Hi, you are “face to face with Shell”.
I am going to do a series of pages/videos on camouflage make-up/foundation/cover-up make-up, whatever you want to call it. In this series, I am going to talk about how I found the correct foundation, and the mistakes I made with my foundation along the way. My pages/videos will be a mixture of information and product reviews.
BEFORE WE GO ON, PLEASE REMEMBER THAT I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL MAKE-UP ARTIST, I JUST WANT TO HELP YOU BY SHARING MY EXPERIENCES.
Please watch the video below and read on:
Recently I spoke to a fellow burn survivor and the subject of camouflage make-up came up. This person is quite far into their burn journey and told me that they were very comfortable in their skin, and said that they were “not into the vanity thing”, which is fine, however, it is a bit different for them, as they do not have scars on their face.
When I was first burned, I had VERY thick, red scarring on my face and neck. I feel that it was easy for this burn survivor to say what they did, as they had never had the experience I did.
As you can see, my scars were very thick and red (Bangour Burns Unit 1984).
I am in no way taking away what the other burn survivor had gone through, as everyone has their own story and their own difficulties to overcome, however, having visible scars can bring along a unique set of obstacles.
Some will argue that it is easier for someone who has a visible difference on their face, as everyone can see that they have been burned, etc., different from someone who has a “difference” somewhere else on their body; then that person has to decide whether and when to tell people about their scars/altered body image.
First up, I don’t think that it is vain for wanting your scars/you to look better; people wear make-up everyday to “enhance” their features.
If you want to wear camouflage make-up/foundation don’t let anyone put you down because you want to. Don’t let them tell you that you are doing it for vanity or tell you in a dismissive way that you are; “ok, just the way you are”, they are not walking around with the visible difference, you are.
For this series; I’m going to talk about someone who does have a visible difference on their face and someone who does want to cover up their difference.
I am very comfortable with who I am and I am very comfortable in my own skin but it wasn’t always like this. When I was first burned, I would have done anything to take my scars away, for people not to see me, not to stare at me, and not to comment on the way I looked.
Therefore, I don’t think there was anything wrong with me wanting to cover up my scars and wanting to make them look better.
You may be someone that doesn’t want to use make-up to cover-up your visible difference and that is fine as well, however, in this series, I am here to try and help those that do want to.