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" &amp;quot;I feel very pretty whenever I wear make-up, but when I&amp;#039;m not wearing any, I feel completely ugly. I don&amp;#039;t want to have to wear make-up all the time. How can I change my perception?&amp;quot; \u2014 Lauren, 15, Los Angeles, CA  Lauren, I was just involved in an online series called The Reality Diaries where a young woman named Jordyn had the exact same issue as you! Over a period of 6 weeks I worked with Jordyn on helping her embrace her real beauty without make up to the point where eventually she went to school without make up on (which for her was a huge NO-NO). She discovered that her make-up was more like a shield, protecting her from letting people really see her. She had done some things in her life she wasn&amp;#039;t totally proud of so her &amp;#039;mask&amp;#039; was her makeup and she could keep people out that way. Now, I&amp;#039;m not saying you are going through precisely what she did but I am saying you are not alone \u2013 you don&amp;#039;t have to wear make up all the time \u2013 but letting go a little bit at a time of how much make up you wear may ease you into accepting your true beauty and feeling more comfortable about you are \u2013 raw and real. That&amp;#039;s scary for most of us \u2013 but trust me, you aren&amp;#039;t ugly without your make up. You are probably more vulnerable. Take it one step at a time and begin to turn your focus inward and let yourself be seen! Jess Weiner is an author, self-esteem expert, and Seventeen&amp;#039;s new Body Peace adviser. To ask Jess your body-image questions, share your thoughts, or vent your frustrations, leave your comments below or send them here. Jess will answer new questions every week! Learn more about Jess at withjess.com. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/health/advice/a1697/jess-blog-60408/>