In today’s society, there seems to be an awful lot of advice out there for women when talking about what we “should” or “shouldn’t” do to our faces. But what people fail to understand, is it’s our own choice. On social media today, women who don’t wear makeup are praised and admired, as if they should be rewarded for not picking up a foundation bottle in the morning. We applaud these women as if they turned down drugs or alcohol rather than applying some mascara. I have nothing against women who choose not to wear makeup. Your daily routine is your business. Apply some BB cream or don’t, I’m not judging. With that being said, people today assume that women who apply makeup try to cover up their insecurities, or have a poor self-image. Quite frankly, this assumption is completely false.

For me, as well as other women, makeup isn’t used in order to make us feel beautiful, but rather to enhance our natural beauty. It’s for our satisfaction. It’s about going into Sephora and being able to swatch makeup for hours, or coming home after a long day and laying back to watch makeup tutorials on YouTube. Makeup is used to empower us women, not “needing” to feel beautiful. Women who are able to walk out the house with bare faces are just as strong as those who take a bit more time to blend in their foundation.

One of the most common (and quite frankly annoying) assumptions is that women wear makeup to impress the opposite sex. This may be hard for men to understand, but we actually enjoy applying makeup for ourselves. Men always question us for putting makeup on rather than complimenting us. But with your compliments or not, we still know we look and feel good. Sometimes I scroll Twitter and see aggravating and ignorant comments from guys like “take your girl swimming on the first date.” So go ahead take us swimming, that’s what waterproof products are for.

So no, we don’t wake up earlier in the morning to line our eyes or apply lipstick to be found more attractive. We wear makeup because it is a form of art. It is a passion. A luxury. We wear makeup because maybe the brown in our crease matches our outfit, or our dark lips go along with the season. So for those who think we wear makeup to impress you, or because we feel as if we need it, trust me, we don’t.