How Makeup Can Improve Your Self Esteem

How Makeup Can Improve Your Self Esteem

Self esteem simply means how you estimate yourself, that is, what opinions you have of yourself and how much value you put on yourself. A person with healthy self esteem is one who is comfortable in his or her own skin, situation in life and with what are other’s attitudes towards him or her. We all struggle with self-esteem at some point in our lives. Some struggle more than others. Our negative self-perceptions are usually caused by what others say about us. Self-image is the commonest area of low self-esteem. We are constantly facing images and messages from the media that tell us we need to better ourselves. We need to be thinner, we need to be fairer, our hair needs to look “Salon perfect” all the time. Also, right from our childhood, people comment on the way we look, the way we dress and the way we present ourselves. Some of us get compliments all the time, while most of us have been criticized over some aspect of our appearance, at some point in our lives.

makeup

Not only should we learn to take such comments in our stride, we must always remember that, how we look is how we were born and, despite wonder products and cosmetic surgery, we can’t ever look like that unrealistic ideal we have set for ourselves. Makeup is a great method for teaching us that. The main mantra behind makeup is to enhance what we already have. Makeup is not a mask to hide behind, nor is it something that only the “beautiful” should do. A lot of women with low self esteem simply decide to avoid makeup altogether, thinking that by not caring about their appearance they will learn to be comfortable with who they are. But, most of these women just don’t know how beautiful they can be if they put in effort to look their best and boost their self-confidence in turn. Here are some of the ways in which makeup can help us all in having self-esteem.

self esteem

We Use Makeup for Ourselves, Not Others

It is a misconception to think that the way we present ourselves should be based on how we want people to perceive us. People with low self-esteem are those more often than not people-pleasers. They always put others before themselves, even believing others over their own judgment. Makeup helps you in putting yourself before others. As you apply that liquid eyeliner, don’t you love how gorgeous your eyes suddenly look? And you had those eyes all along, it only took some eyeliner for you to see how beautiful they are. Every makeup item we use is one step towards making us see how beautiful we are. Your foundation should not hide your natural skin color. It should only even out those little imperfections. Your blush is to give you a healthy glow, which would emanate anyway as you believe how nice you look. Your mascara-ed eyelashes, your luscious lips…every makeup routine is like an ode to your own beauty. Celebrate it! If you can celebrate your professional and personal achievements, then why leave out your appearance? Also, men commonly complain that women wear too much makeup, that too, in order to please men. Well, the answer we should give to them is: a resounding NO. “Girls just wanna have fun, and makeup is fun.” It is in our DNA to be attracted to that electric blue eyepencil we suddenly spot at the makeup counter. Pleasing men is the last thing on our minds when we are makeup busy. And what is “too much” makeup? I can think of too many biceps and too much hair gel, but too much makeup? Beats me!

self esteem

Makeup Enhances You, Not Change You

Of course, what is thought of as too much makeup is badly applied makeup or makeup inappropriate for the occasion. But, that is a problem that can be easily solved without making you think that you just can’t do makeup properly. There are tons of makeup tutorials out there in the form of blogs, videos and books, just to name a few. Educating yourself about makeup is a great hobby. Not only do you learn an important skill, you have tons of fun too! Look at all the colors in your eyeshadow palettes and lipsticks. Makeup is like Art Therapy, only it smells better and is more fun! All that lovely packaging and soft brushes, aren’t you glad makeup is a part of your life? Whether we play neutral or dramatic, makeup is a great medium for expressing our personalities. It is a space for creativity and functionality. Not only do you look great outside, you feel wonderful inside too.

Makeup Doesn’t Hide Your Flaws, It Makes You Remember They Aren’t Flaws

So you have acne. Pigmentation. Scars. Dark circles. Big deal. Is that something that makes you a bad person, someone unlovable or unlikable, or someone who is not attractive? The answer is, no. A stomach upset is not a flaw. Neither is asthma. Then why let your acne get the better of you? If you are feeling upset about your acne or scars, just look for images of celebrities without makeup on the Internet. You will hardly find a celebrity with perfect alabaster skin sans makeup. They have nice features and they use makeup to enhance those features. You can too. Nearly every such skin problem can be carefully covered with makeup. As long as you treat your problem(like use an eye-cream or an anti-acne cream) like you would treat a case of high temperature, you can easily rely on makeup to get you through the day.

