I do not have anything against makeup – it looks pretty, really! Yet with the growing amount of female students who use makeup, I can’t help but wonder one thing: Is everyone trying to look older these days?

Walking through the hallways, you are bound to see at least a half a dozen students who have either eye shadow or eyeliner on – some even matching the color of their outfit. In my opinion, makeup is supposed to “accentuate your natural beauty.” Now a few of you may be thinking, “But I don’t have natural beauty!” Lies!

Everyone has natural beauty, and all you have to do is find out what it is. Whether it is your brown eyes, your shiny hair, the dimple in your cheek – it’s there.

Growing up, I was kind of a tomboy. I refused to wear skirts and dresses, and when I finally consented to one, it had to have a Disney character on it.

Strangely enough, I was fascinated by makeup as a child. I would color in blue lipstick, green eye shadow, and yellow eyeliner on my coloring books, somehow knowing for sure that I was creating beauty. As I got older, however, I lost interest in makeup and rainbow colors. It was just old news to me by then, and common sense told me that there were certain colors that just didn’t belong on skin.

The new trends and fashions have contributed to the ever-increasing use of makeup, such as punk, emo, mod, skater, etc., and those are all personal styles. As much as I disapprove of makeup on a perfectly pretty person, I have seen people who wear makeup so cleverly sheer that it looks completely natural. A contrast to that though – the people who put on so much makeup that it becomes a mask.

Have you ever seen people with makeup so heavy they look like clowns? Probably somewhere in the city you have, but could you imagine yourself wearing that same makeup? Maybe, and maybe not. Wearing such heavy makeup not only attracts attention, but it also attracts strange looks. You do not see anyone in an office with heavy makeup, and it is most likely because they are reasonable enough to know where and when to wear a certain amount of makeup.

With high school comes social pressure – and in this case, the pressure to look good. So many people feel that they need to dress perfectly for school and with perfect dress comes perfect makeup. Perhaps the need to dress to impress has affected the use of makeup so much that all makeup-wearing people hav attained some

kind of instinct to wear more and more makeup.

I know that there are people out there who really do want to look older, and I’ve met dozens of people who just want to grow up as fast as possible. For the people who wear makeup just to look older, consider the fact that adults generally wear less makeup then when they were teens. So while you paint your face a brand new shade, think about it: Are you making yourself look older? Or is your face just a coloring book?