Making the difference
My week-long attempt to change a stigma
Junior Caylee Cicero displays her various lipsticks and other makeup products. Skillfully applied makeup is a form of art that should be admired instead of being discouraged, as it takes a lot of stamina to wear makeup every single day of the week.
In the age of #wokeuplikethis and #bareface, wearing makeup tends to be frowned upon by society. For me, makeup is an art form that one can use to express creativity, which is why I fully support the exploration.
While everyone around me was trying makeup cleanses, I tried wearing a full face of makeup every single day for a week.
My normal makeup routine consists of a tinted moisturizer, eyeliner, and some lip product. Depending on the amount of time I have, sometimes I don’t even use the eyeliner because it’s messy and, frankly, I do not allot much time in my morning schedule for makeup.
However, because I wasn’t accustomed to wearing makeup, I neglected to wash my face after getting home and ended up sleeping with it on.
— Staff Writer Saijleen Chawla
The first day after Spring Break was the beginning of my endeavors. I got up 30 minutes earlier than normal in order to have enough time. It was not the first time I had used a full makeup routine, but it was the first time I tried to use different makeup techniques that required some skill.
I used a Bare Minerals foundation I had not been able to use prior to Spring Break, but because of my slight tan, it finally was a suitable shade. Because the foundation was a powder foundation, it felt significantly better to wear and much lighter as well. However, because I wasn’t accustomed to wearing makeup, I neglected to wash my face after getting home and ended up sleeping with it on.
On Tuesday, I woke up at 5 a.m. due to a Prowler event. Any time I had set aside for the makeup was quickly taken up by a frantic morning and the fallout after not washing my face the previous night. I ended up going “au naturale,” which meant I had officially failed the challenge of wearing makeup for a full week. But I kept going anyway.
Wednesday was the best day for me. I used a cream foundation, and a darker, more dramatic eye color. I truly tried to push myself to go as far as I could, given my time constraints and lack of skill.
I used black eye shadow and put a little bit of white in the middle of the lid to make it more dramatic. And instead of just normal eyeliner, I took it farther than I had ever done before.
In the end, a process that I expected to take around 20 minutes took at least 30, and I found myself almost missing my biology test corrections. However, the entire day, I felt incredibly confident in how I looked and even had my brother take my picture so I could preserve the moment.
I felt incredibly confident in how I looked and even had my brother take my picture so I could preserve the moment.
— Staff Writer Saijleen Chawla
On Thursday, I could not bring myself to find the inspiration to do a complete full face of makeup, as the challenge required me to. To my credit, I still did not go barefaced, despite the fact that I would’ve done anything to take a break from the grueling routine.
At this point, my skin felt tired, saggy, and I was finding myself hating the way I looked without the makeup. I couldn’t really recognize myself without it, and that prospect left me reeling.
I skipped the foundation but still used my tinted moisturizer and some powder to blur my blemishes. Apparently, powder and moisturizer isn’t really the best combination, because by the end of the day, I felt oily and the only makeup left on my face was my eyeliner.
Friday was the very last day for me to continue with the challenge, and like my previous one-week challenges, I was so relieved for it to be over. Unfortunately, the look was quite underwhelming, but I did do something I had never done before — winged eyeliner.
Because I wear glasses and I’m basically blind without them, eyeliner and eye shadow have been something that I’ve found very difficult, therefore making this the accomplishment of the week.
I realized the power of makeup, and it definitely reaffirmed my appreciation and admiration for people who can do their makeup with confidence in their artistry. I understand why there’s such a stigma behind wearing makeup as well, seeing the noticeable difference between my appearance without it, and with it, especially on Wednesday.
After removing it, I had barely recognized myself. I had felt like a queen the whole day and was sad to see my hard work fade away. I wished that I looked like that all the time.
Makeup wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for me. I definitely have been inspired to improve the artistic ability of applying it a little more, even though this will probably end up being the only week I’ll ever apply a full face of makeup everyday.
