© Masson
I’m currently writing this blog post up while sitting at a cafe, having a cup of coffee … and I don’t have a lick of makeup on. That’s right, I’m out of the house and all I have on my face is sunscreen. No foundation, no BB cream, no lipstick.
I know. Horror of horrors.
The thing is, it doesn’t bother me at all. But if you were to ask me if I felt naked leaving the house without any makeup on up to a couple of years ago, I’d give a resounding HELL YES.
When I say makeup, I don’t mean a full face of makeup. Not in this context anyway. I’m not talking about having eye makeup on, bronzer or even blush. At the very minimum, it would be foundation or BB cream and a tinted lip balm. And nope, I don’t have any of those on right now and I don’t feel naked at all.
But you see, it wasn’t long ago that I would think otherwise. I would actually apply BB cream or foundation, blush and a lipstick before even just going to a grocery store. I wouldn’t even think of going to a shopping centre without makeup on. I’d feel really naked and exposed with my blotchiness, redness and hyperpigmentation for all the world to see.
I can’t even remember when it was that I started wearing foundation. It must be just before I started working. I’ve told this story before but I’ll mention it again for those who are new to BA. Soon after I started working, I was having lunch at the factory canteen one day when a male colleague sat next to me, turned to me and said very matter of factly, “you know, you really should put some foundation on“.
SAY WHAT NOW?
Believe you me, if I knew him longer than I had at that time, I would have blasted him for what he just said. But I didn’t know him well at all and I became so red in the face that I very quietly and quickly finished my meal and excused myself.
That weekend, I rushed to MAC and bought my first expensive foundation. And I didn’t stop wearing foundation to work or out the house until many years later. I wouldn’t even go to Woolworths without at least slapping some BB cream on. When my cousin Beetrice came to visit, she was surprised that I was so dolled up just to go to the grocery store. She even asked me “Err, we’re just going to Centro, right?”
So how did I stop feeling naked without a lick of makeup on? I’ll toot my own horn here a little and say that it was due to religious caring for my skin. Skincare is very important to me and I made damn sure that my skin looked and felt the best it could. A lousy canvas wouldn’t hold nor show off the best paints and the same goes for our skin. While my skin is still rather red around the nose and I still have a lot of hyperpigmentation, it looks good enough without me needing to have foundation/BB cream when I leave the house.
And you know something? It feels pretty damn good to go out without any makeup on and still feel confident about myself.
Funny story? That male colleague I mentioned earlier actually asked me out a year or two later. We had gotten to know each other better then and while we didn’t end up dating, I did tell him about the foundation story. He had absolutely no recollection of that incident, but it stayed with me till now. A woman may forgive but she never forgets.
I still draw the line at going to Woolworths in my PJs though. I haven’t given up on life yet. 😛
What about you? Do you feel naked without any makeup on? Do you need to have foundation/BB cream on when you leave the house?*
*Staying in the car doesn’t count
The only time I’ll head out of the house without makeup is if I’m walking the dog around the neighborhood, but I really like to have something on my face if I’m heading out .. would hate to run into someone with a bare face – like you said oh, the horrors .. lol
Monica.
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Hahaha yeah I know what you mean. I’ve run into blog readers bare-faced. The horrors. They must be thinking “er she calls herself a beauty blogger??”. Ooops. 😛
I’m quite happy to go out without makeup on, since pretty much my whole life I’ve had relatively “good”/clear skin. However, more recently I’ve been breaking out and have noticed redness around my nose, but I still only wear foundation on special occasions, thanks to my laziness 😛
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Ooh lucky you! All you’ll need is just a bit of concealer on the bumps and redness and you’re done. Don’t even need foundation. 😉
Oh yea. I do it all the time on weekends. If I’m going out just to run errands – breakfast, groceries, dry cleaning, Coco’s food, etc, I really don’t care. I have decent skin, my biggest problem is my dark circles but Meh. I don’t even wear my contact lenses and just hop out with glasses haha. just rock it with confidence and seriously no one examines our skin as much as we examine our own. We’re always our worst and harshest critic.
