Natural Living - The Face.

A few weeks ago I went to a party that I knew was attended by people I hadn't seen in over 4 years (ie- pre-children).

At first I was really excited to see many of my old friends, but that excitement was soon marred by uncertainty.

4 years ago I looked pretty different.

Feeling self-conscious, I tried to picture how someone who hadn't seen me in 4 years would view my current appearance.

I concluded that with two small children and a third on the way, my hair no longer dyed or straightened (or trimmed at all in the last few years), my face no longer with any make-up, my clothes no longer fashionable and tight, nor my body all that tight anymore if I am honest, my legs and arm-pits no longer smooth and waxed and my even tan gone with the wind, people could be forgiven if they thought that I had totally let myself go.

Would they believe me if I had the guts to say that I hadn't let myself go, but instead I'd actually found myself?

I don't mean that in a trekking-through-Tibet, eat-pray-love, spiritual discovery kind of way.

I mean that in a DUDE. THIS is what my God-given face looks like when I don't cover it up with make-up, kind of way.

And do you know, I actually didn't know what my face looked like without make-up? I mean, everyone takes their make-up off at the end of the day and probably glances in the mirror in the morning before they re-apply it, but it wasn't until I'd spent a few weeks make-up free that I actually got used to the way I looked. Not to mention the fact that skin that does not wear make-up looks really different to skin that regularly gets covered in stuff and then has other stuff put on it to get the first stuff off.
That was a bad sentence. What it meant was: my skin was way better than I gave it credit for when I just left it alone.



Me in 2005. 19, teeny tiny, and quite vain.

The whole natural appearance thing began with not wearing make-up. It was a complex mental journey that can be summed up in a few key ideas that stand out to me.

God is the master artist. He declared me fearfully and wonderfully made. Either He meant it, or He did not. Either I believe Him, or I do not. Either I get up each day and 'edit' His creation, or I get up each day and thank Him for it.

We have a society of women who hate themselves more than any generation before them. We are more preoccupied with our appearance than ever before.

We also talk SO MUCH about and write and read so many books about self-acceptance. The thought that came to me was: 'Every time I pick up that compact or brush, I am sowing a seed of unacceptance.' When a woman applies make-up, she is quite literally refusing to accept a part of herself the way it is.
I do not want to start each day I live on this earth sowing those seeds.

Further to that, I now believe that television and magazines aren't the perpetuators of our self-doubt. (Although they may be the authors). We are. Every morning at 6am.

My Cassandra asked me once if she could wear make-up. I told her she didn't need it, she was perfect. By omission, I was telling her that her Mummy was flawed. And that when she grew up she would be too.

I never ever want to tell my child that message again; in words or deeds.


I have now been without make-up for over a year and I've really enjoyed it. My husband prefers it too. Here are some of the direct benefits I've experienced.

My face feels cleaner. The few times I've applied make-up for special events or put a bit of concealer under my eyes the morning after a rough night with Eli, it feels really gross. Even minimal make-up is a bit uncomfortable.

My skin looks better. I don't get pimples at all anymore (although the pregnancy and constant breastfeeding definitely helps).

Women are more comfortable with me when I meet them.
I am sure this has a lot to do with my changes in the way I dress too. Women definitely feel more comfortable around a woman who is not dressed to the nines and made up.

When I thought about it some more, I realised that the women I've always bonded with the most easily, who are so real and totally themselves- never playing the weird social games that women play or having a 'front' you have to get past- they all don't wear make-up.

After more than a year of looking just as I do, not sowing daily seeds of lack of acceptance of my appearance, I am more comfortable in my skin than I've been at any other point in my life. I actually feel more attractive. I think this also lends itself to being more approachable to other women. It's hard to warm to someone who is very insecure.


That has been my experience. As a standing disclaimer, my own experiences are not the filter through which I view and judge other people. I have no convictions about make-up being BAD AND WRONG and I am just sharing my experiences through this blog as per usual.

I'll next be sharing my experience of being a woman who has embraced her very feminine and attractive body hair ;) (I'm totally serious. Armpit hair on women looks good folks.)



Me in 2011- Make-up free and loving it.