Wednesday, Sept. 25
Officially halfway to my goal (ahhhh, sigh of relief). I have struggled (nearly) every day to resist the urge to give in and put makeup on. This morning included. And if it hadn’t been for my public declaration (no matter how small of a “public” that is) of abstaining from makeup for 30 days (30 days?!?!) I would have surely quit by now.
So, in celebration of hitting my halfway mark (I already downed TWO cups of coffee today to start it out!) I am posting some pics of celebrities caught (purposely or not) without makeup, and why I think they are beautiful!
In my search for “natural” beauties, I came across this headline “Nearly Unrecognizable! 20 Shocking Photos Of Stars Without Makeup”. I couldn’t help but notice how this site uses stars without makeup to propagate the idea that women look HORRIBLE without it! This is done by taking candid shots (people who clearly do not want their picture taken) at unflattering angles, with poor lighting, and awkward environments. Shame on you! Let’s make no-makeup look beautiful, while still keeping it real.
So I found another site that featured Jessica Alba, one of my fave celebs for her style, charm, and most recently for providing my baby with super-cute and toxic-free diapers from her business The Honest Company (okay, she’s not “providing” them to me personally per say, but I discovered them and signed up so I’m billed monthly and they ship right to my front door!). But look at her! That caramel complexion, the big doe eyes, the plump lips, and dark hair…I love her!
There could be positive feedback on these stars and their “looks” (and sometimes there IS flattering commentary), but when encountering the article, the reader is immediately told that only SOME of these stars look beautiful. The headline, “Most of these celebs are just as beautiful without the red carpet spackle,” makes me cringe. All I notice is the “Most” part of that headline, which means many but not all. But wait, there’s more! We are told, “Brace yourself for the horror of lucky number 13”. That’s so mean!
So, who’s number 13? Madonna. Love her or hate her or don’t care. But it’s so NOT cool to say “Madonna is looking a little worn out and her age is starting show, with lack of make up.” (Oh yes, they did!) Well, duh! God forbid ANY of us begin to look our age (even though many have speculated that she DOES indeed hold some anti-aging secret, just not the website in question)! She should get props for how well she’s “aged”.
Taylor Swift opted to actually POSE for People Magazine, sans makeup, and I personally think that’s FABULOUS! And, she looks AMAZING! At least this site offers positive feedback for it’s country stars they feature without makeup. Look at her—striking a confident pose, wild hair, crystal eyes, and dewy complexion. Sure, she has a professional photographer, which helps. But she doesn’t need eyeshadow and mascara and blush, why should I feel that I need it?
I found a great pic of Jessica Biel, and a slideshow of other pretty celebs. Not much commentary, and an annoying popup ad, that admittedly prevented me from going through each slide (come on Disneyland, we already have passes, I don’t need your ad to pop up EVERY time I click on another slide, puhleeeease, you already raised prices, annoying popups are NOT going to help).
I found a cute pic of Jennifer Love Hewitt, and on the site it brags of other celebs taking the “no-makeup plunge”, which commenters couldn’t help but pick apart—claiming some were wearing eyeliner or lip tint. But look at her…she’s just like us (as in, “normal” people). She has dark eyes, pale skin, and good ol’ regular colored lips. And those things are stunning on her! Why not on me?
I found a link to another article on the same site, Magdalena, Laura & Jesinta Go Makeup-Free For a Good Cause. While I don’t know who any of these lovely ladies are (I know, I know, just google it) I totally love what they are doing and appreciate their candor when Laura Cstoran (okay I did it, I googled her—Miss Australia 2007) admits that “For two nights now I’ve been tossing and turning about these pictures”.
So there it is! My tribute to beautiful, fresh-faced celebs, who inspire me to keep going forward in my quest for self-acceptance. To realize that I do look “normal”. That it’s okay to not wear makeup. That nobody is perfect. And that society (media) puts WAY too much pressure on women to look a certain way (flawless), and that society (us) are also pretty mean and cruel to the women who don’t meet those standards (that we both accept and reject simultaneously).
Such a complicated world full of mixed messages. And beauty is no exception.
(See: Morton’s fork. See: False dilemma. See: Catch-22.) You are NOT beautiful if you have to rely on makeup to make you look pretty. AND…you are NOT beautiful if you DON’T wear makeup. Kind of like the stay-at-home mom vs the working-mom dilemma. Society judges you either way (you are being selfish for choosing a career over your kids, or you are settling by choosing kids over a career). Gosh (see, I’m trying to stop using so many swear words, I AM a mother, afterall…insert blushing emoji here), it can be tough to be a woman.
Come on guys, gals, whoever, let’s meet in the middle somewhere…there is so much more to beauty than what meets the eye (right? doesn’t anyone look inward anymore?).
30 Days of My 30s 