Dare To Bare
Today in Nigeria, it seems like makeup has literally taken over. Gone are the days of red eyebrows, black lip liner and crusty gold lipsticks. Now thanks to beauty tutorials on YouTube and affordable quality makeup brands, most Nigerian women (except the occasional one or two) are always on fleek, with their faces properly beat to perfection. And for those who don’t have the skill or patience to do their own makeup, there are thousands of makeup artists in Nigeria willing to have women in their chair at mouth-watering affordable rates.
This is a wonderful development; Nigerian women are one of the most stylish women in the world, and they take a lot of pride in their appearance. So, having women turn out perfectly made up to work or an event is a beautiful thing to behold.
But is it all that great?
Let me speak from my experience.
I started wearing makeup when I was sixteen. This was before the era YouTube tutorials, and I had to spend a lot of hours in front of the mirror, learning how to apply makeup. I received a lot of compliments for my makeup skills, and at a point in 2008, I even dabbled into makeup artistry; that was how good I was.
I loved my makeup and my makeup loved me. In my makeup bag, I had the whole arsenal: foundation, mascara, primer (back then most women didn’t even know this product existed), kajals and many others. I was one of the ‘Mac’ girls; I spent N5,000 every three months buying Mac powder from Alhaja’s shop in Tejuosho, and I literally had to starve myself to afford it!
It got to a point that I couldn’t leave my room without wearing makeup. I loved the attention that I received because of my makeup, and I didn’t want it to stop. I spent all my money on makeup that I forgot about my skin. I didn’t have a proper skin routine; no cleansing, moisturizing or toning. I didn’t invest money in any skin products because to me, I was going to cover my skin up with makeup anyway, so what was the point? I didn’t care about my skin; It was just a surface to pile layers of makeup on.
Until one day when my precious Mac Powder finished, and I had to go out without any makeup. I was so anxious to step out of the door, but I had no choice because I had an exam. When I got to my Faculty, I could feel everyone staring at me, like there was something growing on my fore head. After the exams, one of my closest friends came up to me, and she said to me in a gentle voice: “Babe, so this is how your skin is under all that makeup? Your skin is terrible…”
I looked at my friend who hardly wore any makeup. Her caramel skin was so smooth that I felt an instant resentment for her. I walked away from the Faculty, and I didn’t stop until I got to my room. I picked up my mirror and looked at my skin.
I was horrified.
For the first time in years, I actually saw the damage. I had dark spots all over my face and many pimples on my cheek and chin area. I placed the mirror under my pillow, and I lay down on my bed and closed my eyes. The words I kept hearing, over and over again, were, “Your skin looks terrible…Your skin looks terrible…”
That was a turning point for me. On that day, I made a promise to myself to fix my skin.
During the holiday, I didn’t buy any makeup products, and I bought affordable skin products instead. I developed a skin care routine, and I found products that worked for me. I started using face scrubs and masks. I also developed a new culture – one day of the week, I didn’t wear any makeup so my skin could breathe.
About two months later, school resumed, and on the first day of lectures I went to class, makeup free. No one believed that I was the same girl who showed up two months earlier with terrible skin. The compliments came in torrents and did not stop. Everyone wanted to know how I did it. Even my friend who told me my skin was terrible came and apologized to me, saying that she didn’t mean any harm.
Since that day up until today, I have maintained my skin care routine, and though I have the occasional break outs, my skin is still doing great.
So what is the essence of this story?
Like I said earlier, I love the fact that Nigerian women now beat their face to perfection. But I believe that there are women who pay too much attention to makeup and too little attention to their skin. They use makeup as a mask to cover the damage that years of neglect has done to their skin.
I don’t believe that there is anything wrong with makeup – my makeup bag is still almost the size of a travelling bag. But I think that makeup should be used to enhance beauty and not hide bad skin (and when I say bad skin, I mean when you have problems that can be solved with care and attention, not permanent scars or burns or skin conditions that you have no control over).
At tw magazine, we believe that every woman at every age should feel confident stepping out of their house with or without makeup. This is why we have partnered with Dr Vivian Oputa of Derma Care to kick off the #letsgobarechallenge. In this fun challenge, we are challenging women to share their makeup free pictures on Instagram. We aim to:
- Show the world that even though we may have scars, burns, or skin discolorations, it does not matter because WE ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL!!
- Debunk the notion that women need to have their faces perfectly beat all the time
- Teach our daughters that good skin matters.
SO, LETS GO BARE!!
Post your pictures on Instagram and tag @twmagazineng and @derma_care on Instagram. You many just win a brand-new Samsung phone!
