On February 19th, I wrote my final blog… and
never published it.
It felt wrong. I felt like an infomercial or a cheesy car
salesman trying to convince the world that they needed to do something.
--
Here is an excerpt from what I wrote:
“When we began this challenge, we thought Day 30 would bring
a sense of clarity and we would feel a certain way; however, it’s hard to say
how we feel because we can’t seem to find the words for it. We’ve never felt
this way before.
I think we have this crazy idea that we won’t be the same
person when we stop hiding behind our make up… and, 30 days later, you won’t.
That person you’ve created with the insecurities and the incessant need to look
perfect will vanish. And, in its place, you’ll find loud moments of spontaneity.
You’ll find a friend that someone needed."
--
Sounds like a lot of pretty words, doesn’t it? If I were a
scientist, I would say that I was lacking hard evidence. And I was. So here it
is: what the Audrey Hepburn Challenge really was.
We’ll be the first to admit it: what we did during those 30
days was not revolutionary. In fact, it was quite simple. We went without
makeup and let the social experiment fall as it may. We challenged a social
norm and broke up with our insecurities.
Day 1 was empowering. I felt strong.
I wish I could say the entire 30 days was that easy. It wasn’t.
I wish I could say the entire 30 days was that easy. It wasn’t.
Breaking down 10 years of dependency on products with
magazine covers for comparison really does damage to your self-perception. If you
think it doesn’t, please bear with me as I give you the evidence.
I used to spend approximately 20 minutes per day putting on
my make-up. That’s 140 minutes per week, 560 minutes per month, and 6,720
minutes per year. Putting that into perspective, that’s 112 hours per year
spent on make-up. I can’t tell you the last time I spent 112 hours on anything
and it didn’t change my perspective. And we’ve all seen the facts and figures for
the amount of time we are exposed to magazines, internet, cell-phones, and TV –
just to add on to the amount of time we are faced with images that skew our
perceptions.
I had a heart-breaking number of people tell me they wish they could do the 30-day challenge…
but they had a conference next week, or a date tomorrow, or (to my horror) they
just weren’t blessed with natural beauty.
I don’t know who or what made you believe that you and your
just-got-out-of-the-shower-and-haven’t-done-my-makeup-yet wasn’t something to
celebrate. You in your rare form that is drenched with everything human should be a daily affirmation in itself. In that form, you have no excuses for why you are beautiful. You didn't try a new mascara, you didn't use a different shade of eyeshadow, and you didn't remember to put on lip gloss. You just are. No excuses at all.
I was lucky enough to find a way to “take back the mirror.” My 20 minutes is now down to 2. The 30-day challenge reshaped the way I view people -- especially myself -- but maybe something else will work for you.
Whatever it is, I hope you find it. If nothing more, I challenge you to take one day to wear no make up out of the house and smile at everyone you can. It sounds silly, but I was still surprised and even more happy when they smiled back. :)
“Today we commit to loving our blemishes, our veins, and our
shadows. We are real. We are painstakingly original, and that must be the most
beautiful thing about us.”
