No Makeup November

My name is Sarah and I've been makeup-free for six days.

To be honest, I should note that I am not really a makeup kind of girl to begin with. So on November 1st, when my friend Rachel mentioned that she and a few of her friends were participating in “No Makeup November,” I didn’t think much of it. I thought it was a fantastic challenge for other girls; certainly it would prove beneficial to those who refuse to leave their homes without wearing makeup. That’s when I realized that, though No Makeup November doesn’t challenge me specifically, it does challenge the female gender as a whole.

This past quarter I wrote a research paper about how the media has influenced women’s body image. I was literally disgusted by what I found. For starters, media isn’t just influencing adults; it’s affecting the way children perceive beauty, as well. In example: 95% of those who have eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25. Fifty-percent of girls between the ages of 11 and 13 see themselves as overweight. Eighty-percent of 13-year-olds have attempted to lose weight (Eating Disorder Statistics, http://www.state.sc.us/dmh/anorexia/statistics.htm).

Now, the above statistics speak specifically to our perception of size. But why are we so self-conscious about our weight to begin with? It’s simple: women want to be beautiful. Women want to look and feel beautiful. And this is what media tells us about beauty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOSW8U

That, my friends, is not real beauty. “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight” [1 Peter 3:3-4, NIV]. Even if you’re not a Christian, this verse holds a universal truth. Beauty is found within.

I challenge you to encourage inner beauty in friends and strangers alike. Take the time today to tell a friend they look radiant. Smile at a stranger. Leave “You are beautiful!” notes in bathrooms, library books, your college’s dorms, etc. (Operation Beautiful: http://operationbeautiful.com/). Write something encouraging on a friend’s facebook wall. Call or e-mail an old friend out-of-the-blue; tell them you’re thinking of them and remind them that they’re beautiful.

The world needs to hear the truth about beauty. We can help. Let’s embrace and encourage Christ’s message of inner beauty instead of the world’s. Together, we can change the face of beauty forever.

Without wax (and/or makeup),

Sarah.