I Went One Month With No Makeup, and This Is What Happened

I’ve never been passionate about makeup, especially compared to a lot of women on social media. Don’t get me wrong, they look absolutely stunning and I know that perfecting your makeup look to that extent takes a lot of time, practice, and patience. Unfortunately, I lack all three of those things, which is why I usually stick to my basic 10 - 20 minute makeup routine consisting of a gentle cream, a primer, foundation, concealer, contour, eyeshadow, eye liner, mascara, and maybe some highlight and blush to finish it off. While I am not particularly passionate about switching up my makeup looks, I have been using makeup since I was about 13 years old, and even I know that the products I use now and the way that I apply my makeup, absolutely work in my favor compared to whatever I thought I was accomplishing at 13. I’ve read a lot of stories about how people stopped wearing makeup for 1 - 2 weeks, which changed the way they feel about themselves and boosted their confidence. I decided to do the same, to see how I would feel without it. Here’s how it went.

Week 1:

The first few days were honestly not incredibly uncomfortable. I thought that not wearing makeup when I’m used to wearing it every day, would make me feel weird or “bummy”, but it didn’t. However, this is because I was working from home and was able to avoid seeing people makeup free. One thing I noticed only within a few days, is that the little breakouts that I usually have (around my chin and temples) started fading. Just to clarify - I don’t have acne, but those are the areas that tend to break out when I’m stressed, or haven’t been particularly healthy regarding sleep, diet, and hydration. I started this experiment right before my cycle, which is usually when I break out a bit. Instead of it getting worse, it actually got a little better. My skin also felt less dry and flaky, but that may have just been because there wasn’t any foundation on it to bring out all the unevenness in my skin.

Week 2:

At this point I was out and about and had to socialize with people again, which made me come up with more creative makeup free ways to freshen up my appearance. In the mornings I would use my jade roller to depuff my face after washing it (with water only, I don’t really use any products in the morning). Afterwards, I would follow with a misty face toner (Omorovicza is my absolute favorite - I would highly recommend), and a light day cream. These little steps (not including the day cream), are steps that I usually never take in the morning, since I use most of that time to apply my makeup. I have to say, though, that fresh and clean feeling throughout the day is really nice. I was able to avoid that mid-day *my makeup is starting to wear off* feeling, and was able to just wash my face and apply more cream when I felt less fresh throughout the day. Evenings were also a breeze, because I never had to worry about removing all of my makeup. Instead, I could wash my face with a gentle cleanser, maybe throw on a little mud mask (still not sure if these work, it’s just fun to do), and go to bed with some cream to finish it off.

Week 3:

At this point, my daily skin care routine included my jade roller (pro tip: put it in the fridge overnight) in the morning (5 - 10 minutes), gentle wash with water, misty face toner, and light day cream to start the day. Around 1pm, I’d wash my face again and re-apply my light day cream (followed by the mist). In the evening, I’d wash my face again (sometimes with a cleanser, sometimes just water), do a little facial, or just apply a thicker night cream. I also got a medical grade facial and Juvederm filler on the third week, which definitely gave me a collagen boost, making my skin extra healthy looking.

P.S. At this point, my skin has never been better.

The takeaway:

In previous “I ditched my makeup for a month and this is what happened” articles, the main life changing experience that everyone seemed to have, was that they finally felt confident in their own skin. To be completely honest, I didn’t really have much of an issue with my self confidence without makeup, however, that could be because I never put much thought into makeup in the first place and it’s more out of habit. For me, this no makeup experience opened my eyes about two things:

Skipping the makeup is a huge time saver. I saved half an hour in the morning, some time in the afternoon for a touch up, and in the evening. I would say I’ve saved a full hour daily, by not wearing makeup. This doesn’t sound like a lot, but that’s five to seven hours a week!

My skin needed to breathe. I can’t explain how refreshing it was not to have makeup covering my face all day, every day. Aside from the simplicity of an easy skin care routine, my skin was glowing (a lot more than what my highlighter could accomplish). By glowing, I don’t mean glowing the way that it would with makeup, but more revitalized and vivid. I looked healthier, not dull, and my skin smoothed out a lot.

That said, I’m still going to wear makeup, because it looks pretty and let’s be honest - sometimes there are some occasions in which wearing makeup is (almost) a must.

However, I will definitely incorporate more makeup-free days to help my skin stay clean and clear. Plus, it’s nice not to have to worry about what your makeup is looking like throughout the day.

For anyone feeling like their skin has been feeling a little dull and dry, I highly recommend a few makeup-free days, when you can. You’ll love the results.