O Jesus, My Makeup

I'm giving makeup for Lent. Actually, no, I'm trying to give up makeup forever. But I figure Lent's a good start.

You know what's nice about not wearing makeup? You can touch your fucking face. Several times in the last few days I have put my finger to my eye, with the instinct to rub, and then had that moment of "oh! can't rub!" before I realized that I'm not wearing eyeliner, eyeshadow, and mascara, and I can in fact rub my eye. And I feel an inner feeling of delight. And rub vigorously.

Makeup is stupid. You know that people don't really look that different with it on? I was looking around the bus yesterday morning and realized that I couldn't really tell whether most of the women were wearing much makeup. But yet we spend so much time gazing at our own damn faces in the mirror, getting the face-paint just so, that we come to rather exaggerate the difference between makeupped and non-be-makeupped. And also, if people are used to seeing you with makeup, when they see you without, they notice, saying "you look tired.." I've gotten this a million times.

Must I look perky and hyper-awake at all times? Must my eyes be smoky and sultry, with mascara-thickened lashes? Must my cheeks be rosy? Why do I feel like I have to wear at least a little makeup to look "professional"?

Putting on makeup takes time. Since giving up on doing my hair, and giving up makeup, I've added at least an extra twenty minutes of sleep time. I suppose I can't give up showering, so I'm probably at my lower-limit of getting-ready time,at 15 minutes.

This year has, unplanned, been a series of me rejecting practices that foster body alienation! Last fall I stopped plucking my eyebrows, over which I obsessed for like two months while they grew in to their "natural" shape, and now they look.. completely normal and unremarkable. They are fine eyebrows. I used to want more of an arch in my brow (I quietly complained to myself) when I was plucking, and ironically enough now that I've stopped my arch is way better.

So on to my request for advice.

Anyway, I'm trying to get back to my "natural" face, whatever that was, before I put all these products and crap on it. Anyone experimented with not using cleansers on your face? I have known many men who didn't seem to wash their faces very much, if at all (of course, they got them wet in the shower, but you know), and they looked great. The skin is oilier, but in a good, healthy oil way, not like a shiny over-production of oil way. I've been doing the cleanse-and-moisturize routine for so long, but it just seems like drying out only to replace the natural oils with fake ones. Right? I mean, I don't really need to moisturize the rest of my body. Why is my face dry? If I stop washing my face will my skin look like my boyfriend's? Maybe?

Please assist me in looking great with as little effort as possible. KTHXBYE.