Wear Makeup—Like You are Going Somewhere
The confession of a woman who never wore makeup unless going out to meet "important people."
I can count the days I put on makeup in a year.
Say I go out each week, then I would wear makeup four times a month, which amounts to 48 times a year.
Culturally speaking, Chinese women don’t wear makeup that much, whereas Japanese and Korean go the extreme opposite.
So why I didn’t believe in makeup.
I believe in effortlessness.
Effortlessness means extra efforts.
To achieve effortlessness, I must hit the gym five times a week. I must sleep on time and wake up on time. I mustn’t eat desserts more than twice a week. I avoid crackers like an alcoholic avoids a sip of alcohol, due to my addiction to crackers, sour cream, cream cheese, etc. Half of my stomach is filled with fruits each day, mostly berries. I don’t buy processed, microwavable food. I’ve stopped eating deli meats like sausages. I no longer eat pork or rice (and being Chinese, seriously, can you imagine). And this is how I budget—I buy $10 a pack of pasture-raised eggs rather than a chunk of fodder-fed, hormone-injected steak.
My lifestyle is a program.
It takes, initially, upbringing (no one in my extended family eats desserts other than fruits), then self-discipline (my parents don’t go as far as I do in health), and then habit, and now, nature.
It becomes my nature to run that program, do that “extra work” (which appears extra to others) so as to make it effortless—
Then I don’t have to wear makeup.
I was wrong, although my theory made perfect sense—
Your skillful makeup really doesn’t matter when your skin is bad, your hair is thin, and your body is out of shape.
One of the most life-changing thing I learned from Jesus is:
Always take a step back from things that make perfect sense.
Always, think, counterintuitively.
Makeup is deeper than appearance.
Like beauty, makeup functions under a mysterious system that God built for His creations—and what you really want to discover is that system. But if you don’t engage with the surface, you will never uncover the system beneath.
That system is a realm, an energy, a frequency—it’s magnetic; it’s spiritual.
Are any of these in the Bible?
Yes, they are.
There was a chosen woman, a literal queen, who was “born for such a time as this”: Queen Esther.
(Check out my most popular post: Cher and Disney Princess Syndrome—What to Expect from Motherless Girls)
In this article:
👑What makes Esther a queen
💄The “system” behind wearing makeup
🥝Fruits must be seen to be qualified as “fruits.”
👑What makes Esther a queen
Esther was among a group of young women who were selected to be concubines. Before they were allowed to come before the king, they went through a beauty prep for 12 MONTHS—
“six months with oil of myrrh and six with perfumes and cosmetics.” Esther 2:12
That is a whole year of preparation.
Every young woman would be given anything she asked for before going to the palace in the evening. In the morning, she would be sent to another harem and would stay there until the king summoned her by name.
When it was Esther’s turn, she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the eunuch in charge of the harem, suggested, and Esther “won the favor of everyone who saw her” in the palace.
This is what I read from this part of the story:
You don’t go to the king without preparation.
If you want God’s best, want God’s best.
Be teachable.
Be “favorable.”
I want to elaborate on the second point, “If you want God’s best, want God’s best.”
We don’t know what other young women took to the palace with them, but here’s a possibility:
These young women might never be summoned by the king again, nor could they marry other men. They would be basically imprisoned in the “used-woman” harem until death.
So either they earn the king’s favor—this is Plan A—or they take whatever they can while they have the chance—this is Plan B.
It’s not hard to assume what these young women might ask for:
jewelry, gold, perfume, fineries, luxury cosmetics—all temporary gains.
Esther, however, set aside Plan B (which was most likely to happen) to bet on Plan A.
Why?
Because Plan B is not a plan at all. It leads to despair. She had to make Plan A work, no matter how slim the chance.
That’s the mindset of a follower of Jesus—your so-called “Plan B,” aka “just in case God doesn’t deliver me,” is not a plan at all. Your faith in Christ has to work.
It may seem like you can fall back on self-reliance—no, you have to bet on God. What works for the sons of the world will no longer work for you the moment you are born again.
The Bible is a compass for legacy building.
Esther didn’t just want some nice stuff. Holding onto some nice stuff in prison until death? No thanks. She aimed for the throne. She went after a legacy.
To achieve that goal, she was teachable, meaning she was humble enough to seek wise counsel. She was also wise enough to ask the right person, Hegai, who knew the king well.
What are the temporary gains?
Hustles. Bluffs. Instant gratifications. Money from paychecks. Money from dishonesty. Money that sacrifices health.
Yes, you read that right—money from paychecks.
It’s stable, it’s certain, so you count on it and no longer risk building any assets. But it’s temporary—your children’s children don’t get inheritance. You yourself are merely making ends meet.
“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.” Proverbs 13:22
Making ends meet is the most dangerous zone to be in—once people get into this zone, they rarely get out. They become frogs swimming in slowly heated water.
If making ends meet gives you more security than the provision of God, you don’t need the provisions of God. You are happily and forever stuck in that zone of “making ends meet.”
“It is the blessing of the Lord that makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow to it.”
