ang pagdadalaga ni nene

I’ve been a plain Jane all my life. I just recently got into really taking time to look decent in terms of picking out clothes to wear, accessorize, and be all girly girl. And being all girly girl includes experimenting with make up. So when I got into make up and I was slowly comfortable with gunk on my face, people nearest to me started to take notice like my sister, her husband, and my boyfriend. They keep teasing me, “finally nag dadalaga ka na!”. I started actually buying stuff for myself instead of my mother giving her Clinique loot to me or borrowing blush on from my sister. I actually have my own make-up container now.

It is but understandable that they noticed this change in me. They were with me when I was in college– back in the days when a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers/slip-ons were my “fashion statement”. It was my laid back look. I didn’t care what I wore as long as it was comfortable enough to endure hours of classes a day. While it was nice to slowly leave my shell and flutter my wings like a butterfly who has finally learned to be comfortable to look beautiful, it also made me miss being my laid back self.

Tito Lynn and Alej are the two people who noticed how different the transformation is when I wear make-up. They say that I look younger without and when I put make-up on it’s like I’m a different person. I guess make-up makes me look more mature for my age (or it makes me look my age, I don’t know) but I think it’s great that I can turn to my younger self or my older self if need be.

Sometimes when I look into the mirror and I see myself with make-up, I don’t feel comfortable. Sometimes I feel like I just want to wash my face because I like the old me better– devoid of make-up, just my favorite 2-way Mac compact foundation/powder and lip gloss (I hate lipstick). Maybe I’ve grown accustomed to playing with make-up these days that I’ve missed seeing a fresh face in the mirror. It’s still way better to hear people say you’re beautiful WITHOUT make-up instead of them saying you’re beautiful with make-up on, yes?

The bottomline is that with or without make up, I realized that I have become comfortable in my own skin. I feel good with or without, I can still turn to looking my age (without make up) and looking older (with make up) without having to feel the attachment of feeling ugly sans make up. I think that’s what every girl should feel, she should feel beautiful with what she already has with or without make up. Make up can make us look prettier for the visual satisfaction and praises of others, yes. But what’s important is how it makes us feel– BEAUTIFUL IN OUR OWN SKIN INSIDE AND OUT, WITH OR WITHOUT MAKE UP.