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How long could you go without looking in a mirror? This week Lucie tries the no mirror challenge, and finds out what it's like to not look at yourself for five days.
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00:00I'm Lucy Fink and this week is 5 Days of No Mirror.
00:04Alright, this is it. No Mirror.
00:06I kind of shied away from this episode when it was first suggested
00:09and that's because, to be completely honest with you guys,
00:12I did not know what kind of story this would tell
00:15or what you guys would possibly learn from me doing this challenge.
00:18Whenever I'm working on a new episode, I want to make sure that I'm teaching you guys something
00:22and that the topic can enrich your lives in some way
00:24and I just couldn't figure out how No Mirror was going to do that.
00:28But if I had just started the challenge a little bit earlier,
00:30I would have realized how difficult it actually is
00:33and also how much of a story there is to tell.
00:36Firstly, just know that I'm vlogging this episode on my normal camera
00:39but the flip-up screen that I normally have flipped up is flipped down
00:43so I'm just looking into the lens and I cannot see myself.
00:46And secondly, I know this is not a new challenge.
00:48There have been so many others that have done this at this point
00:51but I have been getting this suggestion since 2015
00:53and I truly do believe that every single person that tries this
00:57is going to have a unique self-reflective experience here.
01:00You see what I did there?
01:02Reflective.
01:03So that I could dive right into the experiment today,
01:06I spent a lot of yesterday preparing the apartment by covering the mirrors.
01:10I covered the bathroom mirror with a giant blanket
01:12and I put a little sticker on it that says,
01:14Don't worry, you look great.
01:16Then I covered the hallway mirror with a pillowcase.
01:19That's the mirror that I always look in just before I run out the door
01:21to make sure everything's looking okay.
01:23So I wrote on it,
01:24There is nothing in your teeth.
01:26And I really hope there's nothing in my teeth when I look in that mirror.
01:30Then I covered the big mirror in my bedroom with a blanket
01:33and I wrote on it,
01:34Good morning, beautiful.
01:38I woke up this morning and I put on this outfit,
01:41this butterfly tank top,
01:42on top of a white t-shirt,
01:44black jeans,
01:45and this pink headband.
01:46Normally, I would have looked at myself in the mirror
01:48to make sure it looked okay,
01:50but I didn't have that luxury.
01:51So I just kind of looked down at myself
01:54and took a guess.
01:55I was anxious pretty much all night in bed
01:58thinking about how I was going to wash up in the morning
02:00with that blue blanket over the mirror.
02:02My entire morning routine takes place in the bathroom
02:05and I'm typically looking at my reflection the entire time.
02:08A lot of the time it's just to see how I look,
02:10like if I want to check for emerging pimples on my face
02:13or to see how my bangs are falling on my head.
02:15But other times, I look at myself in the mirror
02:17because it's necessary for my own safety,
02:19such as when I put contact lenses in my eyes
02:22or when I apply eye makeup.
02:23So when I got out of bed this morning,
02:25I went to the bathroom
02:26and I began my whole morning routine without a mirror
02:31very slowly.
02:32Putting in my contact lenses without a mirror
02:34was kind of weird.
02:35Normally, I'm looking right at my eye
02:37and I'm seeing exactly where the contact goes.
02:40Without the mirror,
02:41I felt like I couldn't find my eyeball.
02:43I couldn't tell if the contact lens had made it in safely
02:45or if it had crumpled out
02:47and it took a few tries.
02:48It was really difficult,
02:49but eventually, I got it.
02:54I can see.
02:55When it came to my makeup routine this morning,
02:57I didn't want to make my life easier
02:59or cut corners at all.
03:00I was in the mood for a challenge.
03:02So even without my mirror,
03:04I went for a full face of makeup.
03:06First, eyeliner
03:07and I have no idea how it came out,
03:09but I went really slowly
03:11and I did it just based on feel.
03:13So I kind of touched the pen to my eyelid first
03:15and then dragged it along the line.
