Dolapo has been sitting at her dressing table for 30mins now, she is supposed to prepare for her friend’s birthday party but she is feeling very unmotivated thinking of the task ahead – to apply make up.
She touched her face gently, circling her finger around a pimple that might burst soon. “ouch”, she winced in pain.
“Why am I so ugly?” she blurted out loud.
She grabbed a concealer and foundation from her make up box. Reluctantly, she applied the liquid on her face, did some highlighting and thought about how applying make-up can be very stressful and time consuming.
“Why didn’t I just come to this world with a smooth and pretty face like Fatima”?
“Urgh! She groaned. My nose is so big, I’ll forever need to highlight it.
She checked to see the progress and wasn’t satisfied. So, she dabbed on more powder, lipstick, eye shadow and glitter till she feels it’s perfect – until it’s not because she doesn’t recognize who is staring back at her.
“No, it can’t be! She kept muttering
Ding! Her phone lit up with a notification: Mimi had just sent a picture to the group chat, all dressed up and ready to party. Dolapo noticed everyone else did the same and didn’t want to be left out. So, she turned on her iPhone camera and took a picture, but she wasn’t impressed.
Immediately, she opened her Snapchat app and took pictures with different filters, but they all came out wrong, the only thing visible was her hairline, eyes, lips, every other part looked like it had disappeared.
She grabbed some wipes and started cleaning the horrible make up – she turned to look at herself in the mirror after cleaning and gasped “ahh!” which sounded like confusion or relief?!
Slowly, she touched her face – starting from the cheekbones, her nose, her jaw, she felt every acne on her face, the birthmark she always hated, she traced the rashes on her neck and burst into tears: “My nose isn’t too big, I have a beautiful smile and bright clear eyes.”
In that moment, she realized that those little things on her skin that she tagged as “flaws” are what made her beautiful and she just needs to care for her skin more and shower herself with love.
So, she grabbed her phone and took a picture of herself, sent it to the group chat with the caption: “I am ready “
Make-up was invented to make people look good and feel good about themselves, right? Two out of three people would say that it helps to hide the flaws and boost their self esteem.
What exactly are the flaws? Is it the acne that is mostly caused by hormonal imbalance or the birthmark that has always been there? Or is it the skin color?
It is okay to feel good and look good when the make up is on, the question is, do you still feel good and believe you look good after washing off the make up?
Most people out there aren’t able to take a picture without a Snapchat filter.
Plus, the side effects of these make up products aren’t even talked about enough, the harshness of some make up products that leave people with skin issues, the insecurity that creeps in because you looked so perfect this minute then when the make-up/filter is off the person staring back at you makes you go “eww”.
Almost everyone is a victim of this – including me.
The idea of beauty is shifting.
Currently, the pressure is so high you must always look perfect and the definition of “perfect” here is a clear smooth skin, face donned with make up, hair on fleek. There is even a street catchy phrase to it: “never to be caught unfresh”.
Now, if you don’t look perfect – you aren’t your best.
So, this is for YOU, who hasn’t been feeling good about how you look. To YOU that doesn’t believe you are beautiful, to YOU who is constantly doubting – YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL.
