAKEUP STIGMA #2 – IT’S ONLY FOR INSECURE PEOPLE

False! Everyone is insecure about something. Wearing makeup does not make you anymore insecure than before. Not wearing makeup does not make you a more confident individual. Makeup Does Not Make You More or Less “Beautiful” Your confidence. Your character. Your compassion….

That’s what makes you a beautiful person. Period. This applies for men and women. This transcends all races, all ethnicities, our human family. Unfortunately, sometimes your inner confidence doesn’t match your outer confidence and having a tool, like makeup to help bridge that confidence gap is huge.

I speak from experience! If you feel 100% confident without makeup, AWESOME! I love it! Just don’t judge others who may use makeup as a confidence booster and don’t not wear makeup to prove to anyone anything.

MAKEUP STIGMA #3 – I DON’T HAVE ANY TIME

(Natalie Rant:: First of all, busy is one of the few words I hate. I loathe it. I choose not to use it in my vocabulary. To me, it’s a terrible word and it shuts people out of your life.

We are ALL busy. We all are being torn in 1000 different directions. Does anyone else feel the same as me? Click here for a GREAT post by Marriage Geek post on busy-ness). Digressing. We use tools everyday…

We dress and buy clothes to flatter our figures/disguise problem areas, accentuate our better areas… We try to choose hairstyles that compliments our face shape… Then some of us stop there and others apply makeup to enhance or bring out our natural beauty or just feel glamorous! When applied properly, makeup can really liven and awaken your face in a matter of seconds! Seconds!

In a matter of seconds, makeup can give you that extra boost of confidence to introduce yourself to one more person at the grocery store, give an amazing speech, rally the masses, feel great in your interview, etc… Just like we practice taking on/off our clothes, or selecting outfits beforehand, or practice doing our hair until it becomes second nature, makeup is the same.

The excuse that “I don’t have time,” sounds like “I don’t have time to get dressed in the morning.” It’s all about time management. I meet so many new moms who just “don’t have time” anymore. Trust me, I’ve been there! And yes, some days there are just not enough minutes in the day. But it’s important that recognize that those days should be the exception and not the norm. Figure out a way to carve out you time everyday. You need it. Trust me.

MAKEUP STIGMA #4 WEARING MAKEUP JUST FEEDS INTO THE FEMININE STEREOTYPE

First of it, makeup is so gender neutral, it’s not funny. It’s in our blood to want to paint our faces. But it’s become an activity predominately practiced by women. However, I believe makeup is not limited to women and I always try to keep my language gender neutral on my site.

Wearing makeup, whether you are a man or a woman, shouldn’t make you less of a man or more of a woman. Wearing makeup is a personal choice.

Don’t wear makeup because you feel pressured to. Wear makeup because you want to.

I can tell you right now that I would never date (or have married) a guy who told/encouraged me wear or not wear makeup. It’s my choice whether or not I wear makeup – and nobody else’s.

If you’re ready to take your makeup application to the next level and transform your image head to toe, visit Create Your Signature Look, the VIP virtual program I’ve created to update and up-level your image today.

Create Your Signature Look includes ten hours of personalized, live, online makeup AND style instruction with me and personal stylist Tammy Parrish. We will show you how to bring your outside in alignment with your inside. Take your career to the next level when you show up representing the successful professional you are, not the person you were five years ago, or in your last job, or before you became a parent.

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