Chewing the bit

Now that I've been given the reigns to this thing, I've been itching to write again. Nerdy. I know. After a long day of packing-driving-unpacking I would much rather just wash up and fall asleep; however, with me typing, those actions are definitely not happening. Instead I'd rather write a few words I've been wanting to say for some time now; now I have an outsource.

This past November in lieu of participating in "No-Shave November" (partly because I am female and cannot grow a beard to begin with), I made up my own "non-action" to act upon for the entire month. No-Make-up November is what I came up with. Not too hard. Give up something. Guys can do the no shave thing. Girls can do the no make-up thing. And so it began.....and is still going on. I've been without make-up now for about 2 & 1/2 months. Most certainly a record for me since beginning to apply the beauty paste back in middle school (sadly, young girls are starting earlier and earlier these days). Now like most women, make-up is on the high end of my priority list of to-do's for the morning routine. Make-up makes you look better. Accentuates your features: be it eyes, cheekbones, complexion. And as society defines it- makes one look pretty. Flawless. But there in lies the problem. "Make-up" is put on to make-up your face, to re-do it, wipe out the imperfections. Because to be beautiful you must be perfect..or at least that's what they tell us. In our striving to achieve that goddess like beauty we lose sight of ourselves I believe. When everything is "easy, breezy, beautiful Covergirl" then everything is perfect right? Then why didn't we come running out of the womb with a beauty mask placed on our faces or the latest powder in our cute, little baby purses? Probably because God was like "She's perfect. Beautiful in my eyes."

Now I'm not here to hate on the creation of make-up and to say that those who wear it are not beautiful women; no, not at all. I began "No-Make-up November" in search of something that I felt I had lost. A journey for me. I do not force my ways or ideas upon others. If you agree with me that's totally cool; if you don't that's totally cool too--you can decide whatever you want to.

I needed to find a simple beauty in myself. Start from the beginning again. I wanted to see myself as "pretty" without the addition of make-up. Before, if I had worn no make-up, I'd say "Ugh, I look dead." or "Oh well, I don't look too bad today; tomorrow I'll just put it on again." Or others statements along those lines; I'm sure you understand what I'm trying to get at. I solely believed that I looked much, much better with make-up. I wanted to prove myself wrong. It was weird at first, but an added plus: my get ready time in the mornings were cut down a considerable amount! That's cool I guess.

Ok. So that "simple beauty" definitely did not come in a day's time..nor a week..nor a month. But the belief did blossom and has continued to grow with time. I've been learning it the past two months. And I still am. Although starting as a lone endeavor, this has been a process where the kind words from many people have kept my confidence going and helped my belief to stay strong. I learned that actually a lot of guys would prefer girls to wear no make-up, as astonishing as that might seem in today's society. And I have received compliments from many of my male friends that I look better (haha really? I thought.) without make-up. That'll work I guess. It's something that I'm still adapting to. I don't know how long I will continue it. I haven't set an end date. I don't know when I'll just pick up an eye-liner pencil again and shape my eyes. I'm not doing this out of protest against make-up and saying that women should be "all-natural;" I'm doing this for me- from beginning to end. I thank those who have helped me realize my beauty along the way though. It's always nice to have friends rooting you along in your endeavors.

Winding down, in my journey of finding a simple beauty in myself, I have also re-naturalized my hair color. After coloring it for the past couple of years, I've decided to finally give the hair time to rest. It needs to breathe and stay away from chemicals for a while. So I'm a full brunette again, lacking make-up, taking a relaxed view on life, and discovering her simple beauty day-by-day. I hope by taking on this process that I can help other women find their beauty- one that remains inked on their hearts forever. ♥