Make up-Free Mondays Movement Smears Society’s Standards

With the way we young women cake on the make up day after day, it’s no wonder why the No Make up Monday movement was started a little while back by Beauty Bean.

Promoting self-confidence in women is more than just telling ourselves that we are “beautiful inside and out” and that we should not value ourselves by a number on a scale—it’s about actually building better body images, preventing eating disorders and self-doubt. We need to acknowledge true, real beauty and start walking our talk.

Being comfortable in your own skin may not be an easy task, but this No Make up Monday movement promotes liberation, inner beauty and inspiration. It may seem intimidating and daunting at first, but we should not feel compelled to paint up our faces to look and feel a certain way in society. I mean it’s not like I wear make-up all of the time, but going to work and out at night seemed impossible without makeup, but by taking the plunge to not wear makeup for a full day I felt liberated and realized how tedious and time consuming putting on make up really is.

I mean my inner beauty and body images issues have not always been in tact (as those of you have seen who have known me for a while), but women everywhere struggle with these issues and movements like No Makeup Monday help show that we are not alone. Women all over are joining the movement by bypassing the blush and keeping their concealer, well concealed; now it’s your turn. Like my mother always said ‘less is more’ and by cutting it out all together for a day is a small step that makes a big difference when it comes to confidence and belief in one’s self.

Beauty Bean has taken a stand against lathering on the lip gloss in vein of Casual Friday, creating and promoting No Makeup Monday as a social campaign challenging women to find their natural inner beauty and to stop apologizing for not caking on the makeup. But the people behind the movement want to make it clear that it is not an anti-makeup movement. It is about refocusing the superficiality of the world and directing it toward TRUE beauty inside and out.

Self empowerment and confidence are the influential results of the movement. When other women see you participating in No Makeup Mondays, and how naturally beautiful you actually look, it will inspire them to ditch the applicator and show the world how beautiful that people are underneath it all.

Beauty Bean’s Beauty Makes a Difference 6 simple ways to get involved:

1. Don’t wear makeup on Mondays (or use less for those who need to do this in baby steps).

2. Stop apologizing for not wearing makeup, no matter what day of the week it is.

3. Organize official Makeup Free Mondays at your school, place of employment or with your friends.

4. Encourage conversations about real beauty and better body image within your own families and friendships.

5. Share your makeup free photos with The Beauty Bean via Facebook and on Twitter with the hash tag #MakeupFreeMondays.

6. Donate unopened and unexpired makeup to your local women’s shelter, Dress for Success chapter or similar women’s program. Though The Beauty Bean focuses on inner beauty, we know that the confidence a polished look can give is something all women deserve.

Katie Feldhaus is a News & Editorial Journalism student at the University of Colorado at Boulder and is an editorial intern at elephantjournal.com. She is currently living in Boulder and is a Colorado native, who loves being active and doing anything outside.