As I scroll in Google images to find some inspirational words about loving your natural beauty; to help women see the benefits of loving the skin you are in, I stumbled upon some quotes that perpetuate the idea that you cannot be beautiful unless you are wearing makeup.

What is Beauty?

There are so many definitions of beauty and all are subjective because it’s based on personal opinion and bias. What I consider beautiful can be the complete opposite for someone else.

I believe that every woman is a externally beautiful. To me external beauty is all about uniqueness. We all have facial features and skin tones that are different than everyone else. Things like moles, laugh lines, freckles, and eye shape; these are all unique attributes that contribute to our beauty.

The word beauty is bullshit.

It causes so many women to feel inadequate because we feel that we must look a certain way in order to fit into the standard. (To read more about the subjective definition of beauty, check out my blog post, Beauty Is…)

Bullshit beauty quotes

Reading quotes that glorify makeup as the standard of beauty reveals to me why I struggled so hard to not wear makeup everyday and see myself as beautiful without it.Some women seeing these quotes may not see their detrimental impact, but words have meaning and are easily adapted.

Here are some popular quotes about makeup and beauty that need to be eliminated so that women don’t feel less than if they are not wearing it:

“All I need is coffee and mascara.”

“On a bad day, there is always lipstick.”

“Wake up, and makeup.”

“Skin first, makeup second, smile always.”

“Just have fun. Smile. And keep putting on lipstick.”

“Inner beauty is great, but a little mascara never hurt.” -Net a Porter

“Makeup can’t solve all of my problems, but it’s a pretty fab start!”

“Put on some red lipstick and live a little.”

“Beauty to me, is about, being comfortable in your own skin. That, or a kick-ass red lipstick.” -Gwyneth Paltrow

“Makeup is a powerful way to effectively reveal something unique about your inner-self.”

“Sleep. Eat. Makeup. Repeat.”

All thoughts and comments are welcomed.

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More than Makeup

As I read each of quote, I thought, “so without makeup, I am not beautiful?” Bullshit! I am naturally beautiful and so are you, without wearing makeup. Beauty is so much more than makeup, and if no one told you today, you are naturally beautiful because you exist.

There is nothing wrong with wearing makeup. I wear it on occasion because I am on a mission to show every woman the importance of embracing self-love by loving her natural face as much as she loves her beat-face. I do not seek to bash or shame anyone because they wear makeup but I want to challenge every woman to think a little deeper as to why she wears makeup and to think about how often she wears makeup and why.

Embracing our natural beauty is a great way of showing ourselves some self-love. We could all use a little more genuine self-love; a self-love that does not display a facade of flawlessness and perfection!

#NoMakeupMonday

I have joined the #nomakeupmonday movement in order to help women incorporate self-love into their beauty regime and to know that they are beautiful with or without makeup. If you are interested in participating in this challenge follow me on Instagram and Facebook; post a selfie, tag me, and use a hashtag: #nomakeupmondays #makeupfreemonday #nomakeupmonday

It’s not easy, but we can all get to a place where we feel more confident in our own skin. I struggled with wearing makeup daily and not valuing my natural beauty. I understand how difficult it can be to not use filters on every image and video that I post on social media, but it is something that we can work toward.