While the idea behind it is admirable, the spike of the #NoMakeup trend means that makeup-shaming has also become a thing. I've heard whispers on the NYC streets from men and women alike poking fun at those with super-bright green lipstick or a heavily painted face of foundation.
As a longtime beauty writer and editor, my personal philosophy is that you should put skin first. I find skin care—my insanely long, like 18-product-long routine—to be a form a self-care, and I feel that the better I take care of my skin, the less makeup I need to wear. But that's because I LOVE the way I look without makeup on. Honestly. When I wear heavy shadow or dark lip colors, I do not feel my best. But give me smooth AF skin (right now, I'm living and dying for IT Cosmetics Confidence in a Compact Solid Serum Foundation; it's like Facetune on crack, but IRL), a post-exercise flush across my cheeks, tweezed brows, and the barest hint of lip color (Glossier is my current fav) and I literally can't not feel beautiful.
Still, I am a big proponent of makeup in all of its forms, particularly how you can use it to express yourself. One of my OG mentors in the beauty biz has a look completely different from my own: Her raven-colored hair and razor-sharp bangs are the cool-girl antidote to my basic California girl butter blonde. But perhaps the starkest difference we have is her straight-up need for bright red lipstick, a signature look she's rocked for a decade and that I love her for.
