A while back, I had an idea for a weekly post that would push me to update more regularly. My biggest problem with the blog is while I love having it and reading back over things I've writen, I'm astonishingly bad at updating it.
In part, thats because there really isn't anything much happening in my life. I go to work, I come home, I watch TV. Lather, rinse, repeat. Occasionally I do something exciting like go out to eat, but at the moment its mostly the same routine.
Naturally, that can drag you down a bit and certainly make you lose sight of how fortunate a position you're in. Which brings me right to this weekly post thing - Happy Mondays (every time I say it I hear the piano intro from "Step On", by the way). Each Monday - or at least some Mondays - I'm going to post about something that I'm grateful for or that makes me happy or that I just discovered and totally love. I guess some of the posts will be fairly shallow, others might be a bit more deep and meaningful.
First off, I'm going with something that makes me happy - all things beauty.
I am a make up junkie. I'm completely, totally, hopelessly addicted. I buy endless bottles of body lotion. I have 3 lots of shampoo/conditioner on the go at any one time. I drool over beauty websites like HQ Hair or MAC for hours on end.
I've posted about this sort of thing before, I think at one point I had a photo of the collection up and one blogger suggested I seek help. I didn't, of course, and my collection keeps growing.
I should probably explain my reasons behind my love of the stuff, just because I realise that I'm in a minority here.
I don't wear much make up on a daily basis. I'm happy enough and perhaps fortunate enough that I can get by with a bare face and for that I genuinely thank every positive force in the universe. In spite of this, I love what make up promises.
Its the promise of outer beauty. The notion that a bit of this here and a bit of that there (skillfully applied of course) can turn you from "meh" to "wow!".
I love being able to change how I look with a smudge of eyeliner or a slick of lipgloss. I'm very excited about how a carefully placed line of white eye pencil along the bottom rim of your eye makes you look awake, or a pale pink highlighter pencil can lift your brow.
I am constantly on a quest for the next best thing, the holy grail product that will turn me into a supermodel in a nanosecond. Its not out there yet (but with technology who knows!) and so I'll keep searching.
Luckily for me, I've been able to find a couple of products that I now can't live without and for anyone who is interested, they are;
Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish - the beauty editors darling, the best cleanser I've ever used bar none.
Laura Geller Balance N Brighten - Powder/Foundation/Concealer combo, perfect for every day and goes on in one sweep.
Clinique Lash Power Mascara - It stays on. It doesn't smudge or flake. It washes off with warm water. Its a miracle in a grey and silver tube, is what it is.
Carmex Lip Balm - Nothing touches this stuff. Good for chapped lips, or cuticles too.
Nivea Nourishing Hand Cream - Smells like holidays, possibly because I'd used Nivea Sun Cream in the past, but thats beside the point.
If anyone has any beauty recommendations they want to share, I would love to hear them and also if you want to share what's making you happy this week that would be cool too!