Body-Positive Blogger Shares Her Complicated Relationship With Makeup

The body positivity movement isn’t just about how people look from the neck down. It’s about how people feel about themselves on the inside, and as an Instagram post from inspiring fave Megan Jayne Crabbe (@bodyposipanda) illustrates, it’s also about loving the face you show the world — with or without makeup.

“Every so often I like to check in with myself about why I’m really wearing makeup,” Crabbe told Yahoo Beauty via email on Friday. “A few years ago I would never leave the house without a full face of makeup. I wouldn’t even answer the door to the postman! I was convinced that my bare face was too hideous to let other people see. When I found body positivity, I realized that my existence isn’t about how beautiful other people think I am, and I deserved to take up space in the world, no matter how I looked.”

On Instagram this week, she shared side-by-side pics of herself in makeup and barefaced and wrote, “Forever reminding myself that I’m equally valuable in both of these photos. Forever reminding myself that I don’t exist to be visually pleasing to others.”

With makeup on, the rainbow-haired British blogger has Disney princess-level big eyes, even-toned skin, and bright pink lips. Without embellishment, she’s every bit as radiant — but with a couple of those characteristics people constantly try to mask, because she happens to be three-dimensional and not a cartoon.

Not that she’s down on having fun with cosmetics. She calls it an “amazing creative outlet, hobby, and passion.” Her unicorn-worthy hair is evidence that she loves to experiment with self-expression.

Crabbe has gained quite a following for sharing photos of her “flaws” while discussing her past struggle with anorexia. She has posted a few other side-by-side comparisons, showing herself while she was suffering from her eating disorder and after she accepted her natural curves. She has also been showing followers how photo shoot techniques can mask reality.

In her latest post, she reaches out to people who feel less comfortable in their own skin. “I’m so sorry we still live in a society where completely normal skin qualities like acne are still shamed so much,” she wrote. “You deserve to feel beautiful, valuable and good enough no matter how your skin looks, because we’re all so much more than the outside.”

Sometimes, it seems she’s written these posts as a pep talk to herself, as she did a few months ago. “Don’t get me wrong, some days I just love the ritual, the creativity, getting to put colourful s*** on my face — but when doing that becomes more of a ‘need’ than a ‘want’, that’s a problem,” she wrote.

“I took a complete makeup break for a few months and slowly reintroduced it once I could use it in a healthier way,” she told Yahoo. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with makeup, and lots of people use it in positive ways. … These days I rarely put any makeup on unless I’m going to an event and want to feel fierce as hell with eyeliner sharp enough to kill. Now I’ve made peace with my natural face, I feel more comfortable without it!”

Read more from Yahoo Style + Beauty:

• Make Up for Ever Is the Latest Beauty Brand to Break Diversity Barriers
• This Black Model Was Told She Wasn’t Dark Enough to Wear an Afro
• Beauty Brands That Broke Diversity Barriers in 2016

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