I HATED MAKEUP & GUESS WHAT CHANGED IT…

“Makeup” – The word literally terrified me, and I used to not understand why people needed to feel like they had to “cover up” and become something the were not. I was always (and still am) a confident person. It is not in an egotistical way but in a way of “I don’t really care what you think”. I try my hardest to eat the best I can and exercise for my mental and physical health, therefore, I am doing the best I possibly can right?

Why would I then feel the need to put on makeup to make me look better for other people to see?

I lived this way until I was 36 years old. Don’t get me wrong I used to put on makeup if we went out to dinner or the local pub but it was foundation that was the wrong shade and I looked like I had a different skin tone at my chin and into my neck, powder that was cakey over the top, mascara and tinted lip gloss!

That was me…all done up and ready to party. I did think at the time I looked fantastic, but it may have been the alcohol talking. I will now share something that is quite difficult to talk about but is a part of my life. I suffer severe anxiety – like I mean crippling hide under the cover anxiety attacks. Two years ago, I got my SeneGence wholesale account as I suffer rosacea and it was the only skincare that I had found to actually soothe my skin. Once I had this account the curiosity got the better of me, so I ordered a couple of eyeshadows and lippy and let them sit there for possibly 2 months before I one day decided to try them out.

I felt my heart race, I felt that clammy feeling, I wanted to run into my bedroom and hide under the covers as an anxiety was being brought on by a phone call I had just received about my son at his school. As I hung up the phone I noticed my makeup on the corner of my desk – for some reason I cannot explain I picked them up and started putting the colours on the back of my hand to “test” them out…..All of a sudden I had grabbed a mirror and was attempting to blend eyeshadows into the lids of my eyes. After about 10 minutes I realised my heart had stopped racing and the “almost” anxiety attack was gone.

I am not saying that makeup heals anxiety don’t worry BUT for me it “preoccupied” my mind and soon enough every time I was feeling one come on I would instantly rush to try a new blend of eye trios! Who am I – Who was this girl?

I soon began to LOVE makeup and realised not only did it help take my attention away from anxiety BUT I actually DID feel fantastic when I had a “pop of colour” on. I now get it! I understand the additional confidence that feeling pretty on the outside does for a woman’s self-esteem.

Fast forward two years and I am now a makeup artist (I know right it is still so funny to say) and I get the absolute pleasure of making other women feel beautiful every single day. The moral of the story is to never judge something until you have really tried it and what works for you may not work for your neighbour.

You can’t put a price on a smile

Loz xxxooo