All October long we’re asking you to pop your makeup bag to one side as part of our Dare to Bare campaign, which aims to raise money for Breast Cancer Care (find out all about the campaign and ways to get involved here).

Of course, the girls of Escentual are practising what we preach! We’re going without makeup all month long to raise as much money as possible for BCC, and in this weekly segment we’re going to tell you all about the ups and downs of living life without one of our biggest passions. Here’s how the last week was for me (gulp)…

Tuesday 1st October

8am
So, it’s the first day of our Dare to Bare campaign and I’m not wearing any make-up. Not a scrap. As someone who wears make-up on a daily basis, I must admit this is slightly out of my comfort zone.

8.50am
I didn’t realise just how important my make-up routine was to my sense of feeling ready to face the day… I felt completely out of sync on the walk to work this morning. I must admit it was lovely to feel the breeze on my bare skin, though. It was also strangely liberating to be able to touch my face at leisure without worrying about smudging.

12.30pm
It’s lunch time and I find myself wondering if I could nip home quickly for lunch instead of heading out for some food. I’m a bit annoyed with myself for preferring to retreat indoors rather than walk around without make-up, so I make the decision to go to a cafe. Of course, no one batted an eyelid.

3pm
I’m half way through my working day and the inevitable has happened – I’m starting to get the dreaded mid-afternoon shine. I refrain from reaching into my desk drawer for some powder and I give my t-zone a quick touch up with some blotting paper instead.  For the first time in a long time, that’s actually enough to do the trick.

6pm
It’s the end of the day and I feel a small sense of achievement from having gone through the entire day without my comfort blanket. I wonder if my skin will begin to improve from going without make-up?

Wednesday 2nd

8am
Here’s the real test of going make-up free…  I’ve woken up this morning with spots around my chin and I’ve no way of hiding them. I have a hunch it was from stoking my makeup-free skin all day yesterday, which I find pretty funny.

I roll with the punches and go through my cleansing and moisturising routine as normal. Some moisturiser brings down the redness slightly, but those bumps are here to stay today. Time to grin and bear it!

11am
There’s a supplier meeting this morning and I feel quite unkempt with my visible spots. Nobody reacts any differently (I don’t quite know what I’m expecting. Questions? Raised brows? Open horror?) and I’m proved once more that this no make-up thing really isn’t that big a deal.

4pm
I’m sad to say that I’m looking forward to the end of the day today – my breakout has gotten me down.  I need to give my skin a little love in preparation for another day of Dare to Bare tomorrow, but first… I have to do some food shopping. It’s time to mingle with the masses.

Thursday 3rd

11am
One of the best things about ditching make-up is that I’m paying more attention to my skincare. It’s amazing how differently my skin behaves without make-up – it’s normally very dry and very oily in patches, but my bare skin feels more balanced somehow.

This morning I invested in a nice milky cleanser, a texture that I tended to avoid before as I didn’t want to make my skin too greasy beneath my make-up. I also bought a brightening toner to give my skin a bit of energy.

1pm
My under eye area got really dry from sitting in a heated room today, so I put on some eye cream. It felt great to be able to pamper my skin in the middle of work! I could get used to this.

6pm
I’m beginning to enjoy this no make-up malarkey. I felt myself shying away slightly yesterday because of my breakout, but today I kept forgetting that I wasn’t wearing any makeup. As silly as it sounds, I feel like it’s a new look for me, like changing my hair or wearing a different colour to bring out my eyes. I feel really different.

Friday 4th

9am
So, it’s the last day of the week and I’m feeling infinitely more confident. It’s probably going to be weird putting foundation on after this month is through – I’ve started to adapt to my ultra quick morning routine! I’m thinking that a fresher base and a lighter hand are on the cards.

It’s remarkable just how much this week of being make-up free has altered my day to day habits. It’s influenced me to be more aware of my diet and the sorts of products I’m using on my skin (I hide a multitude of bad habits beneath a layer of high coverage makeup), and it’s also made me question why I wear makeup on a day to day basis. The answer is because I really enjoy the process of putting on and wearing makeup, not necessarily because I feel I need it. Maybe I’ll have a compulsory make-up free day every week. Y’know, just to shake things up a bit.

6pm
And that’s a wrap! I’m pretty pleased with myself, and even more pleased that we’ve raised a really nice amount of money for a brilliant cause.

Are you taking part in Dare to Bare? Let us know how you’re getting on below!