Top 5 Reasons You Shouldn't Feel Bad About Your Excessive Beauty Routine

If you are a fierce, well-groomed, self-loving queen or king who lives for a good beat, this is for you! Whether it's your wedding day, date night or a trip to the post office, anytime is a good time for bold brows and a highlight you can see from outer space. There's nothing wrong with being a bare-faced beauty, but when you have the art of being extra down to a science, you tend to save the bare face for bedtime. At some point, every beauty enthusiast has experienced criticism from someone stuck in basic bitch mode who feels they deserve a trophy for not "needing" makeup or for narrowing down their routine to only a few coats of mascara and a light lipgloss. {insert eye rolling emoji here} First of all no one needs makeup. -/its a luxury, not a necessity. And for those who afford themselves the luxury of expressing their creativity, uniqueness, nerve and talent by means of beauty, kudos to you. As for the several hundred thousand assholes who bash beauty lovers on a daily basis, theres an entire ocean of expertly contoured asses you can kiss.

But seriously, I have never lifted a single brush to my face and wondered about the next mans opinion. I have never spent 45 minutes on an intricate cut crease and wondered if that guy at Target noticed or thought I was doing too much. Honestly everyone is entitled to their opinion but very seldom do those opinions or criticisms bear any real weight in reality. It's simple, if you don't like something, don't associate yourself with it. This doesn't mean stand opposite of a trend and projectile vomit all of your hateful point of views onto someone else's means of expression. How many times have you heard, women who wear makeup have low self esteem? This for the most part is complete bullshit, coming from the idea that those who wear makeup have something to hide. Those who enjoy and practice their beauty rituals daily have higher confidence levels because perhaps at some point they were told to hide, cover up, shrink or disappear. So we chose to stand out, be bold, play with color and manipulate shadows with the elegant flick of a MAC 224. -And so what if someone finds a confidence boost in a little bottle of foundation? Are they not allowed to have that bit of happiness just because it can be washed away with soap and water? Let people live and enjoy themselves without burdening them with what are inevitably the ramblings of someone who isn't exactly happy with their own life choices. Because you've never heard someone say, "Hey guys, my dick grew 4 inches overnight because I told my co worker she looks like shit in red lipstick" or "I now have 6 figures in my bank account because I hated on my homegirls contour". Nope, thats just not how this thing works.

But don't get it twisted, you cannot blush and buff in a lack of depth and character any more than you can Tweet yourself into being a more clever and competent president. There is no perfect shade of personality, and class doesn't come in a compact. So before you go and blow your rent money at Sephora, remember, to thine bare-faced self be true. But once you've learned the lines of your face and studied all the complex hues of your skins own unique over and undertones, once you've identified a sense of style and a few faithful products that allow you to enhance all your finest features, its time to apply technique and enjoy the world of beauty as it was truly meant to be enjoyed. Here are the H.Y.B's top 5 reasons you should not feel bad about your extra AF beauty routine. The world is yours baby, slay right on through it!

1. Beauty Rituals Are Therapeutic.

When you sit down to do your makeup don't think of it as a chore, think of it as a privilege, a chance to check in with yourself. While applying moisturizer go over the details of your day or recite daily affirmations while brushing through your brows. For most, this is the first and often only time in the day where you can partake in this very intimate, private time with yourself so don't rush through it, make the most of this me time whether its for a breezy 5 minutes or a leisurely hour and a half. Tune into you!

2. Treat Breakouts And Blemishes Faster

If you can commit to a beauty routine, make sure that routine focuses as much on skincare as it does simply on applying makeup to the face. In my opinion, one doesn't really work without the other. What good is an $80 foundation if the skin you apply it to resembles the texture of a Nestle crunch bar? Be good to your skin and your skin will be good to you. A clean, fresh, naturally radiant base requires less product in the first place and can make even the most affordable goods perform like a coveted La Mier or Cle De Peau item

3. Practice Makes Perfect

Before you take off your makeup at night, set aside 5 or 10 minutes to play around with a technique you'd like to one day perfect. Take your worn out daytime look and experiment with a sultry smoky eye or that precise winged liner you've been trying to master. By doing this you waste less product by working with a previously applied base and besides, theres nothing wrong with taking a moment to learn a new trick or two if you can.

4. Boost Your Confidence Levels

Something amazing happens when you shed the supposed shame associated with being a beauty enthusiast. Once you find that perfect bold lip or that insanely flattering pair of lashes, a feeling of invincibility washes over you like a fine mist of your favorite setting spray. It makes you feel as though you can silence an entire room with a mere glance, it makes you want to strut and smile with aaaalll of your teeth. Your confidence skyrockets, making your already lovable self feel sexy and in charge.

5. Make A Statement, Leave An Impression

Though your book may behold all the many chapters that make up your unique story, people will still jump at the chance to Judge you solely on your cover… May as well give them something pretty to look at! {Flips hair}