Hahahaha why do you think I’m always wearing glasses even when I’m out for anything fancy? It hides a multitude of sins. 😛
I feel incomplete without doing something to my face and hair if I’m going out. I’m happy to be fresh faced at home but I want to look somewhat presentable when I’m out and about. Although, I have gone out without makeup on if I’m in a rush and hope I don’t think about it too much haha.
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That’s good that you don’t think much about it. I know of people who wouldn’t be caught dead without makeup on even just for the simplest of things. They don’t even have bad skin!
Honestly any excuse to not wear makeup is a good excuse. Realising a few years back that no one really cares if I’m bare faced was extremely liberating. I like makeup, but I don’t like a societal pressure to wear it, you know?
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Oh my god yes. Feels damn good to go out and be confident that yes, I don’t have any makeup on so what. My excuse is my skin needs to breathe. 😛
I woke up today at noon, rolled out of bed, threw some clothes on and my hair in a bun and went to run errands. I’ll be 40 next year and I’ve dodged wrinkles and greying hair. I also went to my 20yr HS reunion last year and people told me that I looked exactly the same. That compliment alone is a good enough reason for me to leave the house sans makeup any day of the week. Do I like makeup. Yes. Do I need makeup? No.
Spot on comment, Tracy! I love it! Geez louise, if I received such a compliment, I’d be over the moon. That is simply amazing that they said you looked exactly the same as you did 20 years ago and that you do! 🙂
Thanks! I think it’s empowering to be able to leave your house without caring what people are going to think. Age is really just a number so bring on the 40s cause I’m ready
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The only time I would wear make – up is when I feel “extra crrative” 🙂
heck, I even rocked up without any make up to few parties, can you believe that! It’s not that my skin is perfrest just couldn’t be bothered or was too lazy 😉
I guess with time I grew to love my self as is. These days, when I do put on makeup I sometimes feel that it’s not me, if you know what I mean.
as for your “foundation guy” I know how you feel. A girl once told me I’ve put on weight and that small comment spiraled me down into near anorexic state! I am sure she would have no recollection of that incident but those words stayed with me ever since.
Right right? See how badly nonchalantly-spoken words can hurt someone? That’s just awful what that girl’s comment did to you and you’re right; I’m very sure she can’t even remember saying that at all. I hope you’re all right now. 🙂
I think it really comes down to how comfortable I feel in my skin. I’m happy ducking down the shops bare-faced (thanks to paula’s choice, of course), but I would never go to work without makeup on. I feel it gives me the more professional and polished look that I’d be going for in the workplace.
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Nah, I’d never go to work without makeup on either. I liken that to going out in my pyjamas. NOT happening. 😛
I love that naked feeling of not having any make-up on – just my usual face moisturizer and sunscreen – and I don’t care even if I look a bit pale, haha. Never mind the freckles and fine lines too. The only time I put on make-up is on weekends or during special outings with special people…and when I do, it’s a treat – the same reason why I spritz myself with my favourite perfume just to brighten up my day or make me feel more professional at work.
I call it “putting on our game face”. We need that. But what we don’t need is our game face 24/7 so that naked, bare-faced feeling? Oh so good. You wanna talk pale? You should see my legs come summer. “Pak cham kai”. 😛
I don’t know about other women but for me, a guy who does wear makeup, yes. I think it’s due to the fact that I have horrible acne scars and pimples that I need (emphasised) to have em’ lil buggers concealed and covered with at least tinted moisturisers or foundation (not on the Alphabet cream bandwagon). I also think that, once you have shown people your ‘made-up’ face on, personally, I’d think its a little embarrassing showing them your bare face since they have this perception in their minds that you look that way (to clarify: they think your made-up look is your ‘bare’ face – that’s why some people I’ve seen on shows/Youtube are shocked when the cement comes off).
