12
Feat
Could you go five days without make up? I
love makeup. I wear it pretty much every day, I spend a lot of my time reading about it and yes, I’ll admit, I spend a fair bit of my student loan on it. It’s so satisfying to finally find that perfect mascara, or to buy that lipstick you’ve had your eye on for a while. But reading the recent Buzzfeed article, ‘This is what I learned going make up-free for a week,’ I started to rethink my thoughts on make up slightly. While I’ve always rationalised my love for make up as being an art form, maybe I was becoming a little too dependent on it. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d left the house without it, and the thought of doing so made me a little nervous. So naturally the best path of action was to take five days off make up and write an article in which the entire university could see my make up free face. Enjoy. I woke on day one, after going out the previous night, and admired my relatively hangover free face in the mirror. Not putting make up on meant I had time to eat my leftover Piccolos chicken from the night before, so I wasn’t too fussed about not wearing any. In my seminar I was my usual talkative self, and I actually forgot that I wasn’t wearing make
up until I rubbed my eyes and realised I didn’t have mascara all over my face. Win. For day two I met up with my parents, who of course assured me that I looked fine without make up (thanks Mum). However, I felt a little inadequate going into some of the fancier shops, just because I always feel like I should live up to some kind of standard just to go into them. Seeing my face in the changing room mirrors was a little tough too, because I’d had a minor breakout that day and changing room lights are unflattering as it is. I shook it off though, Taylor Swift style, and managed to enjoy my day without feeling too self-conscious. Day three was a Sunday, so it was mostly spent actually doing some dissertation work. I regularly make trips to Tesco Express in much worse states, so going make up free while food shopping wasn’t too daunting. Generally, while I may not have been entirely excited about being make up free, it was starting to become relatively normal to me. Day four was actually kind of difficult, not because I felt particularly insecure or anything, but because I have a lipstick that goes really well with the top I was wearing and I really
I
t was on my third lap around the manically packed societies fair that I stumbled across an untapped, wellspring of passion. Headucate is a society at UEA (and elsewhere) that I just did not know about. I am so glad it exists. In their words: “[Headucate is a] mental health student organisation set up in 2012 based at the UEA. Our main aim is to raise awareness of mental health in schools by running small workshops with children and teenagers to tackle misconceptions about mental health issues and to tackle associated stigma”. In my own words: well, to me, one of the side effects I suppose you could say of the heightened consciousness I feel at university is that actions seem to have a great, weighty consequence. I have a new gravity. I can see (in an analogy beautifully described by my flatmate, Cicely) the tiny threads each decision makes, spilling out from a large loom of time. For instance, if I hadn’t been re-roomed I wouldn’t have had the same experience I am having now. I would be running along a different thread. Further back: if I hadn’t decided to take a year out to contemplate further which university I was to go to I wouldn’t have ended up here at all, even studying my course. Further still, if, when I suffered a serious bout of depression in my early teenage years, if I’d made different decisions – I might not be here at all. I had little intervention or education about mental health before I fell into its grasp. It’s as debilitating and all consuming as any physical illness I have felt or can imagine, and, as there are one in four sufferers, I know that there’s an often-quiet quarter with recognition of this fact. In light of recent and formative events I’ve been constantly extending out an offer amongst my friends and further to speak candidly about mental health. Specifically mental health at university, which is such a key issue. When I was more clued up and had the will to grasp the small glimmers of light, I found, fortunately, that I could clear my mind with exercise and healthy lifestyle. Now, although I am often overshadowed – I am filled with a furore for making this a very
wanted to wear it. I genuinely considered making it only a three-day process, but I powered through and stuck to five. Otherwise I felt fine all day, and was happy to notice that my skin was starting to clear up quicker than usual without the layer of foundation over it. I’d like to say that by the fifth day I was a new woman and was all ready to denounce make up for good, but that wasn’t really the case. It wasn’t that I felt really bad about my appearance, but I just didn’t entirely feel like myself. I assumed before I started the five days that being make up free would get easier over time, but actually I found it was very dependant on how I felt that day, or what I was wearing. So while over the past few days I’d learned to accept how I look ‘naturally’ and be more comfortable with not looking 100% all the time, that didn’t mean I enjoyed it. I missed the process of putting my make up on in the morning, and I think denying myself of it just made me miss it more. That doesn’t mean, of course, that I think everyone should wear make up all the time. Some people don’t want to put in the time or effort, and that’s fine, because they look great anyway. Some people don’t feel as confident or as comfortable without it, and that’s also fine, because people get their confidence from a whole variety of places. While I did miss make up, I know that my appearance isn’t the only thing that matters about me, and I will be trying to have a make up free day every now and then to remind myself of that.
Photo: Flickr, wavy1
With make up
Without make up
Photos: Charlotte Earney
Features writer Charlotte Earney takes on the latest craze spreading on the web, A week without make up, in attempt to discover why we’ve become so dependent on beauty projects.
of leading experts on a wide spectrum: dementia, mindfulness, eating disorders and Postpartum Psychosis (which I still need to educate myself on). We then met the kind and caring people of Operation UEA in the students’ union, who obviously supplied free pens, treats and handouts (standard). They also encouraged you to leave a positive message on a post-it note. This has a history behind it at UEA, which made some news outlets: a particularly lovely student had the inspiration enough to do this on her own will around campus. It makes me think of all the random acts of kindness that accumulate day to day and to some whom sadly these cannot penetrate.
I World Mental Health Day and UEA: how to get involved with raising awareness on campus Joe Platt discusses his experience of the student support group, Headucate, and of mental health support on campus. public and pressing issue. If I could myself be a glimmer, or, as I aspire always for more now – a beacon – to reach higher and higher, perhaps I can spiral a loom away from the dark and up in the stars. I am filled with passion and firstly I set
out to inspire my flatmates. I have recruited two of them. Cicely, whose metaphor I took on loan, accompanied me on a gorgeous 10th October – the day the world over people spread awareness on mental health. UEA put on a series of open lectures consisting
t also seems an appropriate time to share a Facebook post I made regarding my flatmates. Obviously, playing around with an old uni horror-story that the passive aggressive post-it notes will become the bane of your life. Well, be different – as our flat is – “Be the kindest, most positive person you know for its own reward”, to paraphrase something else I also saw flying around social media on the 10th. My flatmate Carl for instance, who wished us a Happy Monday, is a Vietnamese exchange student (a fantastic feature of diversity mentioned in previous posts; a Buddhist, a vegetarian – an absolute legend who’s teaching me so much) has, entirely independently, taken on the job of leaving little posts of good advice for each of us. Its these positive vibes that make our flat and university such a gorgeous place to reside. UEA and Norwich are very mindful places – extremely friendly and safe. Yet people still endeavour to make it better for each individual. The astonishing amount of informal and formal drop-in help services on offer, dedicated to each and every person’s wellbeing, is astonishing and incredibly reassuring. Headucate could possibly be the most rewarding opportunity extended out to me and I am so incredibly excited to start my training with the society and meet more likeminded people at their sophisticated socials.