This story is unbelievable - a woman decided to go without makeup for a year. That's pretty amazing considering the world we live in where beauty is worshiped. Just look at all the beautiful celebrities and the magazines that airbrush everyone that graces the cover.

Women spend an average of 12,000 a year on makeup products, hair salons and other beauty products and they spend around 160 hours a week using those products. That's crazy!

Phoebe Hughes of Brookline, MA,  decided to ditch the makeup and go Al la natural, not for a day, week, or a month, but for an entire year. That's not all she ditched, she ditched most of her bathroom products, she cut off 14 inches of her hair and got a boyish bob, she then canceled all her hair salon appointments, she packed up her jewelry which consisted of 38 pairs of earrings and more. So why would she do something so drastic?

Here's what Phoebe told WBZ 1030:

“I didn’t want to stand in front of that mirror and have a mirror meltdown. I just didn’t want to do that anymore!” says Phoebe Baker Hyde.

 “I felt that I needed to find a way to feel great. Because nothing I put on my body or wore on my face was giving me that self-confidence.”

WOW! Phoebe wrote about her transformation in a new book "The Beauty Experiment." She wrote that some people didn't even notice or cared, but some people did react. Her husband was on board from the beginning but you'll have to read her book to find out the part concerning - shaving her legs!

The real inspiration for the change Phoebe confessed, was the birth of her daughter. Phoebe thought it was important to teach her daughter that she was great even without makeup.

Phoebe doesn’t think every woman needs to go without makeup. And she admits she really missed her under eye concealer. So what was the best part of this beauty experiment? Saving around $1,000 by not buying any beauty products or clothes for the year.

Now that the year is over, Phoebe still doesn't use makeup, but she does use moisturizer and chap stick and that's pretty much it. She says she doesn't even notice the wrinkles, zits, anxiety and exhaustion now, she just sees a person, a face, a personality and a life. She actually feels beautiful.

What an awesome story. So here's my question to you girls - would you go without makeup for a whole year?

 

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