by Delayne Terra Buranek

Created on: March 24, 2009

Attraction is different for everyone. So when it comes to whether women are thought to look better with or without makeup it becomes a very individualized choice. I am a woman who does not wear makeup. It will come as no surprise that I believe there is only true beauty in something as real and honest as a woman without makeup.

I was put in dance as a young girl. We were made up like little dolls donning frilly dresses with our hair pulled up in strange designs and faces painted. It wasn't something I particularly enjoyed and is the main deep psychological reason I abhor all of the above. I will very willingly admit I am biased in this case. The whole guise was faked. It was done for entertainment purposes. I did it though because it made my mother happy.

My mother enjoyed those earlier times when I would just go along with it. When I got older I had started to reject all things girly. My father told me that it was important to be honest and always be myself. He also said that women were beautiful without makeup and therefore I didn't need it. Mother disagreed, she believed it was important for me to wear it and do all those girly things. They were important because someday I would need to find a man. I wasn't interested however so I kept my face makeup free, did not exchange my glasses for contacts, always kept my hair in a pony-tail and maintained my scholarly pursuits much to my mothers chagrin.

I've seen photos of celebrities on their 'off' days. Photos, that are more often than not, taken merely to make the celebrity look bad. The key factor in the 'unattractiveness' of most of them isn't the fact that they aren't wearing makeup it is frequently their actions or even perhaps their choice in sloppy clothes. The glossy magazine photos aren't real, and are getting less real as technology advances. I may find a celebrity attractive, but I would imagine that meeting them in person would be a whole different situation, especially if I met them in their real and true form.

We can't neglect that sometimes life and a person's skin becomes out of their control. I just wish we didn't live in a world where a bad day, some stress or raging hormones could push a woman into the unattractive category. It would be nice if mothers didn't have to tell their daughters they need to learn to use makeup otherwise they'll be single and lonely for the rest of their lives as well as have the possibility of never being successful in a career. Then women would stop worrying about how they look in the morning and wouldn't consider getting eyeliner tattooed on their eyelids.

There is something to be said about a woman who takes care of herself. Some people might consider moisturizers and other products part of makeup but I don't. I used to spend a lot of time out in the sun and I was told by a Mary Kay consultant "You might not wish to wear makeup but the least you can do is wear sunscreen!" It was apparently common sense, one that I wasn't so commonly aware of at the time. But taking care of yourself means you respect who you are and doesn't impart the artificialness that makeup brings about.

It is the honesty and realness of beauty that trumps the artificial and man-made. Would you rather see a photo of a sunset in the Caribbean or would you rather be there yourself? The same holds true with women. A freckle from the sun or laugh lines around the eyes tell a much better story than a plastic face with no emotion from botox injections. And that is a beautiful thing.

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