I love makeup. From shopping the aisles of Urban Decay as a fanciful teenage girl, to a connoisseur of Chanel’s Beauté line, I’ve been buying and using makeup nearly all my life. However, I’ve never worn a lot of it. Somewhere in my formative years, I realized my goal wasn’t to wear too much, rather just the right amount that was perfectly suited to me. Here are nine reasons that I don’t wear what’s considered the most fundamental beauty product, foundation.
1. I Never Really Wore It
Foundation for me was exotic. Most of my friends wore it in high school, some even in middle school, however it was never the aspect of makeup that I paid attention to. I had blemishes, sure, but I spent my time working on covering them up individually, rather than making my whole complexion even. I’m not even sure I knew what that was, anyway! In school I played a lot of team sports, which meant heavy sweat, frizzy hair, daily showers, and not much vanity. So honestly it didn’t even occur to me to wear foundation at all until my adult years when I understood that it was used for evenness and as a base for better product pigmentation.
2. I like my skin to show
I’ve always loved freckles, so I’m constantly surprised by how much people cover them up! While I’m decidedly freckle-less, save for one that’s developed under my right eye, I like texture and beauty marks on skin. It adds a little character!
3. It breaks me out
My skin is not sensitive one bit. I can lather on glycolic acid, retinal, or sulfur and it rarely even gets red. But if I overdo it with makeup products that are even the slightest bit slick or oily, my skin will sometimes freak out! That’s what happened after this engagement shoot in Paris, my face was miserable, oily and broke out into a few dozen small zits. It took weeks to recover. And despite my makeup artist having used one of the highest rated makeup brands (Giorgio Armani), it was a disaster for me. On my wedding day (quite possibly the last time I wore foundation all together), I tested the product beforehand to make sure it didn’t break me out. (This was what I went with). Anyway, I learned that any product that activates my oil glands and leaves my skin wrecked in its wake is a must to avoid.
4. I don’t like smudges
One thing I hate when I wear makeup is getting it on fabrics, which is basically inevitable for someone wearing foundation. Even when I put on a little tinted moisturizer, I’m frantic about rubbing it in so I don’t find it on pillows. I like to rest my head on the couch, cuddle on my husband, and even rub my eyes occasionally – not especially easy when you’re sure to transfer flesh-colored pigment to everything you lean your cheek against!
5. I focus on skincare
A person can only do so much, so rather than spend all my pamper time on my morning makeup ritual, I allot more of my effort on researching and applying premium skincare products. Over the years I’ve figure out what works for my small pore and combo/oily complexion and I find that managing my skincare makes it easier for me to use less makeup all together. This was especially important to me given that in the past, when I had a blemish, it would be so huge there was no sense hiding it with makeup at all. Often I’d just give up and wear a ball cap around, rather than attempt to cover my skin up. Even today, I hate seeing a clogged pore and wont be satisfied with it only being covered up – I want it out!
6. It Takes Too Long
Every morning, between applying under eye concealer and blush, I want to be done with my makeup. My routine is already pared down to less than 10 minutes of mostly blending things with my fingers and sneezing mascara smudges into my eye socket, but it still seems too long! For years I’ve joked that the Chanel beauty box from the Fifth Element was my life goal. You hold it up to your face, click a button and BOOM! – perfect smokey eyes. Everything else seems to take too much time and I don’t seem to have the patience!
7. Removal is a B**tch
Makeup wipes are the bane of my evening skincare ritual. It’s the only product I use that dries, stings, and leaves me with residue hanging around. It also horrifies me how much product comes off on that no-longer-clean little wipe. With eye concealer and mascara, I have enough trouble removing it all – let alone adding a whole ‘nother layer of makeup. And we’re not even talking about the application tools which need cleaning too!
8. My husband hates it
It’s true. While he’s long held that heavy makeup is “false advertising,” mostly he likes me to look like…well…me! Also, he’s not so patient when it comes to getting ready in the morning, particularly when heading out for a little sunrise photography abroad. If only he know how low maintenance I really am!
9. There’s so many other options
These days there’s such a variety of tinted moisturizers, BB/CC creams, and lighter foundation options, that you can find exactly the right amount of coverage you prefer. While I’m not wearing anything but sunscreen on the whole of my skin in these pictures, I do like the sheerness and extra SPF I get from wearing a tinted moisturizer like this one. I’m not ready to wear it every day, but it’s nice to put on when you want to remove a little redness, or look more even in photographs.
I’m of the mentality that whatever works for you is what you should go with, and while I sometimes daydream of being an uber-polished, makeup glamazon, I just have to face the facts that rarely will I be the person who looks like a photoshopped version of themselves in real life. But given that I can’t even get excited about the base layer of that process means that it’s simply not the right thing for me. For now, I’ll stick to a foundation of au natural – I already know the French would approve!
What kind of coverage do you like to wear on your skin? What kind of products do you prefer? Share with me in the comments below!
