#ThePowerOfMakeup: 25 pics that prove wearing make-up is no shame

Women who love to wear a lot (or even a wee bit) of make-up can sometimes be accused by other men and women, of being 'fake'. But Nikkie, a YouTub-er famous for her make-up tutorials and expertise (her vlog is called NikkieTutorials), wanted to change all that.

Why do women wear make-up? Is it because they are insecure? Or because they want to look 'perfect'? Or because they want to hide their 'real' face from the world? Oh and our favourite: Because they are overly concerned with impressing men? (Because that's our first thought in the a.m.!)

Using-the-hashtag-PowerofMakeup-women-on-Instagram-hope-to-challenge-the-assumption-that-women-only-wear-make-up-because-they-are-afraid-to-be-seen-in-their-natural-state-Instagram

No. It's not!

We're not making things up. A resounding no to all of the above 'doubts' from the thousands of women (and men) posting selfies online, using the hashtag #ThePowerOfMakeup, proved that.

The deal is: Women who love to wear a lot (or even a wee bit) of make-up can sometimes be accused by other men and women, of being 'fake'. But Nikkie, a YouTub-er famous for her make-up tutorials and expertise (her vlog is called NikkieTutorials), wanted to change all that.

(Photo: YouTube grab)

After she posted a viral video (which has got some 1,80,00,000 views since May, 2015), called The Power of Make-up (literally showing the power of make-up and how much Nikkie loves it), women started to post their own 'half-made-up' selfies on Instagram, sharing their own insights with the hashtag #ThePowerOfMakeup.

In a report on The Independent, Nikkie explained that 'make-up shamers' assume people who love to wear cosmetics do so because of insecurity or self-hatred. When in reality, some women just love the act of putting on lipstick and mascara for an enhanced look.

"I thought it would be cool to show you the power of make-up," she said.

And, this video of Nikkie responding to make-up shamers, clearly hit a nerve with many make-up artists and make-up lovers, as #ThePowerOfMakeup took off on social media. In turn, making it amply clear that while some women enjoy make-up because it's fun, others because it makes them feel better, and yet others because it's an art form!

Watch:

Igniting an empowerment revolution, Nikkie inspired many Instagram users to post moving (and impressive!) photos of their make-up skills, posting pictures of themselves with one side of their face made-up and the other side bare. And captioning them with sassy/frank messages about make-up.

Like this one: "It is about being comfortable in your own skin, not being ashamed of showing your true self and also to just have fun with make-up, whether it's applying a lot of a little... Do not worry about what others say!"

And this one: "It's all about how happy you are on the inside that counts most, and if drag queen make-up does that for you, then bloody rock it out."

So, a big shout out to the lovely ladies, who've come up with a striking way to challenge the assumption that women only wear make-up because they are afraid to be seen in their natural state. And thank you for getting that message heard with images like these:

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

#13

#14

#15

#16

#17

#18

#19

#20

#21

#22

#23

#24

#25

(The author tweets as @SanyaHoon)