"I prefer the natural look" is a sentence that isn't surprising to hear from most men when talking about women, but how many of them actually know what their words mean?
A woman has sparked a conversation online around men's conceptions of "natural" beauty after sharing an interaction in which a stranger commented on how she's "naturally so beautiful," despite her wearing makeup.
Lo Swo, a digital creator from Orlando, Florida, had been at the post office when a stranger approached her to pay what he believed was a compliment—only his comment missed the mark.
The man told Swo, "You know, I'm so glad there's women like you out there who don't feel the need to wear makeup because you were just naturally so beautiful."
Recounting the interaction on her Instagram page under the username @wouldyoukindly, she said, "I am convinced men don't know what makeup is or how makeup looks ever," as she revealed she had in fact been "wearing a lot of makeup" at the time.
It wasn't just a touch of concealer and a coat of mascara either, as Swo had actually taken time to apply a full face of makeup that day.
"These eyebrows, the eyebrows don't look like that. Lashes are, you can see that I'm wearing mascara. Nobody's cheeks and nose are this rosy," she said in the Instagram video. "My forehead has bronzer, my cheeks, you know, I'm contoured. The only thing I don't have on right now is eyeliner, which is funny because when I do wear my eyeliner inevitably someone will comment on here like, 'You wear so much makeup. You're wearing so much makeup. Gross.'"
Swo continued: "But then if I do the same exact makeup minus eyeliner, people are like, 'Oh my God, you're so naturally pretty bro what?' I'm convinced men don't know what a lot of makeup is and they're convinced that if somebody wears eyeliner or eyeshadow, it's a lot of makeup..."
She finished her video by pointing out her obvious love for being anything but understated.
"What about me as a tattooed, pierced, blue hair, diamond toothed individual says that I would do anything natural? I want to be supernatural," she said.
Newsweek has reached out to Swo via Instagram direct messages for comment.
Instagram Users React
Swo's video went viral, gaining over 306,000 views and 39,000 likes since it was shared to Instagram on June 19. It also sparked conversations around how unaware men are when it comes to makeup.
"They think makeup is eyeshadow/liner so if you don't wear either, it's 'natural' lol," one Instagram user commented.
"That's why they say it's catfishing to wear makeup," another user wrote. "They genuinely don't know what humans look like."
A man chimed in to shed some light on the other side of the conversation as he posted, "I don't know why women cant understand. When men say NATURAL they mean that you have a little make up and not layers and layers of makeup. That's it."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Lollie is Newsweek's Beauty and Self Care Reporter based in London, U.K. In her role, she covers a range of ... Read more
