A makeup artist’s fully-rad video response to “makeup-shaming”
If you take a gander around a magazine stand or the Interwebz, it seems as if the natural beauty look is reaching peak popularity. Why? Because more and more women are feeling empowered to love the skin they’re in, with or without lip gloss. Displaying our faces to the world au natural should not be an act of bravery — it should be a choice, and that’s finally a message being adopted by the masses.
But here’s the thing: Unfortunately, one side effect of the bare-face movement seems to be that many women who have a passion for cosmetic products are now feeling ashamed of using them, like they’ll somehow be less of a feminist if they brush on that bronzer. You know what our stance is? Want to wear makeup? Great! Don’t want to wear makeup? Awesome, too! Everyone should be able to present the face they want to the world.
That’s exactly why YouTuber NikkieTutorials posted a video last month aiming to show viewers the power of makeup. After just a month, the video has received over 11 million hits . . . and for good reason. Nikkie seems to be speaking up for a lot of women who now feel badly about their makeup love.
“‘You only wear makeup because you’re insecure’”, ‘why so much makeup? Boys don’t like that!’ . . . NO! Enough of that. I wear makeup because it is FUN. It is a way for me to put my mind at rest and let my creativity flow,” Nikkie, who just so happens to be a professional makeup artist, explains in the video description. And then she proceeds to dramatically do up only half of her face.
“I’ve been noticing a lot lately that girls have been almost ashamed to say they love makeup,” she says in the video. “Because nowadays when you say you love makeup, you either do it because you want to look good for boys, you do it because you’re insecure, or you do it because you don’t love yourself . . . I feel like in a way lately it’s almost a crime to love doing your makeup.”
She explains that she often feels makeup shamed when people watch her videos. “I notice a lot when I don’t wear makeup and have my hair up in a bun, and I meet people and show them pictures of my videos or whatever looks I have done, people tell me, ‘That’s not you,’” she says. But it is her! It’s just her loving her makeup!
Nikkie further explains that the whole half-face thing was inspired by an episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race in which contestants dressed up half as a man, half as a woman. She decided to conduct a little half-and-half experiment of her own. “I’m going to do half my face full-on glam. I’m truly going to transform one side of my face, and the other side is going to be – me, raw unedited, nothing, me, just me,” she explains.
She starts applying makeup on one side of her face, explaining which products she’s using — and when she unveils the transformation, it’s pretty wow. Nikkie is beautiful on both sides — but it’s totally amazing what makeup can do. “By no means, [do] I want to say, that if you have insecurities that you should just slap makeup on, feel better, and just never be content with your own self,” Nikkie says at the end of the video. “I just want people to know that makeup is fun, and there ARE no rules to makeup . . . if you want to go for a red lip and crazy bold eyes, do it. There are no rules to makeup.”
We totally agree. If you want to put on makeup and have fun with all those little brushes and powders, GO for it! If you prefer the natural look, that’s totally cool too! If one day you’re totally done and the next you’re totally makeup-free, fine by us! The ONLY important thing is that you’re happy with yourself, and that you’re getting ready in the morning for you. Thanks, Nikkie, for the awesome lesson! Check out the whole video below.
