Our makeup, to say the absolute least, has seen some things. The ups, the downs and the spirals— our makeup bags have been there through it all.
The contents of our makeup routines are hyper-specific to each of us. Some of us are constantly swapping out products, unable to commit to a favorite for too long. Others are loyal to their tried and true, rarely swapping out products or techniques. Most of us are probably a healthy mix of both.
We borrow lip gloss from friends and end up finding new purse staples or use the same blush we watched our mothers use growing up. We use the concealer that our favorite beauty YouTuber from 2016 recommended to us when we were in middle or high school and swear that it is the best one on the market. Our makeup is a collage of our lives, different people and experiences shaping the products we use and the techniques we swear by.
This is similar to our identities as people. We are shaped and influenced by the people we meet, the experiences we cherish and the lessons we learn. Everything we encounter leaves an impression on us. No two people’s walks of life are ever the same, just as no two people are the same. Our makeup is a reflection of who we are as individuals, growing and changing right along with us.
We add foundation and concealer as we hit puberty and are met with the harsh reality of acne. We will add eyeliner to our bags as we grow up and feel more mature, the sharp wings warning away adolescence. Eye shadow palettes go from pinks and blues to boring nudes and our mindset swaps from ‘I want everyone to see my makeup’ to ‘The goal is to look like I have no makeup on at all.’
We value the lip gloss recommendation from our best friend just as we always value her advice, helping to walk us through life and hardships. We use the blush our mothers always did just as we model ourselves after her. And that concealer from the beauty YouTuber we watched growing up? We still use it. Not because we still watch that beauty YouTuber or enjoyed the many scandals they probably got into in the past few years, but because some things never change. What can we say, good products are good products.
How has your makeup grown with you? Let us know by mentioning @VALLEYmag on X!
