Why I don’t wear makeup

I love my skin.

I grew up watching my mum put on eyeliner every single morning. My older sister would not leave the house without a face full of makeup. She was obsessed with her face paint. Luckily I didn’t inherit that habit.

I didn’t have the time to figure out all the different bits of makeup I would ‘need’. Even now, I probably wear mascara or lipgloss once a year. I’m in constant back and forth between whether I should or shouldn’t wear makeup.

The other day, I put makeup on half my face and asked my husband if he could tell which half my face had makeup on. He couldn’t tell the difference. But I could. Although, nobody is going to look at my face and scrutinise it as much as I do.

How do people put on so much makeup every day and then take it all off again? How many hours do they spend practising the best way to put it on? How much do they spend on it all? I don’t think I have ever finished a tube of mascara. (Can they please make the tubes transparent so we can see how much is inside? Or do they not want us to know?)

I’ve been blessed with my mother’s good skin and skipped my dad’s childhood acne. My skin is sensitive too. I am the mixed type of skin — dry in some places and oily in others. Taking off makeup leaves my skin dry and irritated for days.

I am completely clueless about makeup sometimes. I can only imagine the pressure on young women to wear makeup and look a certain way. I’m so glad I didn’t get sucked into it all. Instead, I was inspired by Alicia Keys’ decision to go bare-faced.

Even on YouTube, there is Hyram. My teen sister watches his channel. I feel there is a movement to wear your own skin and look after it, so you have a natural glow — I hope it’s here to stay.