Naked Face

 
As a mother of four daughters I'm deeply concerned about their concept of self-worth, given that we live in a society that too often (but not always) prizes physical beauty over virtue. So I've decided to go naked (face wise) and live without make up for a while. No easy feat for a woman who still feels like an acne prone teenager at times but here you go. My face. Naked.


 

Now I could apologetically point out my dark circles and my short eyelashes and the flush of pink, mildly blemished skin on my cheeks. I could point out the moles I try to hide and the big pores on my nose and everything else I've spent decades feeling self-conscious about. And then you could say no, Kim, no. You're lovely. Don't you know you're lovely? Really hun, you look beautiful without make up. You do.

Except, that's not what this post is about. And that's not what going naked is about either. It's not about saying I'm beautiful as I am. It's about saying that my sense of self-worth should not be tied to how I think my face looks.

I've been doing this for two weeks now, and it's been rather easy on account of the whole surgery/being laid up at home thing. I know it will get harder when I start leaving the house again. But hopefully I'll remind myself that I feel more comfortable in my own skin than I ever have. And I don't have to field questions from little girls asking why I'm putting stuff on my face and eyes and cheeks anymore. Questions I've never came up with good answers for.

Wearing make up didn't make me a better person. It didn't improve my quality of life. The confidence it gave me was a false, unsettling sort. But NOT wearing make up doesn't make me a better person either. That's the lie behind our view of make up. That it has any bearing on our self-worth at all is kind of ridiculous.

A bit of color here, a smudged line there. It's art for the face. It's decoration. For some, it's self-expression. It's meaning is derived entirely from our personal perspective, and it varies from person to person. For me, it became an expression of quiet desperation. An attempt to hide what I decided was wrong with me. I think dressing up is lovely and fun. But the feeling that I need to in order to be valued is something I'm not comfortable with anymore.

I want to get to the point where I can be okay with myself whether I'm wearing make up or not. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and in this instance, the only beholder who matters is me.

VanderVision Tip of the Day: You don't need make up to be awesome. It's something you CAN do, not something you NEED to do.

8 comments:

  1. Proud of you Kim, that takes courage because it is so ingrained that we need to wear make-up! My skin sure likes me more when I don't wear make-up - it's free from paste and powder! Keep it up. You rock.

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  2. You are gorgeous inside and out, darling. For me, a tiny bit of makeup is about self-care. But I get and respect what you are doing for your daughters.

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  3. I grew up in a household of 7 daughters and my mother only put on makeup when she was going to church or out to somewhere special. She went to the bank, the post office, the grocery store, everywhere else, with no make up and her hair in rollers under a scarf (so her hair would look nice when Dad got home). I think that it really helped all of us to understand that make up is nice but it isn't essential. Everybody loves my mom. She has a really great face--just like you.

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  4. Good on you, Kim! and even though it's not what your post is about, I'll still tell you that I think you're gorgeous and I have no idea what you're talking about regarding pores. You have lovely, glowing skin.
    As for naked face, most of the time I don't wear makeup at all. I do sometimes, but not much. But once upon a time, I was horrified if people saw me without makeup. Once upon a time, my self worth was directly connected to my face/hair/body and even when I was a size 3, it wasn't ever good enough. Looking back...I have no idea what I was complaining about. And now, even though I have lots I want to improve on, makeup isn't on the top ten. Right now, I just want to like who I AM.

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  5. I love this. And you. :) And yes, you're beautiful, but I think part of that beauty comes from seeing yourself from the inside out, not the other way around.

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  6. this is why you're a good mom! you think about these things and how they affect your girls! good on you! :)

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  7. Hi Kim, this is a wonderful post! You're beautiful inside and out and such a great example for your very lucky daughters to follow :)

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