How I Went Makeup-Free – Truffoire Review

It’s been three months since I’ve felt the need to cake my face in makeup. And I’ll admit it: I love every damn second of it (you’re not a profanity-prude, are you?). All my years of primping and pruning and applying greasepaint on my face are OVER. Wanna know why?

I found the secret.

No shit. I did.

Here’s some background. I’ve been using makeup since I was thirteen. At first, this was to hide a few pimples here and there, and even out my skin tone (I get flushed cheeks really easily). Eventually, I was using makeup to hide a full face of pus-ing acne (if you’ve had it, you know what I’m talking about).

It changes you, you know, to use makeup during your mentally, psychologically, and emotionally formative years. I’m 29 now, and for the last 16 years, I’ve always used makeup. I’ve used it every single day.

So you can imagine that the first time I ever paused a thought about my daily face-painting habit came like a shocker. It was back in 2015, when I came across this article about Scarlett Johansson and Kate Winslet going makeup-free for Vanity Fair.

Alright, alright — Scarlett and Kate still look like stars (they’re gorgeous women, so duh), but they don’t look like “that” anymore.

You know what I mean — they don’t look like a pair of glowing, super-polished creatures against whom the average Jane (read: yours truly) should compare herself and subsequently beat herself up over.

(Believe me, for the last 16 years, the endless stream of my consciousness ran in the variety of, “Why the hell don’t I look like them now? I have three layers of foundation on this face!”).

No, this was a total, emotional shocker. These normal-looking Scarlett and Kate made me feel like it was actually okay to be normal. It made me think that, for once, maybe I didn’t need to hide behind a full face of maquillage to feel okay.

What’s the secret?

Be patient, my young one. I’ll get you there.

After seeing the pictures of no-makeup Scarlett and Kate, I knew I had to do something different. But I didn’t take any action until 2016, when one of my favorite music stars began going makeup-free, too.

Alicia Keys talked about how going makeup-free was the most “honestly beautiful” she’d ever felt — and it hit something in me. This was deeper than even Scarlett or Kate, because Alicia Keys was doing this for real. This wasn’t just a photoshoot for her. She was going makeup-free for real.  

I loved Alicia Keys.

And so I went makeup-free. I did it with a lot less fanfare than Alicia Keys (no photoshoot, no husband taking a super-cute makeup-free photo of me when I woke up), but I did it.

I did it slowly, the way I would lovingly peel off a gauze that had helped my wounds heal. (I recommend avoiding the “rip off your bandaid” approach, the kind that rips with so much force that it whips your hair backwards).

I went lipstick-free first. Then blush-free. Then I removed my eyeshadow. And my eyeliner. My brow pencils disappeared. It took three weeks, but it happened.

And then it was only my foundation left.

There was only my foundation left.

And — goddammit — I couldn’t take it off.

But why? You’ve taken off everything else!

I know. And trust me, it killed me a little. I couldn’t even take off my foundation to go to the gym, have my workout, and put it back on again.

Wanna know why?

Because I have scars, goddammit. Acne scars. And the beginning of these tiny, super-fine lines around my eyes, and I knew one day they were going to be full-blown wrinkles, like my mother’s and grandmother’s. My eyes were also puffy in the morning, and in the evenings, at the end of a long work day, swollen, dark bags hung down from my lower lids like little kangaroo pouches.

I couldn’t take off my foundation.

Did I get upset? Did I cry? Did I get angry with myself, then try not to be angry with myself (practise Zen meditation and all that), and then get angry with myself all over again?

You betcha.

But you know what happened? I started searching for something different. I started going to the root of my problem, instead of the symptom. I started looking for a solution for my skin issues, instead of using makeup to hide my face.

And I’ve looked high and low. I’ve searched every aisle in Ulta and Sephora, and read all the ingredients labels at all the fancy skincare stores. I’ve tested drugstore products, luxury line products, imported products, Korean products. I’ve tried everything.

Some worked. Briefly. Some didn’t. Others made my skin worse.

But I learned a valuable lesson: Skincare is everything. On the great hierarchy of modern self-confidence, skincare is way higher than makeup.

No, let’s correct that — good skincare is everything.

And good skincare, when you finally find it, will let you be honestly beautiful.

My secret turned out to be Truffoire. Behold: it’s expensive, it’s exclusive, it’s extravagant, and I’ll be damned if it’s not worth it. Some of the products by Truffoire retail at $3,000 — which is the kind of stuff you and I and Average Jane can’t afford.

But I got a chance to try free samples of Truffoire’s Collections — and let me just say this:

I know why they retail at $3,000.

I used the samples for a week, and then I took the plunge and bought a set of three products.

Yes, my friend, I splurged.

Splurged big.

I went for the White Truffle Eye Serum (for all my insecurities around my eye area), the Perigold Truffle Cream (for much-needed moisturizing goodness), and the Orchidea Truffle Skin Corrector (for those spots and blemishes).

And you know what I think?

These are super-duper expensive.

And I have to get them again.

Why?

Because when it comes to my skin, I want the best.

After 3 months of using these products, my skin is brighter, cleaner, and — dare I say it? — tart-er. My skin looks like a fine Portuguese egg tart, right before you bite into it. And the biggest benefit?

I don’t feel the need to wear foundation anymore.

This isn’t to say the my scars are completely gone (I don’t think anything will ever completely get rid of acne scars). But they’ve faded a lot. And my skin tone has evened out. I don’t look like the face of Earth’s moon anymore. I look more like Europa, the smoothest moon orbiting Jupiter.

I’m Europa.

If you want to go makeup-free, like I did, my best advice would be to find a skincare line that suits you. There are loads of brands out there, and even though I have a huge soft spot for Truffoire, I can only recommend that you try it, to see if it’s for you. Otherwise, keep searching. Keep looking.

Your skin doesn’t have to hide behind makeup. You’re not a wedding cake. You don’t need icing. You just need some good old TLC so the spongy goodness inside you can glow and be radiant.

Glow. Radiate natural beauty. Go for really good skincare.

— Have you tried any products by Truffoire? Leave your comment below!