Girl Goes Makeup Free For 1 Year In Search Of True Beauty

The search for “true beauty” is about as elusive as the fabled fountain of youth. Or at least that’s what we have been led to believe because for far too long, women have been told that beauty is all about the external. Sure, there are movements happening today to allow women to embrace their individuality and discover what beauty means to them aside from any corporate agenda, but it is still a process.

A 20 year-old college student from Indiana University, Annie Garau, decided to conduct a beauty experiment of her own after realizing her thoughts toward her own appearance weren’t exactly the most positive. She felt more pretty and powerful when she wore makeup, and found she got more compliments. She also starts off by saying she has “like most women in this country, I don’t consider myself beautiful” which is in itself a problematic statement.

Why should most women do themselves a disservice by not thinking themselves beautiful? Perhaps those powerful media messages have been doing their work…

Anni wrote about her experiment in an essay for Kentucky.com in an attempt to examine further why the stats are the way they are.

“When 90 percent of women report feeling unhappy with their appearance, a study commissioned by Dove said, and less than 19 percent of our representatives in Congress are female, you have to wonder if there’s a connection. Makeup is only part of today’s beauty culture, but it is especially relevant because it is used almost exclusively by women,” she writes.

Her experiment started January 1st 2014, and she has just passed the 200-day mark which seems like a good point to reflect on what she has learned so far.

“I felt uncomfortable, undesirable and embarrassed when we went to these parties or when I saw myself in photos. I felt as if people were treating me differently…I found that most guys thought that they preferred women without makeup, but subconsciously, they were attracted to those who had used makeup in a subtle way. They enjoyed the idea that a woman was naturally beautiful, but they didn’t realize the extent to which makeup enhanced that beauty.”

“Fewer guys talked to me at these parties, and when they did, the short-lived conversations felt awkward. I was less outgoing when meeting new people, and I didn’t like to dance or draw attention to myself. I started leaving earlier, eventually avoiding large fraternity parties altogether.”

As the time begin to pass Annie says she started to think less and less about her appearance as it was not something she had to pay attention to every day.

Her experiment is not that different from UCLA Doctorate student Kjersten Gruys who went without looking in a mirror for a whole year in an effort to examine why physical appearance is such a key identifier for women. She says she developed a lot of insecurities and was more withdrawn throughout the year, but after ending the experiment realized caring less about physical appearance and how it is tied into her worth was a good start to finding her confidence again.

Annie quotes one of her female professors from her college who doesn’t think makeup is an enemy, but focusing too much on trying to perfect our physical appearance is a waste of time for women.

Truthfully we as women are fighting against decades of messages telling us our worth is tied into our physical appearance. One of Annie’s friends said when she doesn’t wear makeup, she feels those who do have an “unfair advantage” over her, as if there is this imaginary competition to be the most beautiful.

Do beauty pageants have a part in this looks-obsessed culture? Probably. A lot of people would say yes, because we are fed up with institutions dictating what is seen as “valuable” in a woman is purely physical. However there has been a recent trend in the pageant world where women and organizers are using it as a platform to show diversity and try to shift the dialog of beauty in a different direction: one that is focused on inner qualities.

Annie quotes another professor, Karen Tice, a professor at University of Kentucky who works in the department of gender and women’s studies.

“We live in a makeover culture where we’re always responsible for improving ourselves,” she said. “That’s such a heavy burden that mostly women share. And the images of what we see as beauty exclude so many people.”

Unfortunately there is no one quick solution to change the exclusionary nature of the beauty industry today. It will take small steps and individual people to speak up to chance the current culture that we are engulfed in. That’s what Annie is doing, and sharing her honest opinions and findings is a great way to encourage others not to shy away from stepping out of the norms.

As part of her experiment, Annie started a photography project with a feminist message called ‘Born With It’ where she is encouraging other girls to post photos of themselves without makeup.

She started the project because she was affected by the issues women around the world face everyday such as child marriage, abuse, female infanticide and being faced with terrorist attacks for trying to get an education. It made her think of America, because it is supposed to be a “shining beacon of hope, equality and freedom”, yet there are inherent things wrong with the freedoms women live with today.

“Why, when over half of our population is female, do women make up less than 19 percent of our representatives in Congress and only 16.6% of Fortune 500’s board seats? The answer is not makeup. I’m not saying that gallons of makeup remover will get 200 more women elected to Congress. What I am saying is that makeup might allude to the deeper issue: we don’t like ourselves.”

“When women are constantly judging ourselves and each other solely on our appearance, how can we expect men not to? When women repeatedly look in the mirror and tell themselves that they are not good enough, how can we gain the confidence needed to become Senators and CEOs?”

So far in her make-up free year Annie says she has learned she doesn’t hate makeup but doesn’t like the thought of using it as tool to make her feel good about herself.

“I still don’t exactly see myself as beautiful, but I care a whole lot less. I’ve started relying more on my other assets. Working on kindness, humor and positivity has helped me change in meaningful ways.”