Does Makeup Give You Greater Confidence?

by BR Kellie

Initially this article was meant to be about whether or not makeup gives you confidence. Whether we wear it for ourselves or for the benefit of those around us. Whether we truly believe that we are wearing it for ourselves but it's actually a case of the patriarchy having gotten so under our skin we really don't know who we're wearing it for anymore? 

Things were going to get deep, man.

But then lockdown hit and, as you may have read in last week's poll, I stopped wearing makeup completely. A one-eighty turnaround from our first lockdown of 2020. I'd abandoned my brushes and sponges for a bare-faced look. At first I enjoyed the change. There was freedom in going makeup-free... until...

I started to feel sad within myself.

To be fair, not being able to have regular chats with favourite human beings outside of my bubble can do that to a person. Not being able to randomly hug those you enjoy hanging out with doesn't help either.

It was while I was in the doldrums that I asked myself... what can I do to make this better? The answer came to me quickly:

Put your face on.

Not 'go for a walk', not 'do a bit of yoga', not 'scoff chocolate', not 'pour a glass of something stronger than water'. 

Put your face on.

So I listened to my inner self and skincared up my face as I usually would pre-makeup application then sat in front of my wee mirror and dusted off my makeup cart. I'm not joking... I have a cart:

My Beauty Space aka That Uncurated Life

For fifteen minutes I primed and foundationed, concealed and bronzed, blushed and shadowed, then mascara'd up my lashes and popped on a tinted balm.

In that fifteen minutes as I brushed and bounced, dabbed and dotted I felt the sads sift away. The lifting of lashes lifted my soul. The concealing of scars healed the hurts.

It was like magic. And foundation was my little bottle of potion. 

So it turns out that for me makeup does gives me confidence. And it's not because I care about what others think, it's not because I'm out there trying to look better for anyone else, it's simply because the act of putting makeup on my face, of emphasising my good points while hiding my less than great bits, brings me joy. It makes me feel good. It's like yoga or cooking or getting Botox is to others.

Which leads me to the conclusion that I could've gotten as deep on the subject as I wanted but the result would be the same: If something brings you joy, if it doesn't hurt anyone else, if it puts a spring in your step and lifts your soul - do it. What others say or do doesn't matter. You do you. Hashtag-live-your-best-life. For me that means putting on my face. Even if the only people who are going to see me are my husband and daughter, who think I'm wonderful with or without makeup, or my cat - who only cares that I feed her and give her the appropriate amount of love throughout the day.

So, my lovelies, tell me... what brings you joy? What gives you confidence? What makes you hum with happiness? How are you keeping your spirits up this lockdown? Chat below...