10 Things I Learnt From Wearing Makeup For A Week
A lot of people have been sharing their experiences of not wearing makeup for a dedicated period. I feel ya ladies. Welcome to my world of extra zzzs and more savings. So as someone who almost never wears makeup - save for the rare occasion that's a wedding - I figured I’d try walking a mile in the makeup wearers stilettoes, so to speak. I decided to go easy on myself and stick to a week, which I approximated as the longest time I could commit to it.

Don't get me wrong. I am not anti makeup. At all. I've just never had the patience and the artistic streak to pull off a YouTube tutorial worthy look. I have mad respect for all those women who can commit to wearing makeup everyday, and do it awesomely. So without further ado, here are some of the things I learnt from wearing makeup for a week.

1. If you're a newbie, you’ll be lost.

My makeup stash is, to no one's surprise, fairly limited. So I decided to hit the stores and grab some products. In the process, I learnt 2 things: 1). The availability of quality makeup products is pretty nonexistent in the country 2). There are no sales people to help you make informed decisions. Ergo, I left with more questions than I had before walking in, and so, decided I'd just make do with the products I had already.
Tip: If you're a makeup newbie, DEFINITELY take a friend who's makeup savvy with you. I went by myself - my first mistake.

2. It takes ages to get ready!

Seriously. Even considering the fact that I used like 2 products on day 1 (baby steps, people. Baby steps) - eyeliner and lipstick. And of course I used pencil liner; I like challenges but I wasn't going to be an idiot about it - if I messed up the liquid liner, my mistake would be harder to hide. It was slow going, but by take 3 (about time, my impatient self chastised me), I thought I had done a pretty decent job of semi perfecting the liner. 
Tip: It might sound like obvious advice - and it is - but you're new to this, so might as well take your time and do a decent job of it.

3. You're constantly conscious there's something on your face. But sometimes, you forget.

It took only a few minutes for me to forget I was wearing makeup and ruin my eyeliner. This ensued in major regret over ruining all the hard work that took an excruciatingly long time, in a matter of mere seconds. 

4. YouTube tutorials make it look easy.

Which it probably must be, if you're a frequent user of makeup. But if you're a makeup neophyte like me, aping that oh-so-easy-to-replicate smokey eye tutorial would result in a halloween-worthy look. If say, you intended to dress up as a raccoon. Forget the trending tutorials, even the simplest ones are not always easy to achieve. It takes time, and a helluva lot of patience. Which taught me the next lesson.

5. Practice makes perfect.

Makeup is not something all of us can perfect overnight - it takes a LOT of patience and time. But this means you have to keep at it, and learn from your failures. Trust me, there will be many. Before long, you’ll find that you're more willing to experiment with newer styles and products.

6. Wearing makeup everyday requires MAJOR DEDICATiON

Kudos to those who do! By day 2 I was ready to give up because I found it too time consuming, and I wasn't ready for that kind of commitment.

7. Removing makeup is the WORST

If I thought putting on makeup was bad, taking it off was another story entirely. unfortunately, it was not something I could skip because of all the stuff that would do to my skin. But, like applying makeup everyday, taking it off seemed like a bigger chore.

8. People will notice a difference. 

As stereotypical as it sounds, the women immediately attributed that difference to that fact that I had donned makeup, adding that especially because I don't wear makeup, it was more noticeable. Most men though, were confused and unable to put a finger on what exactly this new change is. Cue compliments, either way.

9. It's expensive!!
I don't believe in using products of mediocre quality on my face and I wasn't about to start now. This meant that the cost of each product was easily upward of 5k, give or take.

10. Wearing makeup is not about pleasing others.
Although in my case it was for an experiment, if you will, I realized that like me, most females didn't wear makeup just to please others. They do it because they genuinely enjoy it. The better I got at it, I found it more tolerable.

In Conclusion: Wearing makeup is not for me, I realized. But having walked in the makeup wearers shoes, it makes me angry to hear unfair accusations levelled against makeup wearers; that they only wear makeup because they're ugly or do it to attract men. If you enjoy putting it on everyday, more power to you! At the end of the day, with or without makeup, confidence is your best accessory, and no one and nothing can dim your shine. 

By Rihaab Mowlana