Made Up

I do not put on make up, dye my hair or wear high heels. Hair care products, powders to turn my face different colors and uncomfortable shoes aren’t worth it. I would rather spend my time and money on something else, something better.

Do you ever stop to think about how much effort you put into your looks? Why do you do it? How many minutes of the day, how many dollars a month, do you spend on making yourself look good? What else could you do with that time and money that might be more productive, more worthwhile?

I don’t just take issue with make up on a function level, I also reject it on a spiritual level. God made me. He gave me this face and this body. He made it the way He wanted it to be. So why spend time trying to change it with blush, mascara, push-up bras and slimming underwear?

There is nothing wrong with the face that God made for me. But when we put on make up and fill our hair with gel, we attempt to change what God made. We say that who we are isn’t good enough, so we ‘make up’ a new face, a new look, a new person to fit ourselves into. We turn away from who we are and become made-up people with unnatural faces. Some women even call the act of applying make-up ‘putting my face on.’ You have a perfectly good face, and you don’t need a different one!

I've talked about how I really hate chick flicks, mushy, soppy stories that make us think life is about finding Mr. Right. There is another type of movie that I think it equally shallow and detrimental. It’s the story of the ’ugly’ girl, the misfit who gets beautified and suddenly becomes popular, gets a boyfriend, and after a few rough struggles, fixes up her until now sad, lonely life.

These movies tell us that you can’t be an individual, and you can’t buck the status quo. They say that if you are going to find a fulfilling relationship, you have to first fit in. You have to have make-up to make it. If you don’t, you’re doomed to remain in the world of social cast-offs forever.

Yet in every single one of these movies there is a girl who is already popular and beautiful through careful use of makeup and fashion. This girl is always ruthless in her scheming and conniving to remain number one on the popularity charts and catch the cute guy. She is also miserable, with no real friends or deep relationships.

So why did our plucky, misfit heroine let herself be painted and dressed up to be like this unhappy, bratty but popular girl? It doesn’t make any sense.

I don’t need to change what I wear and how I do my hair in order to find friends, or catch a guy. If I did, those people wouldn’t be real friends, that guy couldn’t really love me, because they wouldn’t know me. I won’t make myself into something I’m not.

Stop and think tomorrow morning when you’re in the bathroom doing your cosmetic routine. What are you really doing? Why aren’t you comfortable in your own skin?