03:18Put that right in my eye.
03:22Next, bronzer and blush,
03:24which I went a little lighter on than normal
03:26just to be safe.
03:27My bronzer container actually had
03:28a little surprise mirror in it,
03:30so I angled it away from me.
03:32And then I tried filling in
03:33and brushing my brows.
03:34Then I added mascara,
03:36which is extremely terrifying without a mirror.
03:39It's like putting a black wand of death
03:41near your eye.
03:42And lastly, lipstick.
03:44Not bad.
03:44Then it was time to style my bangs
03:46with a blow dryer,
03:47which is not that easy to do
03:48when you can't see yourself.
03:50And by the time I was done with all this,
03:51it was about 30 minutes later than normal.
03:54So I rushed off to work
03:55and I was a little late.
04:00I think I'm finally ready to digest
04:02how I feel from yesterday.
04:04First and foremost,
04:05until you try this challenge,
04:06you don't realize just how many surfaces
04:09in the world are reflective.
04:11The stainless steel on the sink,
04:12the microwave,
04:13the toaster oven,
04:14your computer monitor,
04:16your phone screen.
04:17Even my engagement ring
04:18is slightly reflective
04:20if I look at it close enough.
04:22I read somewhere that women
04:23check their reflection on average
04:25eight times per day.
04:28So I spent a good portion
04:29of the day yesterday
04:30just dodging my reflection
04:31when I would accidentally encounter it.
04:34and I actually had to block off
04:35some reflections at work.
04:36So first and foremost,
04:38my computer monitor on my desk
04:39is basically just a giant mirror.
04:42So sitting at my desk
04:43and trying to do work on my laptop,
04:45it's a little distracting.
04:46So I reached under my desk
04:47and I actually pulled off
04:49the top of the bin under there
04:50and I used it to block off the screen.
04:52And secondly,
04:53I kept accidentally opening
04:55selfie mode on my iPhone
04:57and I decided
04:58this is going to keep happening
04:59throughout the week.
05:00I just need to protect myself.
05:01So I cut off a little piece
05:03of a sticky note
05:04and I covered the front-facing camera
05:06so that now whenever I open it,
05:08I just see blue.
05:09Going back to yesterday
05:10and my full face of makeup,
05:11I've actually read
05:12a ton of testimonials
05:13from people who have done makeup
05:15without looking in the mirror
05:16and they seem to feel
05:18a little bit less secure
05:19because they don't know
05:20what their face looks like.
05:21I have to say,
05:22I had the exact opposite
05:24experience yesterday.
05:25Normally when I'm putting makeup on,
05:27I'm a really harsh critic of myself
05:28and I look at the eyeliner line
05:30and I keep redoing it
05:31until it's perfect.
05:32But yesterday,
05:33that didn't happen.
05:34I had a one-shot deal.
05:36I did it really slowly,
05:38really carefully
05:38and then that confidence
05:40from the inside
05:40seeped out.
05:42And you know,
05:42I don't know what my face
05:43looked like yesterday.
05:44For all I know,
05:45the lines were completely uneven.
05:47Maybe I had lipstick on my teeth.
05:48Who knows?
05:49I just have to say
05:50that I felt like
05:51I looked pretty awesome.
05:53But this morning
05:53as I was getting ready for work,
05:55I did not have the same amount
05:56of time to kill
05:57so I decided to cut down
05:58drastically on the makeup.
06:00I just did a little brow brush,
06:02a little blush and bronzer
06:03and finished it off with mascara.
06:05I also wanted to try
06:06curling my hair today
06:07so I plugged in the curling iron
06:08which was a grave error
06:10on my part.
06:11Ha.
06:12Ah.
06:14I didn't realize
06:15that normally
06:15when you curl your hair
06:16you're seeing a reflection
06:18and you're actually
06:19doing things backwards
06:20from what you think you're doing.
06:22It's really hard to explain
06:23but if you try curling your hair
06:25without a mirror,
06:26it is confusing.
