A moment that changed me: I applied mucous-tinted mascara and loved the reaction

"I slicked it on with no real understanding of beauty, but a clear instinct that I loved how it altered my face. The outside world was less enthused. People hated it. Teachers told me to take it off; I'd then reapply it in the toilets. That was the first time I realised beauty didn't have to be about looking pretty—it could be unfiltered self-expression."

"Growing up, there wasn't a foundation for my skin tone, just a spectrum that spanned from porcelain to tan. I became a reluctant chemist, mixing various pigments together to try to make a colour that worked. It would have been easier to wear something too light and accept the ashy cast, but refusing to disappear into colours not made for me felt like a small, stubborn act of protest."

The author's journey with makeup began at age 12 with an unconventional green mascara that sparked both self-discovery and social rejection. Rather than conforming to traditional beauty standards, this experience revealed that beauty could be polarizing and transformative without being conventionally pretty. Growing up with limited foundation options for darker skin tones, the author became a reluctant chemist, mixing pigments to create suitable colors—an act of protest against erasure. Through customized clothing, dyed hair, and unconventional makeup choices, the author used beauty as a tool for self-expression and resistance against restrictive cultural and societal boxes that didn't accommodate their identity.

Read at www.theguardian.com