The beautiful makeup artist Carmindy, who believes in enhancing your natural beauty

Ignore People’s Comments, They Are Only Jealous

It is people’s comments that brings us down more frequently than anything else. If you wear makeup, they will classify you as an attention-seeking wannabe. If you don’t, they’ll say you are a tomboy or an ugly plain Jane that couldn’t look good if she tried. Just ignore them. There will always be people who comment on you. If you are somebody who doesn’t wear makeup and suddenly decides to try it, then go ahead! Do it! Good luck! Not only are you allowed to put on makeup in the comfort of your bedroom, you are allowed to flaunt it outside, pull out your mascara or lipstick for touch ups along with your compact mirror. People will comment once or twice or as long as they like, why should you care? If they have a problem with you wearing makeup, its THEIR problem, NOT YOURS. You wear makeup because you love it. Period.

Makeup is Art like Painting and Sculpture. Makeup is Industry like Computers and Films. Makeup is a Life Skill like Cooking and Driving. And most of all, Make is a Gift, a Pleasurable Activity like Music that not only makes us Happy, but Better.

Enjoy your makeup ladies!

Image courtesy: 1, 2, 3, 4

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24 thoughts on “How Makeup Can Improve Your Self Esteem

  1. I beg to differ here.. when you are saying that a person with healthy self esteem is the one who is comfy in his own skin then how can something superficial and materialistic define our confidence? I’m not against make-up because I don’t wear it.. I’m just saying..when people actually are deeply satisfied with their looks and skin and when they take every detailed skin problem/positive effects as signs of better living then regardless of whether you put your make-up or do your hair.. you would be confident 🙂

    1. I am stating that the general notion about the purpose of wearing makeup is to hide flaws. Most women start wearing makeup because they are not happy with how they look, which in turn makes them feel unhappy in general. However, women should approach makeup as something that would polish off what they naturally possess. As I said, makeup is not a mask behind which you can hide. It is a way of expressing yourself. Whether we wear makeup or not, we all project an image to those we come across. Makeup certainly is not superficial and materialistic and my whole article defends makeup as something that is an art form, a life skill and an industry like luxury cars or potato chips.

      1. Yes, makeup is an industry, just like potato chips.. Yes, makeup is fun & potato chips are yummy.. But we all know the effects of eating too much potato chips, dont we ?The same is true abt makeup too..
        And it certainly is not in our DNA to be attracted to a particular makeup.. It’s all in our head.. I have seen women buy makeup just bcause they find the product package “cute” !! And they don’t even bother to read whats in the ingredient list.. Think abt this: Skin is the largest organ of the human body.. Day in and day out women slather on unnecessary stuff on this organ, stuff that has chemical ingredients that we cant even pronounce.. If it had a voice, I am sure our skin would be screaming in protest..
        I am not against makeup.. I am just saying that we should be conscious of what we are using.. Agree that women dont wear makeup for men.. Infact I feel women wear makeup to feel “good” in front of other women.. Now that’s in our DNA 😀

  2. Beautiful write up Amrita and bang on …. Please put up a poster…. Women don’t wanna look good for men… They were never that important…. ;))

  3. Can’t agree more. Its unfortunate that people have limitations on what makeup they can wear, and these limitations are set by others. We should try hard to come out of this limitation shell and enjoy it!!!!!

  4. Amazing article! So inspirational! Lots of ppl think that a woman having makeup means she can’t be intellectual, what BS! I’ve worn makeup for 8 years to work and have never felt it as a hurdle in my career growth, whatever ppl may comment. If you have the ability to succeed at work, no amount of bright lip color can stop you! 😉

    Go girl! Your article rocks!!

  5. Best article I’ve read so far! Loved it. I used to be a makeup hater since childhood, but in my mid 20s,I’m now start to loving light makeup just to look better. I prefer natural beauty with little make up touch,it boost up my self confidence and makes me happy.

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