The beauty of makeup

“Confidence is what makes a girl beautiful. If you don’t see your inner beauty, no one else will either!”

It may be true that a girl doesn’t need makeup to be beautiful, but for some, myself included, make up it what gives me the confidence to feel beautiful. The second my makeup is done, is the minute I start to feel good about myself. Those close to me can spend the rest of their lives telling me I still look good without it but I genuinely can’t see myself believing them anytime soon.

I’m not sure where my makeup obsession first stemmed from. Probably the fascination I’ve had with girlie magazines my whole life. Flicking through the pages and seeing gorgeous women advertising makeup convinced me to buy it to look like that. My obsession hit a low point after I broke up with my first proper boyfriend. I was obsessed with perfection, or what I thought was perfection. I’d spend hours in front of the mirror until my makeup was flawless, my hair extensions were clipped in, my eyelashes were huge and my fake nails looked gorgeous. Covering myself up with this Barbie image was never a good idea, but at the time it was the only way I felt confident. I took drastic measures (some of which I’m not proud of) during this time to achieve this ‘perfection’ but luckily, it was just a phase.

As I got older I became more confident in myself, and during my next long term relationship, I couldn’t have been more different. I felt so comfortable with him I didn’t care what I looked like or how I dressed. Most mornings I wouldn’t brush my hair, let alone spend hours in front of the mirror. I’d put on loads of weight but he loved me for who I was so what I looked like didn’t matter. In theory, this is a good mind set to have, but by the time we broke up, I began to look back at photos and look closely in the mirror and I was disgusted at what I’d let myself turn into. My confidence hit rock bottom again while I battled with the break up and trying to build my confidence.

Moving to University came at a good time as it allowed me to go back to my ‘normal’ self, and get a good balance between the two extremes of my beauty regimes. I have days when I pile on the makeup and others when I hardly wear anything at all, but for the first time in a long time, I feel better about myself. Makeup still gives me the confidence to feel beautiful and I love transforming myself.  Having an Avon cosmetics business has allowed me to explore makeup in a new way, from the business world. I have an extensive knowledge of products including how to use and recommend them but that’s for another post!