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The Goddess Speaks
Lorraine Gershun
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Her view from inside is just fine
I HAVE stopped wearing makeup. Not on purpose. Not out of principle. Certainly not because I don't need it. It just sort of happened.
I exercise before work and get ready in the locker room. I leave the house in my gym clothes, pack a bag and take what I need with me. For some reason makeup is no longer included.
When I first started this routine, I made a list of all the things that I need and checked it each morning. I forgot a towel or clean underwear or the right shoes one too many times.
I'VE BEEN following the same beauty regime since high school, pretty simple. I wear makeup to work, to the mall and on social occasions, but not around the house, to sporting events or grocery shopping.
I don't wear a lot, just some foundation and blush to give my complexion an even tone. For a special night out I'll put on some powder and mascara.
The first time I forgot it, I felt kind of naked. I was self-conscious walking across campus to sign in at the front office, sure everybody could tell. Nobody noticed.
The pattern continued. Sometimes it was simply lack of time. It just wasn't worth the extra few minutes with my face. I'd rather be in my classroom making copies or writing on the whiteboard.
ONCE, I TRIED to apply it in the bathroom while the students were doing their morning reading, but a teenager walked in and saw me putting it on. I felt even more self-conscious and vain than I did just not wearing it.
Then I started looking around at other women, younger and older. Did the makeup they were or were not wearing really make a difference? Did they look prettier or uglier? Not really. Sometimes it made them look more dressed up, as though they cared more about how they looked for the occasion. Perhaps it highlighted their better features and camouflaged less desirable ones. But it didn't change their basic appearance.
AS I FORGET my makeup more and more in the mornings, I've noticed that I forget it at other times as well. It has become less important. Other things are more interesting and my time more valuable.
So far nobody has noticed -- or at least they haven't said anything.
It's funny how I've just let go. Just the other day, I was getting ready to go to the mall, and as I reminded myself to do my face, another thought occurred: There's really no need. Plain and simple. I will go to the mall without makeup.
I guess I really don't need it. But not because it makes me look better or worse. It's not about how I look. It's more about how I feel. And apparently, I feel just fine.
Lorraine Gershun is publications adviser for Searider Productions at Waianae High School.
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