In a world obsessed with appearances, people will always criticize each other no matter if they are sporting sweatpants and a hoodie or dressed like royalty. It baffles me as to why it even matters? I recently experienced this criticism out of the blue. I’m not one of those people that dresses on point everyday, but I am a huge fan of lipstick. I will wear any shade, any formula, any color because I love to experiment.

My favorite shade being red, I decided to rock my Selena line “Dreaming of You” color when a random person approached me and said my red lips were too bright for them. Shocked and a little bothered, I walked away and thought, “What the heck?” I wore my red less proud than before. I felt ashamed but then snapped out of it. No one has the right to ruin someone else’s day with judgemental comments. If a person wants to dress up and look sharp, let them. If they want to be comfortable, let them.

However, makeup is another story. Women are criticized when they wear makeup and when they choose not to. If we decide to put makeup on, we have fallen into the beauty standards set for women. If we don’t wear makeup, the day becomes filled with unwanted comments like “you look tired,” “you look dead” or “you need some makeup.”

What do people want? Let people live and be who they want to be. I want to wear makeup without having to hear the same unsolicited comments. I want to be able to not wear makeup  without remarks that I should care more about my appearance.

We live in a world where lipstick offends people and I am not okay with this. Let people express who they are through whatever means that feel right to them. If I want to walk around campus with red lips, then let me. The color of my lips does not cause any harm to anyone. Everyone has a right to be who they want. Somedays I want to channel my inner Selena and other days I want to work all natural. This decision belongs to lipstick-wearing humans, not society.

People have a voice and in a time when it feels like those voices are being limited I plan to take my stand and wear what I want. People’s choices are their own to make and no one has the right to silence anyone. Let the lipstick express what silenced lips cannot.