Thankful Thursday?
So I've started wearing some makeup recently. I bought some for Grad Prom and I figured I might as well get the most bang for my buck. People have totally noticed and pointed it out, saying that my eyes look pretty. Which has made me think.
I am thankful that my mom did not and does not wear makeup. Just a quick note before I go on, I have nothing wrong with mothers who do wear makeup, I probably will, but this is just something I have thought about recently.
My mom is a beautiful woman. I am proud to say I look like her. We have the same nose, the same smile, the same eyes - hopefully mine are as twinkly as hers! Slight differences include that I have a bigger forehead, gap teeth and a crooked smile. (While these sound like bad things, I actually tend to like every single thing mentioned. I think they add "character".) But overall, the comment I get most from women in my church and family members is that I look like my mom. And that makes me happy. She is beautiful.
And yet, she has never worn makeup. I think she told me she wore some on her wedding day, but that's about it. I grew up never hearing my mom say that she had to put on her face, or that she couldn't go out because she didn't have her makeup on. There was never a time when I was given the impression that my mom was not good enough just the way she was. When I hit high school, I started wearing makeup like most everybody else. I loved the mascara, the eye shadows, the lip gloss. I would be lying if I said I never wished my mom could teach me what to wear - I mean we have the same face, it would have made life so easy. But that wasn't Mom. Mom just looked like herself every day, and still does, from when she gets out of bed to when she goes back to sleep at night.
I think for me, this taught me that I don't need makeup. I don't need to look a certain way. It presented the idea to me that I am enough, and that God made me beautiful just the way I am. I love that my mom didn't wear makeup because it taught me this lesson. I know that's not why my mom doesn't wear makeup. I don't think she had some master scheme in never wearing it (if she did, then bravo, Mom, you accomplished it), but I do think it has affected who I am today. I didn't wear makeup except on special occasions for the past couple years, and although I have been recently it is not because I don't think I'm pretty or that I don't think I'm good enough. It's just because it is fun.
As an added note, I do not think that wearing makeup is bad. I am not at all trying to say that you should not wear makeup or even that you should stop wearing it for your children. I know that especially in certain fields or lines of work, women are looked at rather strictly. If you don't wear makeup, you could be seen as "not caring about your appearance" and if you wear too much you could be "fussy". There are a lot of things in the world that make wearing makeup necessary. And sometimes makeup is just fun. It lets you accentuate features that you love about your face. I love my eyes. Sometimes I like to accent them with eye shadow and mascara. What I took away from my mom's lack of makeup is that we should not hide behind it or begin to think that our own faces aren't good enough.
Anyways, my mom and sister have been doing "Thankful Thursday" blogs, so I thought I'd join in since I've been thinking about this a lot lately.
By the way? New picture, wearing makeup. Decided to take a selfie the other day. :)
I am thankful that my mom did not and does not wear makeup. Just a quick note before I go on, I have nothing wrong with mothers who do wear makeup, I probably will, but this is just something I have thought about recently.
My mom is a beautiful woman. I am proud to say I look like her. We have the same nose, the same smile, the same eyes - hopefully mine are as twinkly as hers! Slight differences include that I have a bigger forehead, gap teeth and a crooked smile. (While these sound like bad things, I actually tend to like every single thing mentioned. I think they add "character".) But overall, the comment I get most from women in my church and family members is that I look like my mom. And that makes me happy. She is beautiful.
And yet, she has never worn makeup. I think she told me she wore some on her wedding day, but that's about it. I grew up never hearing my mom say that she had to put on her face, or that she couldn't go out because she didn't have her makeup on. There was never a time when I was given the impression that my mom was not good enough just the way she was. When I hit high school, I started wearing makeup like most everybody else. I loved the mascara, the eye shadows, the lip gloss. I would be lying if I said I never wished my mom could teach me what to wear - I mean we have the same face, it would have made life so easy. But that wasn't Mom. Mom just looked like herself every day, and still does, from when she gets out of bed to when she goes back to sleep at night.
I think for me, this taught me that I don't need makeup. I don't need to look a certain way. It presented the idea to me that I am enough, and that God made me beautiful just the way I am. I love that my mom didn't wear makeup because it taught me this lesson. I know that's not why my mom doesn't wear makeup. I don't think she had some master scheme in never wearing it (if she did, then bravo, Mom, you accomplished it), but I do think it has affected who I am today. I didn't wear makeup except on special occasions for the past couple years, and although I have been recently it is not because I don't think I'm pretty or that I don't think I'm good enough. It's just because it is fun.
As an added note, I do not think that wearing makeup is bad. I am not at all trying to say that you should not wear makeup or even that you should stop wearing it for your children. I know that especially in certain fields or lines of work, women are looked at rather strictly. If you don't wear makeup, you could be seen as "not caring about your appearance" and if you wear too much you could be "fussy". There are a lot of things in the world that make wearing makeup necessary. And sometimes makeup is just fun. It lets you accentuate features that you love about your face. I love my eyes. Sometimes I like to accent them with eye shadow and mascara. What I took away from my mom's lack of makeup is that we should not hide behind it or begin to think that our own faces aren't good enough.
Anyways, my mom and sister have been doing "Thankful Thursday" blogs, so I thought I'd join in since I've been thinking about this a lot lately.
By the way? New picture, wearing makeup. Decided to take a selfie the other day. :)
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