Make-up is my favorite thing. I absolutely LOVE putting on my lipstick (almost) every day.

I love when I wake up and decide to wear make-up, because that is exactly what it is. A decision.

I hear a lot of people go around saying they have to wear make-up, and all I can think of is why?

Why is it that girls NEED to wear it? Is it because of societies standards? Because I think that is a stupid reason to wear it.

I wear the bare minimum when I decide to put make-up on.

It is usually eyeliner, mascara and whatever shade of my 13 lipsticks I own match my outfit.

By societies standards, I should be wearing a full face of make-up every day because it makes me look better.

I think I look great without it.

I think everyone looks better when they do not wear make-up, because we are using our natural beauty.

When I was growing up, I heard a lot of things from people saying that they had to wear make-up to make some guy like them.

I do not understand why this idea of make-up is one that literally controls some people’s lives.

Being in college and working for the newspaper, I do put on enough make-up to get by during the day, but when I see people walking around after an 8 a.m. class with a full face of make-up, I just wonder who has that kind of time.

I love my make-up, and sometimes I will put on a full face, but that requires a lot of time and energy that I just sometimes do not have.

I heard someone last year say they barely had time to put on their make-up, and it was for an 8 a.m. class.

Make-up itself just seems like this whole idea that we NEED to have and use every day.

There is also the fact that people idolize celebrities and they feel that in order to be beautiful, they need to look like them, so they go find the Kylie Jenner lip tutorial.

Why is it that we feel like we need to turn ourselves into something we just simply are not.

Why is it that we feel like we need to look good for other people?

When I put make-up on, I do so for my own enjoyment.

I feel like some people focus on being known as the pretty girl that they forget that it is better to be natural and real than to feel like you have to put up this front every day.

Yes, I have some blemishes and scars, but I know that I have them and they make me human.

Why should I try and hide that?

I am perfectly happy being the quirky girl next door that people may or may not think is attractive, because I know that I am beautiful, and I do not need reassurance that I am.

Mackenzie Freund is a junior journalism major. She can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].