'You Don't Need Make Up'

It's no secret that I'm a feminist, I blab on about it whenever I get a chance. But I often get questioned why I wear make up especially if I'm a feminist. There's this ridiculous widespread view that if you wear make up, you are not a feminist. HA. The rant begins...


First of all, I love make up, I have done for a very long time. To me, it's a form of art, your face is the blank canvas and you get to splash colour here and there and it's beautiful to me. It's an incredible form of self expression. I'm not one to change the way I look when I wear make up, I still want to look like me because quite frankly I like my face (most of the time, when it's behaving...). But I do love enhancing certain features and bringing out the colours in my cheeks and so on. Make up is fun, and it really shouldn't be taken seriously, it's make up, you can wipe it off.

But I still get questions as to why I feel the need to wear make up, and if I had a penny every time someone (usually from a male) has said 'You don't need make up' I would be swimming in a pool of cash. Yes, thank you, I know I don't need make up, no one needs make up. And excuse me, but what makes you think you know what I need and why do you feel the need to tell me what you think I need?

I do not wear make up for anyone but myself, it makes me feel good, it makes me feel pretty. Applying make up is therapeutic for me (apart from brows, brows annoy me), it relaxes me and I love starting my day with something that relaxes me.

I'm fairly comfortable in my own skin, I can happily walk out the house with no make up on. I'm fine with people seeing me bare faced, because it is my face (if you do not like my face then you are rude and we can't be friends). But saying that, I don't like my dark circles (self inflicted) so I cover them, I feel naked without eyeliner, so I line my entire eyeball (how's that for a vision?), I have non-existent lashes, so I coat them with mascara and so on and so forth.

I am not inviting anyone to look at me or to harass me in the street if I am wearing red lipstick, I am wearing red lipstick because I fudging felt like it. I don't accept the idea that putting an effort into your look essentially means you are sexualising yourself in order to please others and are inviting attention; of course this may be the case for some, and that's fine, but personally I put an effort into the way I look because I enjoy it. However that is not to say if someone (kindly) told me I looked nice, I would have a bitch fit 'HOW DARE YOU COMMENT ON MY LOOKS!!' no, no, I will happily accept the compliment, thank them and go about with my day.

Of course there are women who wear make up because they feel like they need to, and this is purely down to the ridiculously high standards women are made to face in terms of how we should look, present ourselves, talk, act, behave etc. Women are literally told by their peers at work and even bosses that they should wear make up to 'look a bit more alive and awake'  to 'look a bit more pretty and presentable', yes, because the way you look will absolutely affect your job performance... This whole thing needs to stop. A woman's worth at the workplace - or anywhere else for that matter -  is not determined by her looks.

The beauty industry tells us what we need, how we should look, what to conceal, enhance, etc. and yes this is harmful. We have been socialised into thinking we should look a certain way to be attractive, and yes, unfortunately I am desensitised to the idea of certain aspects e.g shaving my legs. But that doesn't make me any less of a feminist, it just means I will fight for equal rights with smooth legs...

A little off topic but I'm rambling on a lot anyway so I might as well continue... something which gets on my last nerve is when people think it's okay to comment on how much I spend on make up. Urm, what I do with my money is entirely up to me and only me. I'm not buying anything illegal here, sure that lipstick was stupidly expensive but I like it so I will buy it and I will love it (hopefully, most probably). Do I wince at the amount I spend on make up? Sometimes, but then I go to my vanity, stare at my collection, take in the aesthetically pleasing view and it makes me happy inside. Life tip: don't comment on what others spend their money on whether it be make up, gadgets, shoes or juggling balls. It's a rather douchey thing to do.

I could ramble on forever and ever, and what you've just read (if you managed to read all of it, if you did, let me know and I'll give you a cookie) is kind of a mumble jumble, but I needed to get this off my chest, it has been building up for far too long and I feel like it needed to be addressed on my blog. Make up is freedom, and it's a choice. Feminism is about being able to have the choice to do whatever you want. So, if one more person tells me I don't need make up I might just poke them in the eye with my tweezers... Anyway, apologies for my disappearing act, life has been unexpectedly crazy and busy. Thank you for sticking around, much love.

(source unknown)

-Kiran xo

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