Fewer things draw more ire from my readers than when I write about my wish that makeup would become a thing of the past.
Even my desire for Olympic athletes to stop wearing makeup while competing drew an angry protest.
In fairness to myself, I receive quite a bit of support for my position as well, and primarily by women, but those that disagree with my position really disagree.
Rather than producing any original content today (and suffering a backlash), I’ll merely quote from two studies on recent trends in makeup that warm my heart.
- A survey conducted in August of last year found that most women between the ages of 18 and 25—67 percent—use fewer than three products in their hair and beauty routines. Only 20 percent use four to seven products, and a tiny 3 percent use more than 12.
- The call of fresh-facedness is even stronger for women over 25, 72 percent of whom limit their makeup use to zero to three products.
- Brides in rapidly increasing numbers are choosing to go makeup-free on their wedding day, and when they do wear makeup, the overwhelming trend is for an extremely minimal approach.
- The hashtag #nomakeupselfies is one of the fastest growing on Twitter and Instagram, with celebrities like Beyoncé, Gwyneth Paltrow and Cameron Diaz posting photos of themselves without makeup.