I hope I am making sense haha. But yeah, I do feel face-bare. But I’ll tell you what I won’t do. I won’t wear makeup to the local 10minute walk away Tescos because nobody there knows me anyways, unless I’m in a mood, then I’ll even spritz the Chanel no5 (I don’t wear this, I dislike distinguishable and mainstream perfumes – I wear Jo Loves’ a shot of thai lime over mango) – but you get the gist.
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Haha yes I know what you mean. The problem with that perception is that we always have to have a “good” face on, you know what I mean? The more of our “good” face we show, the less “real” face they know. Having said that, my skin is better now than it was in my 20s; back then, I wouldn’t show my “real” face unless … nope, I won’t show it at all. 😛
Argh why don’t we have Jo Loves perfumes here? I’ve heard such good things >.<
I spent the first 18 years of my life vehemently refusing to wear makeup because it was time I could better spend sleeping and reading and any amount of interesting things.
Since I mostly wear makeup as a ‘grown-up’ form of face painting these days, this still largely holds true for me, I almost never go out wearing makeup of any kind. I have acne, I have slight redness around my nose, I often have darkness under my eyes, I don’t care. Sometimes if I feel like I look tired or sick I’ll put concealer on but otherwise I don’t pay attention to makeup.
oh I have 1 weakness tho, I powder my forehead frequently because it gets shiny all the time and the effect of blotting paper doesn’t last long for me. and when i put concealer on i have to powder that too since the maybelline fit me concealer doesn’t dry down.
Yeah I know what you mean by a shiny forehead. Mine is a shiny nose and when I’m not wearing makeup, I still have to powder my T-zone because it gets really oily.
People who know me in real life seem astounded that I don’t wear makeup all the time. They always say, “but you blog about this stuff, you must wear it all the time”. But honestly, and this is one of the things I preach on my blog, I wear makeup because I want to. Not because I feel like I need to cover something up or because I feel uncomfortable in my own skin. I really loved this post, thanks for sharing!
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I often go out without wearing makeup if I’m just running errands. I’ve always seen makeup as an accessory to wear whenever I feel like it, rather than a must. It also helps that I’ve always got good, clear skin so I’ve never felt uncomfortable.
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That’s good to hear G. You do have very lovely skin. 🙂
I used to go barefaced all the time… but that was in my 20s and 30s. Now I only go for my walks around the neighborhood with just sunscreen on. My makeup minimum is a bb cream and eyeliner. Takes a minute and I feel dressed.
One minute! Now that is amazing. My minimum still takes at least 5 mins. 😛
Of course, I only wear the minimum on rare occasions — errand day, for instance. Most days, I wear at least 6 colors around my eyes (shadow, crease, brow, eyeliner, mascara, the ever-crucial concealer) plus bb cream, a bit of blush and a dusting of sunscreen powder. That takes a bit longer than 5 minutes. 🙂
Now that I’m in my 50s, I need more contrast to look alert. But just a bit of evening out to look presentable.
Makeup no, I can do without especially as it gives my sensitive skin a breather. Eyeliner? Hell no! Every time I’ve ever gone out without it everyone asks why I look so tired! I can do without that kinda negativity in my life! 😉
Hahaha I thought that’s usually the concealer’s job, to make you look less tired! 😛 But no, you definitely don’t need that sort of negativity. I always wonder why people say “you look tired”. I mean, what are you expected to say? 😛
I have to at least wear eye makeup!! I get the “you look tired” statement a lot too 🙁
Ugh I hate it when people say “you look tired”. Do they want to hear my stressed-out story? 😛
In fact two years ago I might tell you that yes, but then I enter to the gym and exercising with makeup has always been for me a complete no no, so I started to feel that it’s more about what we think that others.
Then for college depending how much time I have I have stayed all day long bare-faced. On the other hand I’ve put on makeup on a bus before getting to college.
So I can resume what I do in “If I have humor and time, let’s go; but if I don’t have any of them I can go barefaced” the exception would be when going out or when I know I’m going to see someone I don’t see frequently and I want to look at my best.
Oh yeah, gym + makeup, definitely not a good combo. Plus you’ll get that flushed glow on your cheeks the right way instead of needing to achieve that with makeup! 😉