No Make-Up...a self-involved post BTW...

Lol. Clearly, I'm post happy now that I'm back, but since it's Friday I thought....egh....what's one more. I was talking to a guy friend last night and we got on the topic of how attractive a girl is when she doesn't wear a whole lot of make up. (I tried to get him to define a "whole lot" so I could be judgemental to "those" kinds of girls but he couldn't. Ass. So instead, we settled on a whole lot being a dramatic difference between a natural and made up face. Sigh. Was that me?)

Now, up until recently, I've never wore foundation or concealer. Nothing. Just eye shadow, mascara and lip gloss. I was that annoying 23 year old who thought her flawless skin would last forever. HA! Was I wrong.

I don't have any drastic scars to cover up, but now, at the age of 26, the area I'm most insecure about is the dark circles around my eyes. When I wake up in the morning....ah! Watch out. Lately I've experimented with cover ups and concealers, in lieu of laying out and tanning my face as dark as my circles, but just the thought of altering my appearance makes me wonder if there's a difference between my natural face or my altered look?

Him and I laughed and joked about the topic but after, he sincerely told me I had nothing to worry about because I'm pretty no matter what (ahhhh right?! No. He eats cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner so I took what he said with a grain of he-don't-know-nothin' salt.). The conversation ended with him daring me to take a picture without make-up and post it on Facebook/Twitter for people to see. What the hell?!

First, I've never back down from a dare and second, I may actually be too chicken-shit to do it. The more I thought about it though, the more empowered I became. If I showcased something I was insecure about, for the "world" to see, how much power could it have after. Sooooooooo......

Here's what I look like dolled up...
(concealer, eye shadow, mascara, a little blush and lip glass)
and really it took 7 pictures to get this one. Why? because of this...
 and this...
and this...
we were having a "come to Jesus" moment.

Here is it...no make up and right after our conversation ended last night....
Not as bad as I dreaded so I said eff it....let's do it with natural hair too and you get this...
So there you have it. The lackluster smile, the pimples on my forehead, and the darkness around my eyes. Even the mark on my shoulder where my bra strap usually goes and the split ends I try and hide with curls. I most likely look waaaaay different in person without make up, but I put it out there for everyone to see and honestly I feel pretty good about it. 

Do you have enough guts to do the same thing? You might figure out the flaws you see are invisible to others. Come on you can do it.....take the power out of it....

Love.