I’ve never been the type to wear a lot of makeup, what constitutes a lot being subjective to who you’re asking. But even so, my normal makeup routine consists of at least eight products excluding brows, eyes and lips. I’ve also never had terrible skin, my Italian heritage has me blessed with a face that isn’t spot prone, but eczema has always been my downfall with dry skin, redness and discolouration leading to extreme paranoia and a firm attachment to full coverage foundation.
People have always approached me with the phrase “Oh you don’t wear much makeup” which always sounded more like an insult than a compliment. This summer has seen me working 45 hour weeks and travelling on my days off so making time for makeup scarce but still essential. I decided a month ago that I needed to make a change.
The decision to cut foundation, and any other base makeup, out was a difficult one, you’re probably reading this thinking shut up you’ve just said you have good skin, but let’s be honest, after wearing foundation most days since the age of around 14 not having that extra layer is a scary prospect.
My main concerns starting this venture were that my skin would break out due to change in routine and that I would constantly look blotchy from eczema. One of the most challenging aspects of this process was resisting the urge to cover up spots and discolouration on days where I didn’t feel my best.
It’s fair to say things got worse before they got better. During week one all I could think about was if people were staring at my face, if they were judging my lack of face makeup and if I just looked completely awful, but I kept up my daily eye bag reveal and courage. Halfway through week two I was starting to really enjoy the process, getting ready in the morning was so much faster and I could itch my face whenever I wanted without worry. But then disaster struck, my moisturiser ran out. Any person who has spent countless hours matching the perfect moisturiser to their skin type will understand my pain, especially since I was at home 100 miles away from my skin’s chance of hydration (Soon to start a petition for The Body Shop to open more stores in small Scottish towns).
With a change of moisturiser came what I’d feared all along…SPOTS! Now I might be being a bit over dramatic here, two white heads happened but that was enough to make me doubt myself. Despite the pimples, I powered through and by the end of week three my skin had started to improve and a lot of the discolouration was gone which had me wondering if all the paranoia was for nothing in the first place.
After a month I have one bit of advice for you, try this! Despite the occasional flash of fear, the confidence I have in my skin and my face overall has increased by so much and it’s got me wondering what other things I can try to become more comfortable with me (queue an article on embracing my natural curls for a month). The next time I reach for foundation it will be exclusively for nights out and maybe the odd university presentation where you don’t want to look too hungover.
THE PROS:
– Extra time in the morning to perfect eyeliner skills
– Increased confidence in skin and general appearance
– Ability to scratch face without worrying about ruining makeup
– General improvement in skin health
THE CONS:
– Initial and other occasional paranoia about skin looking bad
– Less protection against the sun (make sure you use a moisturiser with a good SPF rating if you’re going to try this)
– A lack of control over what blemishes and eyebags look like throughout the day
– The need for patience
Featured image credit – Lorna McKenzie
