Make-Up-Less May?

As a Freshman in College...

A friend and myself decided to do something crazy. We were just two girls out of a mere couple hundred, if that. But these college guys seemed to be real interested in their facial hair. Don't get me wrong- kudos to them and all. But only a freshman, coming from high school where "boys" didn't really know when they would be able to grow facial hair, entering a whole new world of older and hairier men. This was new to me. Natural November. Dirty December. Mustache March. Ugh. Gross.

But they found joy in the competition. Who can grow better, faster, facial hair for a longer, more painful amount of time. And although some found it painful to see, two young freshman found it somehow... inspirational. Natural November. Sure, there are the brave women out there who go without shaving their leg hair and arm pit hair- and then there are the sane of us who couldn't bare it. But we are human and some of us thrive off of competitive spirits. 

Natural November.

 We challenged not only ourselves but our small group of friends that we spent nearly most of our time with. And then we went beyond that. We challenged the rest of the women at our small college. And then we made a Facebook group, wrote posts, and talked to every woman we knew about it. We started inviting people we barely knew or talked to, to challenge us all! It was nerve racking and thrilling, and quite intoxicating to look back on. And so we challenged all of these women to go the entire month without... wearing make up.

{This was my Freshman year...all Natural November. And pretty confident. I was pretty prepared for the photo-op though}

Oh I know. How tragic. Not wearing make up. Saving yourself 5-20 minutes (depending on the girl of course) in the morning. Saving yourself tired eyes and running mascara/eye liner. Saving yourself from the fight of holding back from rubbing your eyes throughout the day. But entering ourselves into a world of insecurities and vulnerability. It is easy to hide under the mask. Maybe your thinking that you don't wear a whole lot of make up so it cannot possibly be a mask. Think about it. Its still a mask. There is comfort in wearing it and discomfort in not wearing it in front of others. Hey- congratulations to those of you who are completely opposite in this and find it freeing and careless to not wear make up or maybe its just not your thing. I guess this doesn't really apply to you. But I know, for a solid fact, it applies to many, many women out there. 

One day, while going through this challenge in November of 2010, one boy came and talked to me about it. He had told me that he liked it when girls wear make up. He likes it when they "look better". Now, I know there must have been really good intentions behind these comments. I mean- lets face it. Guys do enjoy knowing that we like to look our best for them. That we try. That we take the time out of our mornings to plan out a nice outfit, put a little glamour on here and there, and make time for our hair. These small things that we do everyday may actually mean something to other people (like the opposite sex and stuff...whatever). But no matter our intentions in the beginning of this routine that starts sometime in our early teens and ends up lasting a lifetime, we find comfort in this old friend that is hiding our faces and calling itself Insecurity. We feel comfortable. We feel secure. Yes. It is fun and exciting and a great female bond to share with your closest friends. But have you tried giving it up for longer than one day? Have you tried it for a period of time that forced you to see different groups of people? Pushing you beyond the comfort zone you may not have realized you had?

We did.

And it was different.

But most of all.

It was freeing.

So three years has passed since that awakening month of November. We have seen many different facial hair styles over the years from the same guys we see almost every day. But somewhere along the line, I lost my inspiration. I didn't talk girls into doing Natural November. Heck- I hardly did Natural November. And so I am here now. May something or other. And I, a senior in college, have been challenged by motivational women, freshmen in college, to post a picture on Facebook of our bare, naturally beautiful, pure, make-up-less faces. And I have been putting it off for a couple weeks, watching as woman after woman post pictures of themselves, realizing their true beauty in all its flawlessness that was created by God, and embracing the freedom in the thrill. 

And here I am. Putting off uploading the picture by writing this shpeal on a blog that no one reads. But this where I am finding some confidence. A pep talk meant for you, but settling within my own scared and timid heart. So, here I am. Make-Up-Less. Hair thrown back away from my face almost completely (which I always thought I looked oddly like a girlish boy when I had to do this- but in this case, hey- I was playing outside with my little sister...). Nothing special- except for the fact that I look just the way I should. How God created me. 

Blemishes and all. 

Can you deal?

By no means is this a whole month challenge like our Natural November fun. This is a one day challenge. Post a pic. Go out in public. Do whatever. Simply pass by and pretend like you were never challenged. Do what you will :) but be who you are in the mean time!