It isn’t really a secret that there are foundations that can be as expensive as $50 per bottle and that there are a lot of cosmetic products on the market that contain harmful and downright poisonous chemicals such as lead.
The Benefits
However, these are not the only benefits of not wearing makeup. Doing so also has other benefits that won’t only affect you but the other people around you as well.
It allows you to do your part in saving the environment
When rinsing off your makeup sponges, brushes, and other applicators, you’re basically dumping harmful chemicals onto the ground. This is because these wastes, despite going through your sewage system, always find their way to dumping sites and rivers, which eventually flow out into oceans and running water or open ground.
Another way that you’re dumping harmful chemicals onto the earth’s surface is by using cleansing wipes or makeup removers. After using cleansing wipes or cotton pads saturated with makeup removers, you’re basically transferring the harmful chemicals of your products from your face onto the ground. By not wearing makeup, you won’t need to wash your sponges and makeup brushes. You won’t need to use makeup removers and cleansing wipes either.
It can save your skin
Even though makeup is generally made to cover blemishes and other imperfections, it doesn’t mean that it cannot cause these problems. Primers that contain dimethicone, for example, are notorious for causing pimples or even bad cases of acne, despite its mattifying benefits. Makeup with lead can cause a lot of dermatological problems and is even believed to cause disease.
Other products in makeup are also known to cause uneven skin tone, rosacea, and dark spots. Non-comedogenic makeup is known to cause skin irritation and other problems, especially for those with sensitive skin. This just goes to show that the skin problems that these products directly cause greatly outweigh the temporary benefits that they provide.
It helps you save a lot of time and energy
Because of the fact that many women find it entertaining or even distracting to put on makeup, they fail to realize that they almost spend an hour every single day in front of the mirror while applying these products onto the skin. If you don’t think that you spend a lot of time on makeup, start filming yourself while getting all dolled up.
This will allow you to precisely see how much time and effort you actually spend on using these products on a daily basis. This is much preferable than using or setting a timer since doing so will put conscious pressure on you to hasten the process and move more quickly than you normally would.
These benefits just show that there are lots of advantages in not wearing makeup. It won’t only make you save time and money, but it can also help save the environment for other people and the next generation. What’s more, it also helps prevent the formation of stubborn skin problems and will leave your skin looking and feeling naturally beautiful and healthier.
Tips on How to Stop Wearing Makeup
Staying away from makeup products can do wonders for your skin and health. Aside from steering you away from products that can clog your pores, it can also save you from harmful chemicals that can cause several health issues. This is why staying away from makeup is one of the best things that you can do for your face and health.
However, those facts alone may not be enough motivation for you to stay away from these products even for just a short period of time. When this happens, one of the things that you can do is follow certain tips on how to avoid using these products. Here are some tips on how to stop wearing makeup:
List the prices of your products
Even if you prefer drugstore brands over high-end ones, you may still end up splurging hundreds to even thousands of dollars per month on cosmetic products, especially if buying these products has become somewhat of a habit. When you like makeup so much, it’s easy to get lost in their numbers and fail to see them, even if they are starting to wreak havoc on your finances.
This is why it’s a good idea to jot down the prices of the products that you own in one big list and take a look at the total. This will give you a clear picture of just how much you spend and how much you would be able to save if you start to wear less and less to the point that you stop wearing makeup.
Watch YouTube gurus
The evolution of the internet has allowed YouTube gurus to rise into fame by showing ordinary people how to make the most of makeup and transform themselves into an entirely different person. This is why there are a lot of people who think that watching these internet sensations can only motivate you to use more and more makeup. Even though this may be true in some cases, the same cannot be said in all scenarios.
There are times wherein watching YouTube gurus will motivate you to wear less makeup since they will make it easier for you to see how time-consuming the entire routine can actually be. Watching their videos will also allow you to live vicariously through them. This means that you’ll be able to get your makeup fix even if you don’t actually put a single drop of any product on your face.
Read Self-Confidence Books and Articles
Most often than not, the reason why people wear makeup is to feel good about themselves and to find it easier to socialize with other people since they have a mask that can help hide their flaws. This is why it’s important to read books and articles that can teach you how to boost your self-confidence the natural way without using any products. This will also give you a new perspective in life, which will allow you to eliminate other bad behavior, such as sticking to high-end brands.
Saying goodbye to makeup may seem very difficult at first, but if you just faithfully and wholeheartedly follow these steps, you’ll surely be able to stay away from makeup in the quickest and most efficient way possible.
Even though the quickest way to stop wearing makeup is to simply go “cold turkey,” there are times wherein this isn’t the best thing to do, especially if you’ve been wearing makeup for the longest time. This is because at this point, your brain may already recognize the act of putting on makeup as a part of your daily and normal routine.
This means that when you suddenly stop wearing makeup, your brain may think that there’s something wrong. When this happens, you’ll most likely lose focus on the other aspects of your life or you may not be able to function properly. The best thing to do would be to follow a series of steps that can help you get away from makeup little by little.
Read about the benefits of not wearing makeup
Reading about the benefits of not wearing makeup is the best way to condition yourself to stay away from makeup. By knowing these benefits, you’ll have that inner realization that not putting on a single drop of foundation is the best thing that you can do for your face and health.
This will subconsciously open you up to following the other steps that will allow you to finally let go of makeup. If this doesn’t seem to motivate you, try reading about the benefits of wearing less makeup first. You may have to go one step at a time here.
Line up all of the products that you use
For most women, realizing that they simply put on too many products on a daily basis is a struggle because they only reach for one product at a time. By lining up the products that you use daily or on a regular basis, you’ll be able to see just how much substance you really put on your face.
