GOING MAKE-UP FREE: How Girls Find Long Lasting Confidence at Camp IHC

Summer at Camp IHC will soon be upon us. We chat to our staff in the weeks leading up, about our make up free camp, it’s importance and how it helps our female campers to grow.

Makeup is a source of confidence for many… so what happens when you take that away? Before coming to camp, cosmetics played a significant role in many counselors lives, with a lot of girls admitting that very few people had seen them without makeup.

“ When I first got this job no one told me it was a make-up free camp. My biggest fear was that I never liked my face, makeup was my extra shield of comfort around people” -Imogen, 23

Make-up may provide a short-term solution to avoid one’s insecurities, but camp adopts a refreshing approach. You are encouraged to look at yourself in your most authentic form. At first, as many admitted to us, this can be scary, but after 7 weeks, you undoubtedly grow to be comfortable in your skin. There are few environments that allow you to flourish in this way. Camp is unique in this sense.

“It goes so much deeper than just makeup, it’s actually about becoming your full self and that’s what camp helps you to do.’’

It became clear, as the interviews progressed, just how much of a positive, effective and long-term impact camp IHC has on how staff view themselves as individuals.
This is because camp embraces uniqueness and teaches us that self-worth extends far beyond physical appearance. It’s about opening up to realize that there is no need to cover up. It’s even the small things like the removal of mirrors in bathrooms that detach you from obsessing over appearance, leaving you to get on with the day and enjoy everything that camp life has to offer.

‘’for the first time, I feel like I do not need to wear makeup. I feel different, happier and healthier’’- Caitlin,20

Encouragement to present yourself in your most natural state means staff and campers alike bond more quickly, as they all collectively embrace the change together. It makes us more accepting of each other and reduces judgment amongst girls.

Campers look up immensely to their counselors. They are their family, big sisters and role models. If young girls are surrounded by comfortable and confident counselors, they are much more likely to adopt these positive attributes for themselves.

As staff and campers arrive over the next few weeks, they will be coming from a world where there is an immense focus on physical and filtered appearances. Camp IHC offers a space away from this scrutiny and judgment.
Girls can face their fears and flaws and grow their confidence and strength. From speaking to counselors, it’s undoubtedly clear how many of them recognize camp IHC as a place where their strong self-esteem is firmly rooted.

“I definitely left camp a better person. I left more open-minded, more accepting, I cared less about my appearance or what people thought of me.’’

Lots of staff still love to use makeup but what is different is how they now see it. It is no longer a shield to hide behind, it’s just makeup. Their confidence and self-belief come from who they are, what they think and how they treat others. The idea of going make-up free may have filled many girls with dread and insecurities to begin with, but ask any counselor now and they will all tell you how much of a refreshing experience it has been.