Why am I so obsessed with Fashion and Beauty?

Unlike some people, I only relatively recently began to get into beauty in a serious way, it wasn't something that clicked from the moment I was born, it wasn't an innate drive rather for the first fourteen to fifteen years of my life I couldn't have cared less. When I was younger, I wasn't a tomboy exactly, all this materialistic stuff just didn't interest me in the slightest. The clothes I wore were all a variation on a theme: jeans, T-shirt, jumper. I never wore nail varnish, unless I went to a wedding because they were considered a special occasion. At school, right through up until secondary (high) school, we were required to wear uniforms, so again I had little reason to be bothered about fashion and what was on-trend and wasn't. In addition to this, I was quite a shy child at school, I simply preferred to be invisible so I would wear little make-up and always have my hair in a plain and simple plait or ponytail because I didn't want to draw any attention to myself. I always felt that any scrutiny was bad scrutiny, this, of course, was before I discovered the genius of Oscar Wilde.

When I entered Sixth Form, it was the same situation, I had started to wear eyeshadow and mascara, because they were the easiest types of makeup to apply, but on most days I wouldn't bother, I didn't think that makeup application would make too much of a difference and I didn't want people to notice me because of the pretty glittery eyeshadow on my lids, I would rather they think I am pretty based on natural beauty and this is still true. There's a negative perception that people who are superficial enough to grant such importance to clothes and cosmetics are vain and shallow, when I think it should be stressed that just one part doesn't make the whole.

But one day, in the summer of my first year at Sixth Form (that would be junior year for Americans) my sister and I had planned a day out in London, a girly day full of shopping and seeing the sights; we had very high expectations. Naturally, being Britain it was on top form that day and rained constantly, so we spent the majority of it looking for places to hang out inside. So after going to M&M World (one of my favourite places to date) and ambling down Covent Garden, splurging in Harrods and finding this adorable tea shop with every single tea known to mankind, we spent at least three hours in Selfridges. We walked through each designer department staring at the glossy bags with security alarms that would cost more than two months rent until we reached the beauty department. It is ginormous. And I absolutely loved it.

All around us were long legged, perfectly waxed, tanned and made-up Amazonian women, with an arsenal of make up brushes strapped around their tiny waists. These make-up artists looked like models and my self esteem just deflated as I looked on with awe. They were perfect, and though I knew it was essentially expertly applied make-up that had allowed them to hide their flaws, if they even had any, I was still envious of their flawless finish.

So after this incredible day out, which was more fun than I could have imagined, I started to pay more attention to what I wore. Bearing in mind I was still lazy so I never put a full face of slap on and sometimes I didn't apply anything, but I did pay more attention to what clothes I donned, I became addicted to nail varnish, I love it and tend to match it to my mood rather than my clothes. And then I discovered a little thing called YouTube and started watching all these different make-up tutorials and gradually got more interested and started to buy more of the products, especially eye shadow paletttes.

I'm not rich or even well-off, my parents won't pay for my indulgences and I respect them for that, so everything I buy is either a product of my own hard-earned money or saved up cash or the miracle that is student finance. So if I don't post new products, or things from MAC and other high-end brands like YSL it's because some of us are still feeling the recession. Thanks for reading and I will post again soon.