A few weeks without make-up...

It might sound like hell to some people, but it really wasn't.

By most standards, I don’t wear much make-up, and I never really have done. My morning make-up routine sees me reaching for moisturiser, mascara and blusher. It takes me less than 5 minutes, but that's mainly because I have a toddler to entertain! Sometimes I throw on a lipstick or some lip gloss – someone once told me you can take over the world wearing a good lip gloss, which makes me smile a lot.

I don’t wear foundation at all really; and concealer, eyeshadow, eyeliner, and everything else lurking deep within my make-up drawer, are only usually shown the light of day when I'm going somewhere special, or when I'm on stage.

Despite the fact I don’t wear a lot of day make-up, in recent years I found myself wanting to wear it to feel good about myself, which is crazy. Cosmetics should never be a defining factor in how a person feels, yet their prominence makes it seem more and more like they are.

Even though I like to wear make-up, I am still quite comfortable going out without it, and do so very regularly to a variety of reactions. A few weeks ago I caught conjunctivitis off my daughter (nice), so naturally, I backed away from the mascara wand. I haven’t worn make up since, it’s been 3 weeks now, my skin feels amazing, and I feel pretty good about it too.

In those 3 weeks I've not had as many comments as I thought I might to be honest, but I have heard some comments about my skin. They've ranged from lovely, confidence boosting words, to just plain hurtful words.

 “You look really pale, are you ill?”

“You’re skin looks amazing!”

“You look so tired.”

“You’re not wearing make-up? Why?”

“I wish I had the confidence to do that.”

“I wish I had your skin.”

“You look like you've had a bit of a breakout.”

“You look really fresh faced.”

All things that have been said to me in the past 3 weeks. A few of them really bothered me, like why pale is a bad thing, but I got over myself, and after I had a ‘moment’ I was ok. 

I realised how lucky I am that I have been raised and have always been surrounded by people who have exuded the message that beauty is within, and I will be bringing my daughter up the same way. My husband always makes me feel good about myself, whether I have crappy old clothes on, bad hair and am so pale I'm practically transparent; or I am dressed up like I'm off to some glamorous event. For his attitude, and for making me feel comfortable enough to be myself whatever, I will be forever grateful (shhh, don’t tell him I got all mushy!)

That's not to say I don't love make-up; I absolutely I do. I get all excited about new products and brushes just as much as the next person, but I've sort of reached a point now where I almost don't care. By saying that, I mean I don’t care what people think of my skin, their opinion isn't for me to worry about. My skin, and whether I wear make-up or not doesn't affect the kind of person I am, and I will endeavour to keep this sense of positivity and confidence about it.

I will try to hold on to how I feel right now, to never to feel like I ‘have’ to wear make-up. Of course, I will wear it, but because I want to, I enjoy it and I like to wear it; never because I feel like I need to.

 Xx

Things I could learn from my Daughter...

My daughter may only be 1, but she has already taught me so much. SO much. I was thinking about this recently and started to make a list of the things I have learned from her and things I could learn from her, not from being her Mum (I already did a post on that http://amiileanne.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/what-being-mummy-has-taught-me.html ), but things I could really learn from watching her and how she is. I know that sounds crazy… she’s the child and I’m the parent and I should be doing the teaching, but hear me out…

Here are a few things that I think I could really learn from my beautiful daughter.

1. She accepts people and loves without boundaries.

She doesn’t care about age, gender, race, background, religion, or any of those things. Watching children play and interact no matter the difference between them is a really special thing. It’s something I think a LOT of people could learn from.

2. She doesn’t judge.

The world hasn’t taught her to judge yet.

3. She’s not greedy for ‘things’.

Poppy doesn’t want the latest gadgets (apart from mine and her Dads phones… of course she wants those because she can’t have them). She doesn’t constantly want for new toys, or the most fashionable clothes. Really small children aren’t greedy for those things because they don’t truly know how to be, and although they know quite well how to throw a tantrum, the tantrum is usually short lived. They want our time.  Poppy wants me to play with her, and read to her, and take her to the park. She wants the same from her Daddy, and her Grandparents. She wants for the things that don’t cost a penny, and she is free to do that for as long as she wants. We all need to take a leaf from that book.

4. She goes with the flow.

Now, I know not all children are so great with change, and I know I am lucky to have a little lady that embraces change so well. I am almost 30, and I still suck with change sometimes. I have learned to panic, to stress, and to really over think everything that goes with change, and I, personally, need to learn from these lovely, adaptable little toddlers who see things simply for what they are. Change is ok. It will all be ok.

5. She’s always happy.

She can’t tell me this, but the constant smile on her face (anyone who knows her will know that’s true) shows me that she is happy. She smiles at everything and everyone around her. She’s not cynical or full of hatred; she doesn’t know how to be. She smiles because the world she sees around her is good. Imagine how much better our world would be if we all smiled because of the world around us, instead of taking to social media to rant about this, that and the other.

I know this a short and sweet post, but when I started thinking about it, it really struck a chord with me. Maybe it will resonate with you too, maybe it won’t, and that’s ok. Maybe you have learned from little ones and maybe you haven’t, and that’s ok.

Maybe, just maybe, we could all learn something from the way children see the world…