Bare faced truth

A couple of days ago I wrote about not being too interested in housework. Today I am picking up the theme and spilling all about my makeup apathy. I am probably unlike most women, in that, most of the time, I just can’t be bothered to spend even a couple of minutes with eyeliner and mascara, or even longer getting foundation right. I would be surprised if I found I’d worn lipstick more than once in the past year. I do know women who never wear makeup, but it’s more usual to find someone who won’t leave the house without at least mascara.

What don’t I like about it? Well, first there’s the time it takes. My time is precious and I like spending it on things that are important to me. Focussing on my own face in the mirror, a tiny brush or pencil and trying to get some gunk in the right place doesn’t feel important or fun. Secondly, and explaining why it’s not important, I have just never managed to muster up very much concern about appearance, either mine or that of my environment. I’m much more interested in how I feel and what I think, and I don’t like the feeling of anything on my face either. When I do wear makeup, it doesn’t make me look very different precisely because I can’t make myself put very much on and I don’t like to look unlike my real self. So it feels as if there’s not very much point.

When I was a teenager and a student, of course I was interested in makeup like other girls, and spent time applying it. I looked like everyone else in the 80s, going through phases with my hair varying from a bubble perm to punkish and hennaed, and my eyeliner was regulation thick and dark. Life got busier and less self-obsessed, though, and I just didn’t have the time, space or interest to learn to apply makeup like a grown up.

Having said that, last year I did go to the Body Shop and ask for a makeover. I didn’t think I looked very different, though. I did learn how to apply foundation with a brush and now I feel very professional doing it this way when I am getting dressed up! I also procured a magnifying mirror which lights up so there is no longer an excuse that I can’t see what I’m doing.

It may not be an accident, then, that I ended up, in my 40s, in a profession that actually tends to prefer its women to wear only a little makeup. In The Criminal Advocate’s Survival Guide, Jan Davies says, ‘You might also be well advised to forget wearing flamboyant makeup. The judge won’t like it, others may wonder how it is that you had time to put it all on in the morning and it is unlikely to win you any respect.’ This rings true. The profession, although now full of women, is patriarchal and thrives on logic and gravitas. I don’t need to look glamorous – or even subtly improved – to go to work and I don’t want to look frivolous.

All this is not to say that I don’t look after myself; I do. I take care of my skin and hair and the rest of my body, and I love jewellery. It just doesn’t occur to me to be concerned about the face that everyone except me can see! This picture is of me, this morning, in running gear, having brushed my hair but nothing else done to my appearance.

Oddly enough, I do have one – just one – aspect of my appearance that must be taken care of otherwise I feel naked and uncomfortable (apart from actually wearing clothes of course!). And that is my earrings. If I realise I have left the house and have no earrings, no studs or anything, in my pierced ears, then I want to cover my ears, get home as soon as possible, steal someone’s earrings to put it right. How strange! I can’t account for that but it doesn’t cause me too much trouble as I rarely forget!

So what am I saying here? First of all, I am extremely grateful that I grew up largely unconcerned about my appearance. It means that I am spared the pressure of having ‘look perfect’ on my List. It also leads me to question the validity of the belief that many women have that we must look a certain way. As long as we are choosing to pay the attention we do to our appearance, as long as it doesn’t feel like a chore, as long as we know why we are spending that time, energy and money, then it’s all wonderful. I think it’s fantastic that we women have creative and fun ways to make ourselves feel good, confident, sparkling. As long as it remains fun and creative, as long as it remains a choice.

I have friends who never wear makeup and look beautiful, fresh and healthy. I also have friends who always look impeccably made up and they, too, are gorgeous. What seems to make the most difference, however, is how we feel inside. If we like ourselves, feel comfortable in our own skin and enjoy life, then we radiate an inner glow that everyone notices.

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