I've always been one of those people who doesn't use make-up. To be honest I just can't be bothered with it. Applying make-up just seems to be a long and complicated process. That doesn't mean I'm not insecure about my face though. I am. Especially when I'm constantly surrounded by other girls who all use make-up and look amazing. Its just that my laziness outweighs my self-consciousness. Normally it doesn't really bother me that much. None of my friends seem to care that I don't wear make-up. No one ever says anything to make me feel crap about my face. In fact, I've often been told I don't need make-up, which is surprisingly confidence boosting to hear. Like I said, normally its fine. Sometimes, however, the self-consciousness increases (although still not higher than my laziness). But every now and then I start to panic. I start to think that everyone is secretly judging me for not wearing make-up and I stop wanting to go outside and I even start to think that all my friends secretly hate me, which I know isn't true but I just can't help it sometimes. And the worst part is that I often feel like the only girl in the world who doesn't bother with make-up, which I know can't be true but I can't help it. I just feel really alone sometimes, which is never fun.
Last weekend I went to YALC (Young Adult Literature Convention) and there were so many people there. Literally hundreds of people. And amongst all the authors and cosplayers and just general people, were people who weren't wearing make-up. Getting solid proof that I'm not the only person who doesn't wear make-up, and seeing that they are still really pretty and they still have friends, really helped me to become more confident with my choice not to wear make-up. Obviously I don't know anything about these people I saw. For all I know they normally wear make-up and just didn't bother with it that one day. But just seeing them there, without make-up on, helped me to feel less alone and much more confident with myself. Just knowing that you're not alone can really help.
