hello sunday

what a beautiful fall day it was today! i say that as it’s currently raining outside. but this morning and afternoon were so nice. this week is a blog post that isn’t fall themed (boooooo, i know), but one i’ve been meaning to write for a while. as any girl (woman?) in her 20’s, makeup was/is a huge part of my life. i’ve been wearing it since high school and  enjoy getting new products and creating new looks. i’m not even sure how this started, but one day i literally woke up and was like “hey, i don’t feel like putting on makeup today.” today turned into weeks, which turned into months. *hahah between this post and my post about only washing my hair once a week – i sound like i put in zero effort these days.

at first, i didn’t notice a huge difference in my skin, routine, or even confidence. as the weeks went on though, i began to see a huge change in myself and my skin’s overall appearance. when i say i stopped wearing makeup for 6 months, what i mean is i stopped routinely wearing it to work and errands, etc. i was in a few weddings over the summer that i wore makeup for and when i shoot blog photos i also put on makeup. but this was a once a week (TOPS) occurrence. when a lot of people say “i don’t wear makeup”, they don’t include mascara because it isn’t on their skin. however, i cut out even mascara! so literally just moisturizer (with spf of course) on my face.

SO, here is what happened when i stopped wearing makeup for 6 months.

skin tone

this was something that took about two months for me to notice, but wow! i naturally have really sensitive skin and my skin also scars super easy after i get a blemish. once i get a zit, it takes FOREVER for the scar to go away. i literally mean weeks, sometimes months. it’s very annoying. my skin’s tone was so uneven because of this. i had tried many many many things to help with scarring, but i never found an actual “cure” or “remedy” to help. my scars heal so fast now and my skin’s overall appearance is SO even and smooth. honestly! i can’t even believe how much my skin has changed since i stopped wearing makeup. i feel like my skin can breathe now and heal. it has really helped!

skin type

when i wore makeup regularly, my skin was VERY oily in the summer and VERY dry in the fall/winter. this summer, my skin was wayyy less oily! i swear it’s from the lack of makeup i’ve applied to my face. i didn’t feel like i needed to blot my skin and it wasn’t shinny and gross like it used to be.

i haven’t been able to test this during the winter, however, this fall my skin has also been a lot less dry. it’s almost as if wearing makeup took my skin’s condition to an escalated level. it was super uncomfortable. but my skin has seemed to even out over the last few months.

schedule

this sort of goes without saying, but i thought i would mention it anyway – i have more time in the morning and night! now that i don’t have to apply (or remove) makeup daily, i have a few extra minutes each morning and each night during my routines! of course, it only ever takes about 5-10 minutes to apply and successfully remove, but when you’re in a hurry (especially in the morning) those few minutes mean a lot!

confidence

it basically goes hand in hand with my skin’s improvement over the last few months, but even when it was still uneven and oily, my confidence level grew! it’s like, i realized (i should have before) that wearing makeup really didn’t have anything to do with my work ethic, my friends/family, my character, etc. this made me way more confident! my skin and my appearance are what they are! i can’t change how i look and if someone was to judge me for some reason because i have a few zits or scars, then they are not worth my time.

feeling comfortable in your own skin is hard, regardless of who you are. we focus on our appearance and opinions of us SO much these days with social media. it was nice to kind of stay grounded and remember what really matters when i wake up in the morning.

dolla dolla bills

oh the money i’ve saved! it’s incredible lol makeup is expensive! especially when you have sensitive skin like me – cheaper products (especially foundation) aren’t always the right choice. naturally, using less makeup = saving money from having to buy makeup often.

there you have it! those are 5 things that happened after i stopped wearing makeup. now don’t get me wrong, i love makeup! and i love being able to try new products and i’ll continue to wear makeup when i feel like it. i just think that there’s a lot loss pressure on myself now to wear it. it was pretty hard at first to go without, i won’t lie. you never know if someone’s going to say something and you just don’t always feel your best and most confident without it. but it was a fun little experiment and i’m really glad i did it.

 

next weekend i’m celebrating halloween!!! i literally cannot wait to show you my costume. i’ve been working so hard on it. and i’m pretty impressed with myself. what’s everyone else being for halloween? i’m always looking for idea for the years to come. it’s one of my favorite holidays! follow me on instagram to check out my pictures of my costume this week. i’ll say it a million more times, but i cannot wait to celebrate.

 

xo,

 

 

courtney raf