This will also make it easier for you to see just how much you spend on makeup products alone. This knowledge will serve as a great motivation for you to move on to the next step, which is to start using less.
Start using less
The best way to go about this step is to identify your necessities and stick with them. Usually, these necessities should only include foundation, concealer, and lip balm. If you seem to find it hard to stick to these three main products, try eliminating one product from your roster week per week. You should start with the products that have less impact than others, such as your highlighter or eyebrow gel.
Keep a makeup diary
If you’ve the time, make a journal for your quest toward using fewer products. This will make it easier for you to see the improvements on your skin and your overall attitude on how you see yourself and how you think others see you. This will also motivate you to continue with this path until you’re more than happy and confident with your bare face or skin.
Share your story with others
Sharing is caring. Move one step higher from your makeup diary by making a blog so that you can share your story with others. In turn, others will also share their own stories with you, and eventually, you’ll get the right motivation and support that you’ll need to stay away from makeup from others who also share the same experiences with you.
By following these steps, you’ll have a better and more effective alternative for giving up on makeup without going “cold turkey.” Just take these steps one at a time until you can finally break up with your makeup.
Support Feminism: Stop Wearing Makeup
The fight to have the same rights as men is a cause that all women share, whether consciously or subconsciously.
This is because the instances of inequality have brought grief and hardship to so many women over the years that it has become one of the most popular causes that have been passed down from generation to generation.
However, there are still those who are skeptical about doing what they can to support feminism since they think that they need to be active protesters and successful campaign organizers in order to make a difference. What they don’t realize is that there’s a cheaper and healthier way to support the cause: stop wearing makeup.
Connection between makeup and feminism
One of the most common reasons why women wear makeup is to increase their self-confidence by improving their outer appearance. Therefore, they pay special attention to how they can look their best every single day. However, what they fail to see is that they are giving men the material that they need to objectify women or see women as sex objects.
By putting on makeup, women are subconsciously or unconsciously asking men to focus on their outer appearance instead of their intelligence or their ideas. In doing so, they may make certain men feel like they are entitled to every makeup-wearing woman that they see since they think that women are putting forth the effort to look good for men.
When this happens, certain men will fail to realize that women wear makeup for themselves, not for men to gawk at them.
The other side of the argument
In the same manner that some feminists argue that women should not be afraid to wear revealing clothes because of their fear of being objectified by men, some women argue that women should not feel like they have to stop wearing makeup just so that men won’t objectify them.
Even though this principle is correct in some aspects, women should remember that even though not wearing makeup isn’t a guarantee that they won’t be objectified nor viewed equally, it’s better to have tried something to stop this unwanted effect.
They should realize that not wearing makeup is like saying that men should not solely judge them for their looks. Men should not automatically assume that women are trying to look good in order to impress men, and what better way to do that than to stay away from products that are advertised to have the ability to make women more desirable to men?
This is why not wearing makeup is a great way to start supporting the cause without spending thousands of dollars on campaigns or countless hours on the streets for protests. It’s a subtle yet effective way to tell men that women are beautiful not because of their looks but because of their personality, which is why they should be respected and treated equally. They are not pieces of attractive meat that they can just gnaw on whenever they want.
Be Mentally Prepared to Break Up with Makeup
When it comes to saying no to makeup, it’s important for women to understand that this task can be, for some, the most difficult thing that they have to do in their entire lives.This can be the case if you’ve been wearing makeup ever since you were in your teens or if you’ve reached a point wherein you already associate cosmetic products with certain feelings and emotions.
Do you feel calm whenever you’re applying your foundation? Are you less insecure whenever you’ve concealer on? Do you feel more empowered or confident when you’re sporting that red lipstick? These are just some of the emotions or beliefs that can make it difficult for you to stop using these cosmetic products. So in order to overcome these obstacles, you need to mentally prepare yourself for the task.
Here are some tips on how to mentally prepare yourself when it comes to breaking it off with makeup:
Be confident in your own skin
Take the time to look into the mirror with no makeup on and analyze your face. Find your natural physical traits that you absolutely adore and are proud of. Wearing makeup on a regular basis can make it easy for you to forget that you’ve natural and beautiful physical traits – traits that don’t need any type of enhancements in order to be noticed.
Realizing these traits will make it easier for you to understand that maybe you don’t need makeup after all. Maybe you were trying to cover flaws that only exist in your imagination. So believe in your natural beauty. By having this mindset, you’ll be able to ease into the idea of not wearing any makeup at all for a long period of time.
Realize that you don’t have to go completely bare
What turns most people off when it comes to staying away from makeup is that they think that this means staying away from all forms of cosmetic products. What they don’t realize is that wearing makeup doesn’t mean that you should stop applying even just simple baby powder on your face.
Staying away from cosmetic products means that you don’t have to put on your entire roster of foundation, concealer, and highlighter in order to feel good about yourself. However, baby powder and other products like a tinted lip balm that can make you look presentable without looking overdone can still be used.
Focus on other people
Oftentimes, people wear makeup in order to attract other people and build relationships, whether it’s romantic or professional. What you need to understand is that you don’t have to focus on putting tons of products on your face in order to make these people want to connect to you.
Instead of focusing on the right lipstick shade or eye shadow color, start focusing on improving the way that you interact with these people. Start finding ways to communicate better with them through verbal and non-verbal cues. Try to eliminate awkward pauses and other uncomfortable traits and behaviors that you may have.
By internalizing these steps, you’ll be able to mentally prepare yourself for the task of breaking up with makeup. Believe in your own beauty and capacities; don’t put all your trust in the power of makeup. Remember that the essence of makeup is only to enhance your natural beauty, not to completely cover or replace it.
Very interesting. Have cut way down but tinted lip gloss and mascara have stuck around.