From a young age, women are conditioned to care about their appearance above all other things. Too many makeup tutorials and tips are drummed into our brains to keep track of, and as trends evolve it gets more and more difficult to keep up.

After being sick of pouring money, time, and concentration into painting on a façade every morning, we, Reese Daugherty and Josetta Checkett, decided to conduct a little experiment: we gave up makeup for a day to find out if the endless effort is even worth it.

Both of us have extensive and time-consuming makeup routines, transforming our appearance quite noticeably on a daily basis, to the point where there is a distinct difference when we skip our normal routine. We both discovered that there was something truly liberating about taking on the day while bare-faced. We both felt comfortable and clean and found ourselves with extra time in the morning. Upon arriving at school, we both felt an overwhelming sense of inner confidence, which was soon obliterated by numerous less than desirable reactions.

We both anticipated mild reactions with very few negative comments. In actuality, we were constantly bombarded by concerned individuals. We both were questioned about how we were feeling, how much sleep we got the previous night if we had done something different, and many other things. “Are you alright? You both look like you aren’t feeling well today,” was a particularly unwelcome comment from a teacher that morning. In that same period, a classmate even asked us if we had simply “given up.”

However, reactions were not entirely negative. A memorable remark from a mutual friend was “You’re really brave, I’d be too self-conscious to do something like that.” Although it was uplifting to hear such a positive comment after an onslaught of criticism, the underlying reasoning behind this was deeply concerning.

To consider not wearing makeup to be “brave” is extremely reflective of current beauty standards within society. Women, especially women with jobs, are expected to wear makeup to seem presentable and “put together.” This is understandable, specifically in professional settings. However, simply not wearing makeup for one day and receiving a multitude of negative comments can really disturb an individual’s self-confidence. This is why many women are fearful of abandoning their routines and going natural.

Similar positive comments came from other female peers, while the aforementioned remarks came almost exclusively from male classmates and teachers, and while it was refreshing to receive these positive reinforcements, they were, in their own sense, equally as distressing as the negative feedback we experienced.

We had not done anything groundbreaking by wearing a natural face, something male classmates do on a daily basis- and yet it was perceived as something daring and risky by female peers- and this is likely attributed to the sheer amount of disdain from these same male classmates. Makeup is something many girls enjoy and as a whole is not a bad thing, but it should not be a standard that girls have to meet to not be bombarded with negativity.

Furthermore, we found it appalling that boys we interacted with felt so strongly about a standard that doesn’t even apply to them. Whether they were conscious of it or not, they were strictly enforcing an unspoken expectation that shouldn’t be difficult to defy, in theory- but they made it so.

After the first day, we cut the experiment short after feeling dejected and self-conscious about our natural appearances, and both returned to school the next day with our usual fully made-up faces. Nothing really occurred the way we thought it would and we were disappointed that it turned out to be such a difficult standard to break.

However, we feel it is important that we reach a point where women don’t feel pressured to change their appearance if they don’t want to, and even if we feel we aren’t ready to stop using makeup ourselves, we encourage our female teachers  and classmates to step out of their comfort zones and try it for a day–it brings an entirely new perspective and inspires a deep desire for change.

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