Social Experiment: The Morning After

We’ve all done the walk of shame and I confess I’ve had to wear a previous night’s club makeup in public on more than one occasion, so I’m no stranger to the judgment passed on someone the morning after a fun night on the town. Somehow, you never feel quite as confident or sexy with greasy makeup and false lashes barely hanging on your lids the next day. For this social experiment, I was self-conscious and you could see my discomfort in my body language.

Typically, there is less of a reaction to my appearance from women when conducting these social experiments. I usually see double takes, confusion, or admiration from males when I walk around the city in my extreme makeup. Today, however, was a different experience. I was totally ignored by most men who crossed my path. It was disappointing for the male sex, but I’m not surprised. I obviously wasn’t looking my best and thus didn’t register on their radar.

I could sense two reactions from women: disappointment and disgust or empathy. While leaving a grocery story, I walked past a group of ladies who were slightly older than me. They were polite and nodded as I passed, but I noticed that they huddled together as soon as I was out of earshot. They were whispering to each other and pointing at me, shaking their heads all the while. It felt like I was in a scene of Mean Girls and they were tearing me to shreds. Later that day, a woman pushing her daughter in a stroller winced at me and walked in a faster pace to put some distance between us. One woman chuckled a bit when she was close enough to see my face and gave me this look that seemed to say “been there before!”

When the day was over, I was ready to be rid of the shabby-looking mask of makeup I had on my face and feel like a fresh-faced woman again. Wearing makeup from a fun night before is quite humorous, but it definitely leaves you feeling a bit ashamed and tired-looking!