06:27And after a few burns
06:29and a couple scares,
06:30I'm gonna burn my hair!
06:33That was scary.
06:34I decided
06:35I am not gonna do this anymore.
06:36I'm just gonna leave my hair
06:37with a couple curls
06:39and a couple straight pieces.
06:40And it's gonna have to do.
06:42What do I look like under here?
06:48Okay, you guys.
06:49Normally when I shoot my webcams,
06:51I have the little flip-up screen
06:53on my webcam camera flipped up
06:55so that I can see myself.
06:56And the reason I do that
06:58is so that every so often
06:59I can look up at the screen
07:00and I can check to make sure
07:02I'm centered in the frame
07:03and I can make sure
07:04that it doesn't look like
07:05my paintings are off kilter
07:07or sometimes I just wanna check my hair
07:09and make sure it's not like
07:10flying all over my face.
07:12The reason I'm telling you
07:13about the flip-up screen
07:14is that I did not have
07:15the screen opened today
07:16and I just recorded
07:18about 20 minutes ago
07:19a webcam of myself
07:20where I'm telling you
07:21about something that happened today.
07:23As I was turning my camera off,
07:24I caught a glimpse
07:25of the video
07:27and accidentally
07:28this lens was zoomed in
07:30so far that you can just see
07:32like one of my eyes
07:33and half of my mouth.
07:35So I just did an entire webcam
07:36that looked like this.
07:38There are so many mirrors
07:39that it's hard to not stop
07:40and look at yourself.
07:42All I can say is
07:43thankfully I caught that
07:44so that you guys didn't have to watch
07:46an entire vlog of just one eye.
07:49I still don't know
07:49if I'm centered in the screen
07:51but this time I did set up my camera
07:53and go around behind it
07:54to see what it sees
07:56before I sat in the frame.
07:57So I think this is a good frame
07:59but I don't know.
08:00The truth is though
08:01it kind of feels like
08:02I'm starting to forget
08:03what I look like
08:04and I don't mean
08:05what I actually look like
08:06when I see a picture of myself
08:08because I haven't stopped myself
08:09from looking at photos
08:10of myself this week.
08:12It's more so that I forget
08:13what it looks like
08:14to make eye contact
08:15with myself in a mirror.
08:17It's just very weird.
08:18I feel like I'm losing
08:19an idea of what I look like
08:21in the face.
08:22I just feel like
08:23I need to touch it
08:24and remember.
08:25Anyway, tonight I went to the gym
08:27and it is so underrated
08:29how many mirrors
08:30are everywhere in a gym.
08:32It's almost like
08:33the point of a gym
08:33is not only to exercise
08:35but to watch yourself exercise.
08:37And you don't think about it too much
08:38until you're at the gym
08:39avoiding mirrors
08:41and you realize that
08:42everywhere you turn
08:43your reflection
08:44is staring back at you.
08:45But I went about my workout
08:46and it was actually
08:47really, really nice
08:48to not look at myself
08:50and to not think
08:51about how I look
08:52while I'm working out
08:53or to look at my body
08:55and to try to figure out
08:56which muscles are being activated.
08:58Instead, I just did the workout.
08:59I was in the moment.
09:00But all I know
09:01is that forcing myself
09:02not to look in the mirror
09:03not only made me feel better
09:05and feel more confident
09:06about the workout
09:07but it also saved me
09:08so much time
09:10in the gym today.
09:13It's day four
09:14without seeing my reflection
09:15and I have a couple
09:16of fun facts
09:17to share with you.
09:18Number one,
09:18I find that because
09:19I don't know
09:20what my face looks like
09:21I guess I want to protect it
09:22in some way.
09:23So I find myself
09:24wearing sunglasses
09:25a lot more often
09:26both outdoors
09:27but also indoors.
09:29Number two,
09:29after every single meal
09:31I've had this week
09:32I've felt like
09:33there's food in my teeth.
