Girl Talk // Let's Talk Pretty

If you ask just about any woman what she doesn't like about her body, she'll likely be able to give you a laundry list.  For the sake of honesty, I'll tell you that my list would include the fact that my midsection and thighs are a little bit more wobbly than I'd like.  If you ask that same woman what she does like, she'd most likely shy away from giving you an answer without some coaxing.

For some reason, women today have a hard time wrapping their heads around the fact that they're beautiful. The media spends a whole lot of time giving us examples of "beauty"...mostly rail-thin, airbrushed models and celebrities...and we buy into every line.  It's hard not to.  Between advertisements and tv shows, blogs and magazines, we can't escape it at any turn.

As a middle schooler, there were tons upon tons of days that I definitely didn't feel attractive.  Acne, triangle hair (the result of a perm on shoulder-length hair with no layers and highlights that were far too blonde), glasses, a khaki and navy school uniform, and always a bit on the pudgy-side, I wasn't exactly the cute, tiny, bubbly kid you'd see on the Disney channel.  And frankly, a decade later, there are plenty of days when I feel like I haven't come too far from middle-school me.

I've gone through makeup phases in life.  I did the whole eyeliner thing in middle school, and then kinda just stopped wearing makeup all together until I discovered that mascara wasn't so difficult after all when I was in my senior year.  My freshman year of college, I bought myself a BareMinerals starter kit (my first real makeup experience), but like many college kids, often was just too tired or lazy to wear it.  I went through a "I don't need makeup to look good!" phase, and finally, sometime in the past few years, settled into a routine that gives me a natural finish (you can read more about that here).

The point is, I've wrestled with feeling like I'm not being true to myself by wearing makeup and wanting to be "pretty".  And I think it's a fairly normal struggle for a Christian gal to have.  We're told so many things from so many different sources.  "You don't need makeup to look pretty!"  "A little blush doesn't hurt, it looks healthy!"  And while some girls are just born with "it", I've come to realize that for many, it's Maybelline (punny, right??).

We put our worth in what society tells us is "pretty" and if we don't measure up, then we decide that we can't assume that label.

If I could say one thing to every teenage girl, twenty-something, or even any woman at any age about beauty, it would be that you. are. beautiful.  No matter what your makeup routine looks like.  And what makes a woman even more beautiful than her outward appearance is when she finds her worth in Christ. 1 Peter 3:3-4 talks about making sure your adornment isn't solely external, but that of the "imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit which is precious in the sight of God."

Here's my opinion:  It's ok to wear makeup.  And it's ok not to.  I believe that we're not supposed to draw inappropriate attention to ourselves through our makeup and our dress, but I don't think it's wrong to care about a makeup routine or about fashion.

Frankly, it doesn't really matter if you wear it or you don't.  What matters is realizing your true worth lies in becoming a woman with a Godly heart and gentle spirit.  That, in itself, with speak far louder than your eyeshadow and lipstick.