One of my all-time favourite movies is The Mirror Has Two Faces (an oldie from 1996). Barbra Streisand shines in her role, and I believe she also directed the movie. A quote from the movie has stuck with me and it is one I often share. Barbra’s character, Rose, is asked if she wears make-up. Her reply: What’s the point? I’d still look like me, only in color.

I rarely wear make-up. Now that I have a Diva as a daughter, I may even wear make-up a bit more often, at her insistence. It has just never interested me to understand how all that time spent blending various pigments onto my facial area works. I have the basics down pat for when it is really needed.

Why do women spend so much time and money changing how they look and then they don’t even get to see themselves? You colour in your face to present a different face to the people around you. And then there is the removal regime: another at least half an hour of my day gone, and I still wake up in the morning with some kind of residue on my eyelashes. You can never quite remove all the eyeliner or mascara (not sure which one).

I vaguely remember during Covid how make-up brands were lamenting losses of business because women were just not dollying themselves up as much because of the masks they were required to wear. Is make-up just another kind of mask?

There have been well-meaning female friends who has accused me of not taking care of myself enough. How is plastering your face with layers of “stuff” taking care of yourself? Surely our faces are meant to feel the kiss of the sun or the subtle touch of a breeze, without the concern that something will melt off or blow away.

I spend much time thinking of what we as women put up with, or even center our lives around, now that I am raising a strong woman. I want my daughter to have the freedom to express who she is, without feeling that she needs the support of any kind of aid to be accepted by her peers or the community.

As women, let’s support each other’s personal choices, outside of what society dictates. You want to wear make-up and it is for you and your decision, you go girl! You don’t want to – fine as well. Make sure that you understand why you make the decisions you do, and that those decisions are for your benefit and yours alone.