#NoMakeupSelfie

Gentleman, I’m sure you’ve all been seeing your ladies posting these beautiful pictures of themselves without makeup on facebook. These “no makeup selfies” have gone completely viral. Similar to the ridiculous “neknomination” trend in the sense that you nominate two people and they should complete the challenge within 24 hours but the challenge has a positive spin where ladies are supposed to post a “selfie” of themselves with no makeup at all, completely au-natural! I love this new facebook nomination craze for a few reasons;

1) It makes all of us ladies step out of our comfort zone: I will be the first to admit I love my makeup! I love putting it on, I love matching eye colors to outfits, I love buying makeup. Although, when at home I am always sans-makeup I will almost never go out in public with at least some amount of makeup on. Before ya’ll start judging, it’s because I feel more comfortable with it. I just think people look better when their skin is an even tone and their eyes pop with some mascara or eye liner. No, I do not have self-esteem issues. We all think celebrities look gorgeous, well that is largely in part to make up and there is just so much you can do with it. Even the most beautiful people look that much more stunning with makeup. Anyway, back to my point, it makes those of us who don’t always go natural to step out of our comfort zone and show the facebook world our beautiful faces and even our flaws (mine definitely showed my flaws).

2) It made us feel comfortable posting them: Although many of us were stepping out of our comfort zone there was a sense of reassurance in doing so. You just kind of knew that people wouldn’t judge you harshly because they all know how hard it was to post it. Since there was also a number of people doing so, we were all in it together.

3) It reaffirmed that we are all beautiful: While scrolling through facebook and seeing friends post their own  “no makeup selfies” I’ve really realized how truly beautiful (flaws and all) so many of us really are. I really hope that many of you ladies recognize this. I hope you recognize how beautiful you are and know that other people notice as well.

4) It demonstrated to the social media world that we are brave: Confidence is the  key to beauty and the fact that we were able to confidently show our natural beauty when all too often many of us don’t show the world that; we proved that we are brave. In a world that is saturated with physical imagery of women and what women should look like we were able to be courageous and celebrate the natural us. I also did not feel pressure to participate. In fact, I don’t think people really noticed if people didn’t participate unlike many other pressure filled social media trends. It was about being comfortable.

5) It was supposed to be for a good cause: The no makeup selfies all started in part to raise awareness about cancer. I know the message got lost a bit along the way. People were supposed to also donate to a cancer charity once they posted their picture. Unfortunately, because the message got lost in translation it allowed people to forget why it all started. Cancer Research sent out a tweet saying that it wasn’t their campaign but that they appreciate what it has done and that every dollar helps. Therefore, no matter what, the cause still benefitted which is all that matters.

Despite the fact that the true meaning behind posting these selfies got lost in the social media world, I think a positive message was still passed on. It still showcased the true beauty of women and made us brave to the world. I think no matter what, it was a celebration of women, of beauty and of courage. Being confident and comfortable is the key to beauty. Whenever we can celebrate women and their beauty I think that is an important trend to keep going. Men have also joined in and they are doing “makeup selfies” where they are posting pictures of themselves in a full face of makeup. It is humorous and all the power to them in their fancy “makeup selfies”. These are social media trends that should be celebrated. The ones that make a difference for the better, that make people feel good about themselves, raise awarness or raise money. These are the social media trends that I will support. If you haven’t yet donated and wish to, it is always better late than never. So go and pick a cancer charity of your choice and go donate! Remember no amount is too small. Below is a picture of my own no makeup selfie and one of my best friend, Christina (on the left)! She is the one who nominated me for this. As portrayed through her picture she is one stunning lady and her beauty is evident in everything she does! Definitely someone I look up to! Thanks for letting me use the pic Nut! (my nickname for her). #nomakeupselfie -1LOVE- Cat

This is my beautiful best friend’s #nomakeupselfie! She is gorg!

This is my #nomakeupselfie! Flaws and all!!