09:34You actually did have
09:35a little something there.
09:36I do here?
09:36Yeah.
09:37Oh god.
09:38Yeah, you're good.
09:39I don't even have a mirror.
09:40And even when I feel around
09:41with my tongue
09:41and I don't feel anything in there
09:44I still feel like it's there.
09:45And number three,
09:46I now know
09:47why the science fiction show
09:48about the unexpected consequences
09:50of technology
09:51is called
09:52Black Mirror.
09:53So yeah,
09:54I can't look at my phone
09:55until the screen
09:56is already lit up.
09:57Today we had a pretty important
09:58meeting in the middle of the day
09:59and I have to say
10:00I finally started to understand
10:02those feelings of insecurity
10:03that a lot of people
10:05that cut out mirrors
10:05experience.
10:07Normally by midday at work
10:08I'm not looking so hot.
10:09You know,
10:10my makeup's maybe starting
10:11to smudge on my face.
10:12I could have something
10:13in my teeth from lunch.
10:14I'm generally feeling
10:16a little drab and dreary
10:17and it's always a good idea
10:18for me to go into the mirror,
10:20touch up my makeup
10:21and just brighten up my look.
10:22But because I couldn't tell
10:24how I looked
10:24I went into this meeting
10:26feeling like I looked like crap
10:27which probably changed
10:29my whole demeanor
10:30and made me look more like crap
10:31than I had to.
10:32If you have a job
10:33where you need to look
10:33presentable and well groomed,
10:35it's understandable
10:36why you would check yourself
10:37in the mirror
10:38so many times throughout the day.
10:39But what I'm really learning here
10:41is that a mirror
10:42is a double-edged sword.
10:43On the one hand,
10:44we need them to feel better
10:45about ourselves
10:46to confirm that we don't look
10:47like the crap we think
10:48we look like.
10:49But on the other hand,
10:50I read that 9 out of 10 women
10:52hate looking at their reflection
10:54and that could be
10:55a totally incorrect statistic.
10:57I found it on the internet
10:58so it's probably true,
11:00probably not,
11:00but I don't know.
11:01But do you see what I'm saying here?
11:02A mirror can be so good
11:03and so helpful
11:04but it can also be crushing
11:06and disheartening.
11:07Comment below
11:08to let us know
11:09how you generally feel
11:10when you see your reflection
11:11and then maybe we'll make
11:12our own statistic
11:13with this new data set.
11:18It's officially been five days
11:20and this has got to be
11:21one of the strangest experiments
11:23I've tried in my entire life.
11:25The experiment that I thought
11:26would have no story
11:27turns out being the most
11:29interesting, weird thing
11:31I've ever done.
11:31This week I felt
11:32all sorts of things.
11:33I felt powerful and confident
11:35just by letting how I feel
11:36on the inside shine out.
11:38I also felt the complete
11:39opposite of that,
11:40very self-conscious
11:41and uncomfortable
11:42not knowing how I looked
11:44or how I was presenting myself.
11:46Clearly this experiment
11:47has the ability
11:48to both bring out
11:49your inner confidence
11:49but also to mess
11:51with your head a bit
11:52and make you feel raw
11:53and exposed
11:54and uncertain about yourself.
11:55And now it's the moment of truth.
11:58I'm about to look
11:59at myself in the mirror.
12:00I brought this little
12:01pocket mirror
12:02and I'm going to look
12:03at myself.
12:05Ready?
12:05Here it goes.
12:06One, two, three.
12:12Hi.
12:15Oh.
12:16Wow, I look just
12:17as I always remembered.
12:19Have you been?
12:20Oh my God,
12:21my skin's really dry.
12:22I didn't know.
12:24How you doing?
12:25Oh, lipstick on the teeth.
12:28Wow, I did a pretty good job
12:29on my eyeliner.
12:31Not bad.
12:33I missed you.
12:35It's like seeing
12:36an old friend.