Why going make-up free sometimes is good in life

Make-up is my friend. Make-up is my enemy. For years, I had to wear it every day. I couldn't just ‘pop’ to the supermarket without it. Make-up had me in its grip. I envied friends who didn't care and drank coffee in public on a Sunday at that new place in town without a hint of make-up. Beautiful as they were. No, eve-ry-one could do that, of course. Everyone except me.

Total bullshit.

It all actually started on Aruba. After day two, Lilian and I had completely given up on doing anything about our appearance with that trade wind. That bangs went into a clip at the back, the eyelashes stayed short and soft. I mean, did we really look that different? No, when I looked at Lil, it wasn't that bad. It actually gives something extra happy, not wearing make-up. Once home, I caught myself wanting to go without make-up more and more in the weeks after Aruba. That black eyeliner? Blegh. Suddenly done with it. That foundation? Pore-clogging disgusting. My face wants to breathe. Moreover, it's summer and my face is brown enough.

When I was sitting on a terrace this week with hardly any make-up on, the realization slowly came: I have become that friend. The ‘fear’ of my make-up free face has gradually turned into a kind of acceptance. Suddenly, I saw the beauty behind the unmade-up woman. Naked and vulnerable. The little wrinkles, the freckles, the playful eyes, always covered by some kind of mask. Is #nomakeup therefore already a thing on social media for a while? Why do I never post a photo without make-up on Instagram? Do the people who follow me even know who I really am?

This month, I posted a few times a photo without a trace of make-up on Instagram. To finally show (you too) who I actually really am. What do you think? Those photos got more likes and positive reactions than all my other photos. Happy vacation snapshots that I initially didn't even see as ‘Instagram-worthy’. Maybe they weren't, but who actually decides that? Remember that what you see on your phone screen 90 percent of the time is not reality. So today is time for that other 10 percent. In my birthday suit. And I love it.