In 2020, We Are Not Hiding Our Skin Behind Makeup. Instead, We Are Embracing Being Natural
Half of my day goes cursing 2020. Saying it is the worst would be an understatement. The pandemic, floods, airplane crashes and then songs like Masakali 2.0 and Beyonce Sharma Jayegi? I am officially done with this year. I know, I shouldn’t be so negative (especially since four months are left and I don’t want to challenge it). It did bring some good things along as well. Pollution levels dropped…and, oh that’s it. 2020 may not have been the best or even a good year per se but it has been a great teacher to all of us. Not just in terms of lessons on personal hygiene and healthcare, but being in quarantine for months has forced us to reflect upon what really matters. Case in point, natural beauty.
Being locked up homes, we had the ultimate chance to be free of everything superficial. From no bra days to selfies sans makeup, somewhere during the pandemic we kicked the beauty standards and idealistic norms to the curb. Women have been finding solace in beauty filters, makeup and treatments for as long as we can remember. Cut to 2020. Nobody cares. As long as you are moisturising, hydrating and putting on lip balm on, you are winning at the beauty game.
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Flaunting natural face is the hottest beauty trend of 2020 and by that I most certainly do not mean the no makeup makeup. Na-uh. It’s about going au natural FR, owning up to your zits, scars, freckles and spots, and not hiding behind filters and ton of makeup. Celebrities have been showing their real beauty through their quarantine selfies too. Remember their #IWokeUpLikeThis selfies? Yeah, it’s more like #ThisIsMeAllDay picture now. Take a look.
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Being comfortable in your skin which, NGL, has just been a theoretical concept for women till now, is finally becoming the truth in the pandemic. Self-acceptance and skin positivity is the buzz word in beauty world as more and more women are letting their natural beauty shine and unapologetically real about their skin woes. Reports show that internet searches for skin remedies like acne treatment and scar removal have taken a dip of 96 per cent while searches for models with acne shot up by 200 per cent during the pandemic—which is sort of priceless.
This is largely because wearing little or no makeup has become the norm. Other than for zoom meetings and virtual date nights, the concept of glamming up has taken a serious hit. Plus, even if you think of venturing out, the mask snatches what little possibility you have to put on makeup and take an Insta-worthy photo. Which, reminds me, masks have introduced another skin woe called maskne. You might have heard of backne. It’s a cousin of that, only more annoying. See, because of the mask, the sweat and grime invites acne on the face covered under your mask. But it’s no problem since in 2020, we are not hiding our skinemies, rather embracing them. So, people can see my real face for all I care, I’ll be happy to oblige.
While women have ditched makeup, they are focusing on self-care and skincare while they’ve got all the time in the world (those morning makeup routines before work really took a lot of our time). The skincare industry is booming and it’s only obvious that we invest in skin staples and pamper our skin while we are at it. Also, the pandemic has made a strong case for DIYs so natural ingredients and homemade treatments have picked up. Celebrities are serving skincare inspo almost every day, giving their Insta fam real beauty goals.
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Although there aren’t many, this is one amazing upside of being in quarantine. Funny, it took a pandemic to make us realise that nobody looks perfect—not me, not you, not your ever-so flawless bestie and neither these celebs and influencers—and that’s okay. We have been deliberately living a lie and have been under the false pretenses of beauty, but I am glad we can finally move past it. Because, anyway what’s the point? If this virus doesn’t stop, we are going to die anyway, better die au naturel.
Ever since makeup was invented, I don’t think women have been able to resist the tempting vanity kits. The focus has positively shifted from makeup to skincare and I think we can all celebrate that. And, if this continues, in the post-covid times, superficiality will have no place, I hope.
