Walking down the halls of Gables, the first thing that you may notice is all of the faces that seem masked by an illusion of beauty. Rather than go ‘all natural,’ girls nowadays choose to wear makeup to hide insecurities; very few actually enjoy it.

At a very young age, girls are introduced to mass media sources such as magazines, movies, and the internet, which all show an unachievable state of aesthetic perfection rather than embracing the idea of natural beauty. After being shown these ‘beautiful’ faces, some high school girls become motivated to strive for them.

“I find wearing makeup pointless – school is just school. Makeup should be saved for those special occasions,” freshman Gabriela Vega said.

The teenage years are the years most girls become insecure about themselves. Their legs, their faces, and their bodies don’t seem to be good enough for themselves or for their romantic interests. Most girls utilize makeup to hide their insecurities without realizing that it makes the insecurities they strive to hide more apparent. They continue to fixate on their makeup abilities until applying it becomes a habit.

“I think it’s unhealthy when girls wear full-face makeup to school everyday. We have to keep in mind that school isn’t a beauty pageant, but at the same time it is okay if girls want to wear it to feel confident,” sophomore Emilia Serna said.

The number one cure for teen insecurity is confidence. For most people, confidence isn’t easy to acquire, and so some prefer to fake their way into it. In the minds of some girls, covering up an unappealing pimple or under-eye bags with concealer will shoot their self esteem to the skies – they won’t have to face the fear of someone staring at their forehead, or telling them they look tired every morning.

“I don’t think a girl should overdo it with excessive eye shadow because it shows vanity and insecurity. A girl doesn’t need that much [makeup] when her natural beauty speaks for itself – though a simple eyeliner and mascara is acceptable,” sophomore Marisel Lavizzari said.

Taking pride in your natural beauty is one of the greatest ways to gain confidence! Makeup shouldn’t be something used to cover up the flaws that make a person who they are; it should be used only to enhance a girl’s existing beauty. Fortunately, it is often said that as years go by, girls who once used makeup as a crutch learn to accept their insecurities, and stop relying on extra products to make them feel beautiful.