Your overall presentation is absolutely judged. Sorry. But it’s true. Why would you be encouraged to buy a sparkly bikini, if your overall appearance doesn’t matter.
You don’t need to be an expert to understand there’s a reason you need makeup. You clearly looked into it, because you have decided you won’t. So you will be orange from the neck down. Good for you. It’s should be about you. If that’s what you want to do to keep costa down, go for it.
The posts that said it was expensive was talking in general. So Op will likely not go on stage with her face and body wildly different colours. You boasted about how ridiculously expensive, but worth it, your bikini was. Then backtracked when it didn’t fit your ‘it’s not that expensive’ argument. I believe that you absolutely were trying to brag about how much you spent on the bikini, then forgot you said that when you claimed it doesn’t cost much.
Attending lots of shows, is completely different to being in one. As the make up point shows you. You didn’t seem to be aware of some of the basics.
No one expects you to be an expert. But when you start trying to pretend you know everything about comps and start making weird claims, people who do know more will challenge you.
It’s so odd how you have made this who thing about you. Telling people how it works, how it doesn’t cost much, how people should view it, completely confident that you know how it all works. The go ‘oh well I am not an expert’.