There’s countless parody videos on the internet of girls explaining why their makeup is not just done to impress people or for guys to find them attractive, but what is the real meaning of baking your face and applying those fake eyelashes?

For me makeup was never about impressing someone, besides I think I speak for most girls my age when I say that the blue eyeshadow in middle school certainly wasn’t impressing anyone anyways. I experimented a lot with makeup growing up, I started early; in 5^th grade my mom bought me my first makeup (granted it was one of those mass sets that every girl had at some point). From then on I just loved playing around and trying different looks, I’m sure anyone who knew me remembers my famous bronzer as foundation look in 8^th grade. I wasn’t always great at makeup, hence the bronzer as foundation, but again I didn’t do that to impress anyone I just did It for me, for fun. I still stand by that being the whole point of makeup, do it for yourself—for fun.

Makeup gets a bad reputation, between the “take her swimming on a first date,” “that’s false advertising” and “maybe there’s something pretty under that clown face.” Interesting that people claim that wearing makeup means you’re trying to impress someone, but then they proceed to tell you about how horrible makeup is. Now don’t you think if I was trying to impress someone I wouldn’t wear makeup because of all the hate it gets? Maybe the logic there is beyond me, but I don’t think it makes a lot of sense.

Now the big question that has yet to be answered is: If you don’t wear makeup to impress people why do you wear it? There’s a multitude of ways I could answer this, but I’ve narrowed it down to two. First, makeup is entirely a form of self-expression! The way I choose to do my makeup each day expresses what I feel like that day in a subtle way. Second, makeup is all about doing what makes YOU most comfortable. Now before everyone thinks “oh she’s insecure about how she looks that’s why she wears makeup,” nope, I’m shutting that right down. Just because I wear makeup does not mean I’m insecure—I’m quite frankly the opposite actually, but having my makeup done does give me motivation and confidence to do things I normally would not do. But for anyone else that does find their own security in wearing makeup, that’s completely acceptable and you should never feel the need to do something ( i.e. wear less makeup) that makes you insecure, what anyone else says doesn’t matter as long as you are comfortable.

Assuming I, or anyone one else for that matter, wears makeup to impress someone (that probably won’t even notice) is just such a silly notion that needs to be debunked; or else it could destroy the desire to wear makeup for one’s own enjoyment. Makeup is literally a form of art on your skin, and art is the most beautiful thing we have, so why don’t we start accepting makeup as what it really is.