before mascara entered the chat
how and when did natural stop being normal?
Dearest Gentle Reader,
I wrote this because, in 2026, people still think my thick afro hair isn't presentable because it isn't the clean haircut society approves of.
I think one of the strangest things the internet and the beauty industry, especially, has done to us is convince people that the untouched human body is somehow unfinished.
Incomplete.
It's now normal to think that a face without makeup is a draft version of itself.
Rarely do ladies think their bare nails beautiful. They are considered evidence of neglect.
Even the natural African hair must constantly be hidden beneath a wig, twisted into synthetic fibres to conceal its unpresentable kinky, or hot-combed into submission before it earns the right to be called beautiful.
And honestly, I often wonder why this doesn't concern the African woman more than it does me.
It started subtly, and then slowly morphed into standards that no longer arrive as obvious demands. They arrive dressed as trends; sometimes, wrapped in phrases like “self-care” and “looking presentable.” Nobody outright says you must participate, but after seeing the same curated aesthetic repeated ten thousand times online, the message starts dripping into the subconscious anyway.
A woman posts herself barefaced and people ask if she is tired.
Someone wears her natural hair and suddenly she is described as untidy, which is a word so ridiculous it deserves jail time.
Bare nails become unfinished.
Minimal makeup is termed lazy.
Simplicity becomes something people are shamed for.
And just like that, optional things become expectations.
That is how these standards work. They never stop moving. Today it is makeup. Tomorrow it is painted toenails. Next week somebody will invent, let time think… “hydrated sole aesthetics?” and people on TikTok will start ranking moisturisers like global economic policy. Mtchew!
The list keeps growing. Alarmingly .
And you know why it works?
Banking on the insecurity of people is profitable!
For anyone who doesn't feel comfortable in their body, there is always another product to buy. Another flaw to fix. Another society beauty standard to meet. It's a vicious profitable cycle that goes on and on and on while actual human beings are forget what human beings look like.
We are so used to polished faces, iPhone edited skin-like-milk, fashion-designer padded hips, Snapchat-filtered bodies, curated aesthetics, and sixty-nine-step beauty routines that normal features now look strange to people. Natural skin and hair texture now shocks people. Acne alarms many. Skin tags is now an ugly defacing anathema. Someone once said smile lines are unattractive. Common, earthlings!
Know what's funnier? A person simply existing naturally now feels brave, as though showing your real face should require the courage of a stone age man hunting wild pigs for dinner.
Something that should be normal!
And, biko don't misunderstand me. There is nothing wrong with makeup. Painted nails are beautiful. Wigs, heels, lip gloss, or any form of self-expression that genuinely brings joy are just fine by me.
Adornment has existed since God made man. Humans have always decorated themselves. Beauty is art. It can be playful and expressive.
The problem begins when enhancement stops being optional and now being forced on all like an obligation.
Once society decides a woman’s natural state is not enough, she is no longer decorating herself for fun. She is performing acceptability and maintaining eligibility for praise and attention, and sometimes even basic decency.
That is silly.
Sillily unfair.
In fact, if you look beyond the smokescreen, you'd notice a double standard. Yes, the standards themselves are deeply inconsistent. Society praises natural beauty while simultaneously punishing women who actually appear natural. Everybody claims to love authenticity until authenticity shows up with visible pores and unpainted nails.
I think we need to relearn how to see people without the influence of beauty standards whispering in our ears.
We need to remember that bare faces are normal faces.
We need to be reminded daily that unpainted nails are still complete nails.
The African hair in its natural state is not untidy or looks like lack of effort. It is hair. Beautiful hair, too.
Your body is not a rough draft waiting for soxiety’s approval, abeg!
There's nothing “un" about your body.
You’re not unpresentable because you wore no make-up.
You're not underdone!
Not unfeminine either!
Not incomplete because you don't meet society's standards.
You do not owe the world constant aesthetic labour just to qualify as acceptable and beautiful.
If you love makeup, enjoy it freely.
If you love wigs up, wear it boldly.
If painted nails make you happy, paint them like tiny colourful protest signs against boredom.
But do those things from freedom, not insecurity or inferiority complex.
You don’t become more human after decoration.
You were already whole before the mascara entered the chat.
—Jaachịmmá Anyatọnwụ
The Bard Influencer
I have never been a fan of makeup. There was a time I met a man (way before I met my husband), he was well to do and liked me. We were friends at the time and he asked me out. While I was giving it some thought, he said, "my woman must always use makeup everyday because my mother uses it. It is the way I see and appreciate beauty."
That knocked the wind out of me. You knew I wasn't a makeup person, you have never seen me use one except for the occasional lip gloss and powder and now you want me to perform makeup every day of my life?!!
I didn't think twice before I backed out of the relationship that never was.
I can use makeup on occasions but it is not my thing. I'm comfortable without makeup. I'm comfortable in my own skin and choices.
There's nothing more freeing than that. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the subject.