Natural or fake?

What is considered fake?

Walking the halls of Lakeland High School, there is long hair, nails, eyelashes, etc. The real question is whether or not any of it is real.  

Olivia Gibson, a sophomore at LHS, has a fake tan, and she thinks it is okay as long as it does not look orange. Most of the time, people do not even notice when someone has something fake, but without things like eyelashes, people could ask things like, ‘Are you sick?”  

“Some of it is for guys, but a lot of it for self-esteem,” Gibson said. 

Some people say that all of these things are for the opposite gender’s gaze, but in many cases, it is for the saving of time. 

Keira Sawyer, a junior at LHS, has things like fake eyelashes for that exact reason. In the morning, she does not put on mascara, and they look way better, in her opinion. She has fake eyelashes for her self-esteem, but others have their own reasons. 

“It is addicting. I do not think I will ever go back to mascara,” Sawyer said. 

The definition of addiction is the condition of being addicted to a substance, thing, or activity; girls can be very much addicted to these beauty modifications. 

It is a known fact that men and women see things differently, that includes the idea of beauty or what is considered fake. 

Conner Carvajal, a junior at LHS, thinks that the modifications that girls use make him uncomfortable because they are trying to have something that is not theirs. He does not think that men look for things like “clip-on” eyelashes; when his mom does some of these things and asks him what is different, he usually has no idea. 

If he is looking for a girl,  he feels it is more important to have someone that is simply fun to hang out with. 

“Men are just not as observant,” Carvajal said. 

Girls can sometimes get angry when a boy in their life does not notice when they do something like their eyelashes or add hair extensions. It is not the boy’s fault; they just do not understand. 

I currently have fake eyelashes, which I truly believe I will never give up. People saying that it is a waste of money to get a $50 fill every two weeks should see what I look like without them. Not actually, but post-eyelash depression is a real thing. For me, if I do not have eyelash extensions, I pretty much do not want to leave the house. If I have them, though, I feel confident in leaving the house. Getting them is for no other purpose but my well-being.

If someone leaves the house without doing something they do every day, like their makeup or eyelashes, as soon as they leave the house people think they look weird. “Are you sick” or “You look really tired” will swirl around them, making it less appealing to leave the house “all natural” again. 

Natural beauty is dumb. If someone is confident, that should be all that matters.