The Naked Face Project: Could you go without makeup for two months? What does makeup teach our girls?

Could you go two months without makeup, shaving or deodorant? Could you go one day? Why do women wear makeup? What is it teaching our young girls about loving themselves as they are?

These are all questions two women from North Carolina set out to answer with an experiment: The Naked Face Project.

Both women, Molly Barker, 51, and Caitlin Boyle, 27, are affiliated with Girls on the Run, a running and self-esteem program for girls. They wanted to figure out why they wear makeup when they are telling their girls to love who they are.

From USA Today:

“It’s a question they say comes from young girls in Girls on The Run, a running and self-esteem program Barker founded in 1996 that now has chapters in more than 190 cities. Barker, a triathlete, social worker and mother of two, says, “So many times, a little girl will say ‘If you tell me I’m beautiful just the way I am, why do you color your hair or wear makeup?’ “…

“The problem, they agreed, was they didn’t really know the answer.”

So they decided to go two months without wearing any makeup, nail polish, deodorant or shaving their bodies.

Sunday, April1, is the last day of their project and they are asking women around the country to go without make up for one day and see how they feel.

Some of the things they have liked about not wearing make up:

They have saved time and money. One women thinks she’s saved up to $150 a month.

One of the women said her skin has never looked better and doesn’t need the blush.

They both agreed they missed shaving their underarms and the deodorant seemed more like hygiene than beauty product.

I personally don’t wear make up every day. It’s just generally for special occasions or professional ones. (When I do wear make up people always comment how nice I look, which makes me think they think I look like crap most days.) I don’t like the way it feels on my skin and I’m not willing to get up earlier to drive the kids to school with makeup on.

I do however use copious amounts of face cream and lotion that I do not think I could give up at all. (I have such dry skin and it’s far worse out here in Arizona – sooo dry here.) I also don’t think I could stop shaving under my arms. That would really bother me.

At this point I am coloring my hair every two months and I just think it makes me feel better. The gray is all up front, and it’s just sort of depressing. Now my mom colored her hair for 30 years and finally let it go to it’s natural silver all over and it is so beautiful. She looks so much better in her natural color.

So what do you think? Do you normally wear make up every day? Why do you wear it?

Could you go without make up for a day? What about two months? What about face cream or shaving? What about deodorant? (That’s hygiene, not beauty!)