7 Days Without Makeup
15 days ago I challenged myself to go makeup free. I noticed that my psoriasis was growing in bad ways on my face, my skin was always itchy and had bumps and looking like a tomato became the norm. What if I just didn’t put any products on it for 7 days, other than wash it? I wonder if it would change anything. Take a journey over the next 7 days with me, as I notice some major things: insecurities, psoriasis fading, and a new found love for doing what I do makeup-less! Would you be willing to go makeup free for 7 days?
Day 01: The first day of 7 without makeup. I have been out for a day or two without makeup so it didn’t feel much different to me. I do (as weirdly as it sounds) think I itched my skin, especially the section under my nose. I am feeling excited to see how my skin does 7 days feeling the breeze and sun. My Mom pointed out today that the face washcloths I was using could be an indicator of my skin as well, so I think tomorrow I am going to go out and find something a bit better! I will attach images below, it can be hard to see unless you are up close — but I have a large circle of psoriasis covering majority of my right cheek and of course a patch under my nose. I find dryness around my mouth, and psoriasis on my right eyelid. I think this commitment may get hard as I start shooting this week, but who knows! Chat tomorrow!
Day 02: So today has definitely been a harder day with this challenge. I think it’s the first I’ve felt 100% makeup free, as if the excess from days prior is gone. I started using a new face wash cleanser by Acure and I thought it was pretty good! To be honest, on this day I noticed myself pointing out more and more insecurities with my skin. I asked my Mom about why I have so much redness on my cheeks and how I could get rid of it with a laser. Today I felt more vulnerable. As much as I still am excited to see how my skin reacts over the next couple days, I do miss at least foundation and being able to cover up my psoriasis or as I like to call it “my unique spots”. Hoping for a more positive outlook tomorrow!
Day 03: My Mom’s first comment today was that she thought the redness in my face was calming down. I thought so, too, for a bit before my allergies got bad and I had bumps and itchy eyes (everyone had bad allergies today). Tomorrow we start shooting again so I’m sure I’ll gravitate towards sunglasses but will try to love it as much as I can. The psoriasis I had developing on my right cheeks seems to not be as rough but my eye and under my nose is the same. I notice I do touch my face a lot more, luckily I am not naturally oily. As I was looking back on photos today I immediately noticed my eyebrows and how thin and more sparse they were, all I have to say is thank the lord for Bailey at Indy Microblading (you da bomb!)
Day 04: Well I did it. We had some new projects come up and the time finally came to shoot. I felt naked, I felt uncomfortable, I didn’t feel cute but I did it. I was horribly cranky while doing so because I really and truly didn’t want to (sorry Bryce) but I am proud of myself for still going with it. My perspective has changed a bit with this whole little venture, like I can still get cool photos (examples below) even though I don’t have a full face of makeup on. My allergies were HORRID today so my skin showed for it. I noticed some breakouts that could be in relation to that or hormones. Lastly, the psoriasis on my right eye seems to be nearly gone. I never like to say things too soon, especially when it comes to psoriasis because it always seems to come back, but who knows! I’m still using the same cleanser, and tomorrow we have more shooting outdoors so I’ll keep you updated!
Day 05: Things were so busy today I honestly forgot about not wearing makeup. I recorded ‘a day in the life’ vlog and my getting ready process was short. I shot a skincare campaign in which I wasn’t supposed to wear makeup so that worked out. My eye psoriasis is now completely gone and my cheek is on its way out. We really do believe that the makeup I’m wearing could be affecting my skin, so we are looking at switching to companies like BeautyCounter and Honest Company. Only 2 days left and it feels crazy. I probably will only wear makeup if I know it won’t bring my skin back, because it’s been nice not having it be as bad. (Side note: the psoriasis on my chest is almost gone too, we think this could be a correlation with my diet but, remember, I never like to say it’s going away too soon because it somehow finds a way back. I have an infected patch on the back of my leg where my butt and thigh meet, but back to the topic.
Forgot to take good photos these days, so ignore the uncomfortable selfies (we were super busy the last two days of this challenge!)
Day 06: Today we worked all the way up until it was time to work on a collaboration at TopGolf, not wearing makeup now feels 100% normal other than that I didn't feel anything really change today because I was in the rush of things, but I did begin to accept the way my skin looks without any excess products!
Day 07: We made it! 7 days. (I took this picture right before I got my eyebrows micro bladed the other day, I know it’s not a great angle but I do think it shows the progression in my skin the best!) The week went by so much faster than I thought it would. There were times where I didn’t feel as confident and times when I was so happy to speed through getting ready in the morning. The psoriasis is gone on my one eye. I can still feel it a bit on my cheek as that is my most sensitive side when it comes to hives and (with my newest diet) I even see my other psoriasis starting to fade too! Overall, I am more than glad I did this and now know the power of being natural and accepting what you’ve got, because we are all beautiful in our own ways!
Q+A FROM INSTAGRAM
I asked my Instagram followers what questions that they had in regards to going makeup free for 7 days so I am going to answer them now!
Q: Did you notice a difference in skin type? Less dry/oily?
A: My skin has never really been super oily or dry, it was always a good medium, except for my psoriasis which was a huge part of why I did this. I noticed if I forgot to wash my face (because I wasn’t wearing makeup) I got oily easier, but nothing super different other than my psoriasis dramatically fading in a few spots!
Q: Will you continue not wearing makeup after?
A: (I actually hit day 15 no makeup) I’ve decided not to wear any makeup until I find a natural brand that I like. I didn’t think the brands I was using were affecting my skin, until I decided to go 100% makeup free. It has also changed my perspective on “needing makeup” for everyday and especially for photos. I used to think that wearing makeup would make or break my images when it is quite the opposite and you really don’t notice it much. So wearing makeup will become less frequent for me!
Q: What makeup product did you miss the most?
A: Either foundation to hide the excessive redness on my cheeks or concealer because I was super tired this week from allergies that you could see it in the bags under my eyes.
Q: If you struggle with any acne did it help going a week straight?
A: I don’t struggle much with acne, only when I am hormonal, which I was this week, so I actually broke out more because of timing. B,ut if you are someone who struggles with acne, I highly recommend taking a week off and letting your skin breathe and be natural. You never know the changes you could see!