Alicia Keys inspired me to go a week without makeup and it was terrible

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with makeup.

At five years old, I would look through my mom’s makeup bag and paint her face to my liking. Today, I’m a VIB Rouge member at Sephora, which means I blow disgusting amounts of money on beauty products every year. I spend hours on the internet researching products, watching tutorials, and scrolling through swatches to compare products. You could say I’m truly obsessed.

But makeup, for me, has never been about covering up my true self, it’s more about creating something new.

After seeing Alicia Keys go makeup free at the VMAs, I was truly inspired. I’ve never gone makeup free for longer than a weekend, and she has the balls to go makeup free on national television.

With that, I decided that once I got back to college I would put away my foundations, brow pencils and setting sprays for an entire week to see if I was ready to go bare faced forever.

Day one

Monday was probably the worst day. I was paranoid that every person in the dining hall was staring at my tired, naked face.

I have oily skin, so I thought I looked like a shiny mess all day, and my eyebrows were not on fleek whatsoever. I had no contour, no highlight.

Would not recommend this look

How would I survive?

I asked a few friends if I looked different, and a lot of them said I just looked tired. It was a Monday morning, so that did make sense.

Day two

Tuesday was a little better than I expected. Despite a huge forehead zit making its full, grand entrance, I didn’t feel as disgusting as I did the day before.

The paranoia ceased and I realized no one cared about how much makeup I wasn’t wearing, and neither did I.

Natural beauty swag!

I had saved so much time that morning getting ready that I was able to clean my room and bathroom before going to class.

I did still wish I could’ve covered my dark circles, but overall I was content.

Day three

On Wednesday I started to notice some differences in my skin.

It was less oily, irritated, and red. It felt smoother and I looked a little less dead.

However, I could not stand my naked brows. I caved and used the tiniest amount of brow gel to give them at least some life.

And I might have put a teeeeeeny tiny bit of concealer under my eyes.

I cheated this day lol

But that was it, I promise.

Overall I felt more confident than I had the last two days.

Day four

Thursday I didn’t cheat at all.

However, I was beginning to develop a nasty cold. My nose was irritated from blowing it, my eyes were beginning to swell, and my dark circles were on level 100.

Still, I didn’t really care.

I would rate this look a 6/10… not bad, but not great

Sure, I wished I could have looked a little better for my full day of classes. But, since I couldn’t look better I didn’t really think too much of it.

Day five

On Friday I was hit with the full-blown plague. I had a raging fever, cough, and sore throat. I rarely left my bed, except to get food and Dunkin (obviously).

Even though I felt gross, I still felt content about my makeup free face.

RIP my health

Day six

Saturday I still felt disgusting, but was able to get out of bed. I met my dad and sister for brunch, and although I wish I could have gotten dressed up a little more, I was still  significantly less bothered by not wearing makeup than I thought I would be.

It really did not affect my life in any way.

The forehead zit is still goin’ strong

I noticed improvements in my skin, and so did other people. My sister told me my face looked great.

So overall, I was feelin’ dope.

Day seven

Sunday was the last day of my journey. To say I was relieved would have been the understatement of the century…yikes.

I kept it lowkey for my last day. Did some homework, watched the Patriots game with my friends and ate in the dining hall.

Still, my skin was holding up pretty well. I was impressed, even though I looked kinda dead.

Last day!

Overall, I’m glad the week was over. As much as I appreciated taking a break from makeup, my love for the art is everlasting. I think my biggest challenge was not that I thought I looked bad, but more that I couldn’t participate in one of my favorite daily activities.

One thing I did realize was that even though I know I don’t need to wear makeup, I just like to.

I might start wearing little to no makeup to class on a regular basis, but I will be going all in on the weekends.

Either way, I’m cute af.

@TheTab