Free at last

Lipstick that doubles as cream blusher, thick eyeshadow crayons and the palest bronzers out there are a few of my favourite things right now. Good timing too since this week bh is all about make-up.

So allow me to throw a mascara wand in the works by suggesting you spare a thought for the glorious MFD won’t you? That’s ‘make-up free day’, of course. And yes, it’s cousin to the ‘alcohol free day’ that we’re all supposed to have a minimum of two each week. Ideally consecutively.

No such government-endorsed guidelines exist for the MFD but if you ask me, at least one a week is vital to healthy skin and ego. Not because make-up is in anyway bad for us but because it’s actually kinda liberating to go barefaced. When else can you decide to splash your face with water on a whim on a hot day? Or top up your skin with an extra rich moisturiser halfway through a cold, dry day just because you can.

Naturally, by bare, I do of course mean moisturised and protected with sunscreen. To go without those would be positively medieval. But leaving your cosmetics bag zipped: no liquid liner, no shimmering highlighter stick, no concealer. Ok, maybe a little concealer and the sheerest kiss of gloss if you absolutely have to. But no mascara, no lick of dark chocolate powder under the eyes, no eyebrow pencil, no blusher. And certainly no base of any kind. Liquid foundation, powder, creamy mousse, it doesn’t matter. The point is to leave your skin nude.

We always think of going make-up free to give skin a chance to breathe but that’s a myth. It’s our lungs that do the breathing after all. Still, even non-comodegenic make-up can leave skin feeling greasy by the end of the day. And sometimes it feels like my skin is just crying out to be left alone rather than primed and powdered. It’s also a pleasure not to make any effort for a change. To just wash and wear, so to speak.

Besides, the very best thing about a MFD? Why, it makes you look forward to the return of make-up the following day, of course.