#ProjectBareAll | The Skin Series

 

Forgive me, my naked face is not exactly what you want to see first thing of a Monday morning. Not one scrap of make-up on my face here. I haven’t even ran a brush through my hair. Oops. This is what I wake up like, my puffy eyes can barely open, dry chapped lips, the odd blemish, PALE AS CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST.
Then there is the fact I have no eyebrows, no lashes, pigmentation all over my lips… my scar. I could literally sit here and list the imperfections that I see on a daily basis.
You may have seen posts with my naked face before, I did a similar post to this called Dare to Bare, where I did quite a dramatic before and after make-up look, talking through why I wear make-up and how it makes me feel. Never have I wrote a post simply where I am showing off my bare skin. Never have I wanted to.
Until I stumbled upon the beautiful Thumbelina Lillie. Not entirely sure how I have not come across this lovely lady’s blog before but I am so glad I did, otherwise I may not have built up the confidence to write this post today. Megan has set a project up called #ProjectBareAll which you can read all about by clicking here. A fabulous post encouraging women all over to feel beautiful in their own skin, to gather the confidence to go without make-up and feel happy doing so.

 

 

To be honest, I don’t actually mind wearing no make-up, I obviously am not likely to parade my unmade face around my blog, I am a make-up artist after all, but I do go make-up free when I can. At weekends if I have no plans I will do the weekly food shop, without even putting my brows on, I will go for a walk completely and utterly pale faced. Trust me, this is not confidence, this is actually because I am lazy, putting make-up on can be such a chore sometimes. Also, it feels SO NICE to wear nothing on my skin. It feels how it should, real.
With my job, I feel like make-up is my uniform and wherever I go I may meet someone that may need their make-up doing at some point, what sort of make-up artist would I be without foundation on? At work, sat at my desk, I am telling people to buy make-up brushes through social media, could I do this if I hadn’t even touched a make-up brush that very morning?
Underneath it all, this project is not asking you to throw away your make-up bag, or to stop wearing make-up completely. It is about ensuring you feel great about yourself without any make-up on. When you start seeing your war paint as a safety blanket, when you don’t feel like you without it on, then you need to really need to take a step back. We don’t actually need to wear mascara, our eyes work all the same and we definitely don’t need four different eye shadows on a daily basis. Lipsticks and blusher can add some colour to your face, but that is no real representation of who you are. Be proud of your skin, what you look like, with a blank canvas. 
Taking inspiration from Zoe from Zoe London’s take on #ProjectBareAll, I am going to see what it is like wearing no make-up – even for work – for one full week. Make-up Rehab. I will keep a diary of people’s reactions & thoughts on this little project and give you all feedback. The idea seems pretty scary, if somewhat impossible right now, but I am going to do it, not just for my blog, but for myself.
 
So take your make-up off, right now, right this second, embrace what you really look like, who you really are. Take a photo and write down your experience. I want to hear all about it.