Are you comfortable in your own 'make-up free' skin?

As a growing girl, I remember going to apply my mum's red lippy when she was out. Of course she smacked me when she found out. On that day, I had napped that afternoon after applying it. By the time she returned, I still had lipstick on, I forgot to wipe it! I must have been about 12 years old.

Recently,  there has been a huge increase in girls, particularly young impressionable girls, obsessing over makeup.

There are countless tutorials (especially on YouTube) of how to contour your face to appear slimmer and more attractive. There's now an actual celebrity status for certain makeup artists. People like Banke Meshida Lawal have made a fortune out of painting peoples faces for all kinds of events, and sometimes just for the fun  of it.

When does applying make up get too much for an individual?

When does it become detrimental to our mental well-being and self-esteem to be so reliant on constantly making up?

I remember when I couldn't step out of my room to the living room without makeup. I didn't initially realise I was doing it!


What are we 'making up for'? Remember that to make up for something means to take the ​place of something ​lost or ​damaged or to ​compensate for something ​bad with something good.

How about the financial implications of getting a PROfessional makeup artist?

These days, teenagers are looking about the same age as someone well into their 20s. It's even hard to tell how old a girl is sometimes due to their practiced ability to imitate a YouTube video of highlighting and eyebrow defining.

The more we load on, the less power we are giving to ourselves to just be us.

That this might be an actual social issue as the younger girls in my family are now somewhat mesmerized with makeup as I was when their age.

So are we pre-programming our young to not look and feel great about themselves just the way they are?

We all need to get to that place where we can go bare faced. Could you imagine attending a high society wedding without the guests not looking like brides themselves? If you tried that, people would think you're completely nuts!

Looks like the more we load on, the less power we are giving to ourselves to just be us.

Let us brace ourselves, peel away those layers and pack away those brushes and try being plain and simple every now and then. Because like someone said recently, when your mood and ability to socialize depends on how you look -- it's time to re-evaluate what you place value on and why.