History Student Elyse Clarke discusses the issues of vanity within the gym:
Recently my
housemate and I have been trying to shift a few pounds, which has involved our
renewed effort to go to the gym being undermined by our greater effort to
convince ourselves that midnight pizza is a good idea. It’s not. Anyway, during
one recent visit to the gym I was sweating away on the treadmill when I looked
to my right and saw what I can only describe as some sort of gym angel bobbing
along beside me. Whereas I end up resembling a human beetroot when I exercise,
this girl was the embodiment of the ‘exercise glow’ - that elusive side effect
of exercise that I have read so much about in magazines, but has sadly eluded
me. So what are the rest of us supposed to do? To prevent the beetroot from making
a public appearance, is it ok for those of us who aren’t lucky enough to ‘glow’
post-gym to cover up with make-up or is it an excessive vanity?
I do wear makeup to the gym, but my
rationale is that it is purely defensive. I usually pop on some BB cream to
tone down the impending redness, eye shadow through my brows to prevent the
‘egghead’ and maybe some mascara
(just because). I think that if I’m not worrying about what I look like (human
beetroot sans eyebrows) then I’ll work harder at the gym, look and feel better
and thus eventually achieve inner Zen.
Issues of
vanity and Zen aside, there are questions about how good it is for your skin to
wear a full face of makeup while exercising. If you’re doing it properly, you
should be sweating and sadly your face is not an exception to this. As your
pores open up to release the sweat, make-up can seep down and clog them,
resulting in spots, dull skin and pesky blackheads. There is, therefore,
something to be said for letting your skin breathe while you exercise because
as you sweat, you sweat out toxins. Ever wonder why there’s that faint smell of
alcohol floating around you if you brave a hangover gym session? You are
literally sweating it out. Make-up can become a barrier and trap in what your
body is trying to expel. Another more visible downside to wearing make-up
(particularly heavy foundation) to the gym is that you are vulnerable to the
sweat-tache and other similar side effects that can occur when you combine with
foundation with sweat and gym towels.
Your best
bet if you can’t go to the gym totally bare faced is to go for the lightest
options – a tinted moisturiser, BB or CC cream – which will tone down any
redness without effectively sealing over all your pores like a long-wearing
foundation. And afterwards, make sure that you thoroughly wash and exfoliate
your face to prevent any clogging of your pores.
What do you
think is an acceptable amount of make-up to wear to the gym? Is it OK for girls
slap it on before hitting the gym or should we go unashamedly barefaced,
beetroot be damned?
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