💄The “system” behind wearing makeup
To clarify, I still believe that the backstage work I did so as to NOT wear makeup is more important than wearing makeup.
But why did I suddenly change my view on makeup?
Because I changed my view of living in eternity.
To live in eternity, you only need to think about TODAY.
The focus on today frees me from anxiety, worries, regrets, and self-pity.
Anxiety and worry occur when you shift your focus to “tomorrow,” while regret and self-pity happen when you shift your focus to “yesterday.”
Reflect on the mistakes you made and plan for the future, but keep your body, soul, and spirit operating in the realm of today.
The moment you wake up to a new day, forget about the regret of yesterday, snap off the anxiety for tomorrow, go to God, praise and give thanks, confess, and ask for guidance.
Today is the big day.
I stretch, curl my hair, wear makeup, make my bed, squeeze half a lemon into water, make coffee, put on one of my favorite outfits, spray perfume, wear comfortable heels even though I work from home, and then come before God, read, pray, write, and plan for today—just today.
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With nowhere to go physically, I have somewhere to live for.
If you grow up in a household that has the best of everything on shelves and in storage—fine china, fine clothing, fine perfume, fine oil, fine linen, tablecloths, luxury candles, plush towels, fine jewelry, watches, etc.—
Unlearn your upbringing. You’re now in the House of God.
If you want a better car, a better house, a better job, or a better spouse (I’m not suggesting divorce here)—
First, think about if you deserve a better of anything.
Do I make the best of what I have? Do I give thanks to the Lord only verbally, while slacking in my stewardship over what He’s given me? Have I outgrown my job? Have I outgrown my neighbors? Does my car align with my current social life? (For instance, if the people you hang out with drive Toyotas, why do you need a Maserati?) Do I improve myself to deserve a better spouse? Am I the right person to recognize the right person or the right community?
To put it in non-Christian terms, your frequency might not match your ambition.
Second, visualize the place you aim to be.
If women there all wear makeup, then you should be wearing it now.
If people in that place all eat healthy and work out hard, you should do that now.
If people there live in mansions, you can at least make your rental house match up with its tidiness.
If they don’t drink tap water, don’t drink tap water.
If they all run some sort of business, start a business now—research like you already got the starting fund.
If they all have published a book, start writing one now.
If they all have a loving family, start building one now—live like you’re building a legacy of upbringing, tradition, and wealth.
The list could go on forever, and your list might be different from this example.
This is the system I mentioned from the beginning: live your vision now.
You can’t expect wealth when you have no desire to learn about finance. You can’t expect health as you lie on the couch eating Cheetos. You can’t ask for trust when you can’t even hold yourself accountable. You can’t win respect without fruits. You can’t get a happy marriage and godly children when you live in sexual sins, live for selfish ambitions, and dread responsibility.
ATTENTION:
If the place you aim to be contradicts biblical principles and people who are already there live in sin—take a U-turn and repent.
Don’t sow weeds expecting to reap wheat. Don’t ask God for a stone, believing it’s bread.
🥝Fruits must be seen to be qualified as “fruits”
Nothing you can see is shallow.
Beauty is not shallow. A fit, healthy body is not shallow. Good skin is not shallow. Good teeth are not shallow. A refreshing smell is not shallow. Makeup is not shallow. A fancy car is not shallow. A clean room is not shallow. An organized kitchen is not shallow. A wrinkle-free shirt is not shallow.
All of these are fruits. Fruits must be seen to be qualified as “fruits.”
All fruits take time and effort—physically, mentally, spiritually, each day, for months, years, even decades—to be seen.
I shifted my mindset from working on the back to obtain effortlessness to working on the surface that will stir up the deep waters beneath.
Both are important. Both are hard to maintain, just in different ways.
Maybe you’re my opposite—
maybe the Law of Attraction or self-help gurus have taught you all the surface work so you can live like you’re already there;
now I encourage you to swap with me: you start focusing on all the back work, all the discipline and consistency behind the scenes, and I’ll do some surface work.
It has to be done from both levels.
Don’t approach the king without consistent preparation.
Don’t be distracted by temporary gains—aim for the throne.
Be teachable. Be humble. Be wise. Be favorable.
Genuine beauty and health come through from the inside. "I must make up my lack of beauty with face paint and cosmetics because I'm not pretty without it." It also signals insecurity and bondage to mere appearances. Although some people use makeup to overemphasize their good features so they can feel even more powerful, alluring, and intimidating through their appearance. So the two main reasons for using makeup are self worship and insecurity. But the Scripture says, It is the spirit that quickens, flesh counts for nothing. And, our beauty should not come from outward adornment but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.
Wow, great work!
Here are my three takeaways:
1. You have no option but to make your faith work, as a follower of Christ.
2. Live the vision of what you desire
3. Nothing you can see is shallow!
There's so much to think about from this message, and your recommendation and challenge for us to be, look and live our best every single moment reminds me of a similar exhortation from Scripture to “Let your garments always be white, And let your head lack no oil.” (Ecclesiastes 9:8 NKJV)
And yes, you can do a video too. 😃
The audio was good and I guess a video will be even better!
Kudos!! 🙌