Inspired by
Lily's post, a why she wears makeup tag, I've decided, considering I am running what, by some degree, can be noted as a partial beauty blog, why not share with you a bit of my personal makeup history. You see, you may or may not be surprised to know that I was very much a tom boy in my early teen years, and fussing over cosmetics and allocating time to preen myself was just not on my agenda instead opting for hours playing Sims or a neighbourhood game of run outs. I didn't even try wearing makeup till I was around fifteen and even then it was nothing heavy, a light coat of mascara and a natural collection peach lippy and that was my lot.
Around the age of fourteen and fifteen I did go through a somewhat grungy stage, the myspace era and all that, where dark smudged eyeliner seemed to be the in thing and I wore it rather badly. I still hadn't even tried foundation, it was an alien substance to me which was only introduced by my step-sister, whom despite being the same age was heaps and bounds ahead when it came to the hours she would spend knelt down by the mirror surrounded by an assortment of sticky lipglosses and wearing over three different types of mascara. I used to love letting her make me up because of course it was something new to me, I hadn't really adopted my own style of makeup and just wanted to be beautified in any way she saw fit. This was also around the time I suffered from acne, was extremely self conscious, and was desperately searching for anything that would cover up the red blotchiness that was my face.
To be perfectly honest, I wanted to just blend in, I didn't want to stand out, I didn't want to be noticed. I wanted clear skin like most of my friends. It was a very awful time self esteem wise. I wore foundation every now and then but still even up to the age of eighteen was highly disinterested in exploring makeup and didn't dare to dabble with bronzers or eyeshadows for myself. To put it bluntly I couldn't be assed with faffing around in the morning before school, I am an extremely lazy person and so if I could get that extra twenty minutes or so in bed I would happily take it. I gave myself two or three minutes every morning to slap on a bit of foundation, powder my face to death, a slick of vaseline and a touch of mascara and that was me done.
Here's a fresh faced meat the age of eighteen ( note mine and Jon's baby faces!), I would much rather have a fresh face than bother to try and spruce myself up. This is not a bad thing, it helped keep my skin clear, you don't have all that bother with removing makeup and deep cleansing at night. However, I was still unhappy, I have very red toned skin and this has ALWAYS annoyed me and I would sit and bitch and moan how I wished I was as pretty as other girls in my year but yet not try all that hard to put in any effort because I just didn't think it was worth it. I didn't think I could apply makeup well, I didn't think it would make much difference and that I would be foolish to try and become one of the 'beautiful girls'.
I see now that makeup doesn't make you beautiful entirely yet I am not one of those who will preach and sing along to one direction claiming that 'you don't need makeup to cover up' because I don't use makeup to cover up, I use it to enhance what features I have. Makeup to me is a form of expression and I get quite frustrated when people accuse individual who choose to be more daring or have a penchant for makeup of masking themselves and 'wearing too much makeup'. Of course, there are those who really DO wear too much and end up looking like a wotsit with spider lashes but that's a different issue. I love to play and mess around with different looks and I personally love when my boyfriend notices that I've done my makeup differently rather than the age old 'you look so much better without makeup' line.
I'm not by all means someone who cannot go without makeup, yes I have the odd day where I don't really wish to leave the house without a smidgen of concealer to help cover up some unwanted blemishes but I would never point blank not go out because my skin is bare. I often just cannot be assed with dolling myself up and I like to let my skin breathe but I do always feel that little bit more me with a slick of coral or red lipstick on and my soft and gentle highlight, it does boost my confidence. I love makeup, sometimes I worry I can get a bit too addicted to searching for the next holy grail item but that is part of the excitement. The world of cosmetics and skincare is ever changing and producing new products which some of which I just can't wait to test out. We are always adapting and changing and so is beauty and I find it a creative outlet and a way of expressing my mood as well as presenting myself in different lights.
To sum up, makeup is fun to play around with, and I have grown a lot and even possibly found my ideal career route (beauty pr/journalism), I'm no longer afraid to try out new things and to dare a dark plum lip. I still am one of these people that likes a more natural look and on a daily basis I use very little if any thing but now I also do like to make a bit more of an effort when it comes to blogging, nights out, or just because I fancy. Don't let others try and make you feel insecure just because you like to wear makeup, it's grown from being my mask to becoming a way of showing myself off to the world and saying 'I'm not afraid for you to notice me'.
This is quite a personal and lengthy post for me so thank you for baring with me. I'd love to know what makeup means to you and if any of you have similar or differing opinions.
instagram: ohlittlered
