For as long as I can remember, my mom has been an advocate of a mostly makeup-free lifestyle. Growing up in India meant that she was never encouraged, and often not allowed, to wear makeup at a young age. Instead, she was taught proper skin care — how to protect it from the sun and prevent aging naturally.
As you can imagine, she passed a lot of her knowledge onto me as I started experimenting with makeup. While all my friends showed up at school with faces full of blush and mascara, I was not allowed to follow suit. I would beg my mom to let me wear bright lipsticks and every sparkly thing in between, and she would always say, “You don’t need makeup, Pataki (which means firecracker). You’re pretty without it.” She also told me it wasn’t good to continually paint my skin and then scrub everything off.
While I can appreciate her advice now, I went through much of my teenage years rebelling and wore as much makeup as physically possible. Now in my 30s, I have truly learned to embrace the skin I’m in and find myself sharing my mother’s wisdom with all my girlfriends.
I’ve started making it a point to go makeup free as often as possible. It’s truly transformed the way my skin looks because I’m letting it breathe. I find that it feels cleaner and looks brighter every time.
Here are the top five reasons I love going makeup free.
1.It helps heal blemishes naturally
Covering our blemishes with concealer is always a knee-jerk reaction because showing up in the world, blemishes and all, is a vulnerable thing. But when I give my skin time to heal it does wonders, and sometimes even speeds up the healing process.
2. It saves time
Skip the 10-15 minutes you spend applying the contents of your makeup bag and spend it doing that thing you never make time for. Like meditating, taking the scenic route to work or writing your intentions down in your journal. All of these can promote a healthier mindset and reduce stress (another cause of breakouts!).
3. It reduces makeup messes
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been embarrassed by a makeup snafu. Lipstick on the teeth. Smudged eyeliner. You name it, it’s happened to me. Going makeup free means you don’t have to keep checking yourself for any messes. A beautiful thing!
4. It helps keep skin moisturized
Many foundations and powders suck the moisture out of my skin, and scrubbing all those products off every day pulls at my skin. Not cute!
5. It prevents future breakouts
Pimples are usually a result of an infected clogged pore, which has often exacerbated for me by heavy foundations, dirty makeup brushes and constantly touching my face with my hands. I love letting my skin experience fresh air again by skipping the makeup — and I've noticed that breakouts are much less frequent.
So the next time you get ready to leave your house and automatically start applying a full face of makeup, take a moment to look at yourself in your mirror to see if you truly need it. How would your skin look different without it? Can you embrace the skin you’re in? I dare you to try going makeup free as an experiment to nourish your skin and boost your confidence. You may be surprised how empowered you feel.
For more skin care tips, click here.
This post is sponsored by Garnier SkinActive.