There’s currently a craze going around Facebook where women are encouraged to post a makeup free selfie and make a donation to a cancer charity, in order to raise awareness of cancer. I am the first to applaud anyone who generously gives money to any charitable organisation, however, the part I question is the no makeup selfie.
It makes me wonder, first, in my humble opinion, a makeup free selfie doesn’t really align with the cancer awareness aim…maybe posting an image of directions of how to do various self checks for various cancers would be more beneficial in the “awareness” aspect.
But…
The more questionable part, is why is it a big deal that these selfies are makeup free? Are women needing encouragement to post photos without layers of makeup? I don’t consider myself overly naturally beautiful, and I don’t particularly love all of my features, but in saying that, many of my photos are makeup free and frequently posted on social media without the thought of “oh wow, I’m makeup free here” but rather “this is a nice photo…I’ll *insert social media platform here* this one!”
I believe that everyone should be able to make their own decisions, and it doesn’t really bother me if my friends wear makeup or not on any given day. I believe fully in the inner beauty being more important than external beauty (although, in saying that, all of my friends are incredibly beautiful people inside and out!).
But, a makeup free selfie being a big deal bothers me just a little. A selfie is a selfie, makeup free or not.
No, I haven’t joined this trend and posted my #NoMakeupSelfie on Facebook, but this doesn’t mean I don’t care about awareness campaigns or charities or cancer patients/survivors. Quite the opposite really. I just show my support slightly differently. In the last 12 months, I’ve volunteered for cancer charities and assisted on event days, donated money to these charities and also plan to do Dry July this year. We all show our support in different ways and not seeing someone’s selfie on Facebook doesn’t make them any less aware or charitable.
And yes, I am willing to put this into action and share a selfie of me on a day where I had absolutely no makeup on…
And another…
Oh, why not, just one more!
The Nat Diaries 
I agree with you on this one. The idea puzzled me. I was tagged to do it but I didn’t. I had recently donated to a cancer charity and I couldn’t see how a pic of me with no make up would help the cause. 🙂
I remember this trend – it did absolutely nothing to promote or contribute to cancer research. I see on facebook you’re thinking of doing dry july again this year which will actively help a cause – I’ll swing by and give you my support. That’s definitely something worth commemorating with a selfie!
Thanks for the comment Kirsty! 🙂
I am absolutely doing Dry July again this year – signed up already and even blogged it, so it’s blog official…haha. 🙂 Thank you for your support. And there will be selfies.
Dry July is a great idea – kudos to you for supporting it!
Also, I love your scarf – it’s super cute!
Thank you! 🙂 Dry July is great. Done it every year since 2013…I’m an old hand at it now haha.
Also, thank you re the scarf!! It is cute. I got it for Christmas a few years ago. I love it. 🙂