Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Time: The New Luxury

When did it become more about "how long it takes" than "how good it looks"?

As I peered at myself in the mirror this morning, wondering if I could get away with not doing my hair, I had a flashback of spending 40 minutes blowdrying my then-waistlength wavy hair dead straight EVERY MORNING. It got me thinking about just how low maintenance I've become.

Granted, my hair is now less than 5cm long all over, but I've also downsized in the cosmetics department. This is a photo of my beauty essentials...I rarely use more than this and sometimes use less. It's destination-based.



For example, if I'm doing a school drop-off, all I'll use is a touch of Benefit's benetint on my cheeks and lips and a dash of Napoleon Perdis Long Black mascara. Maybe some Aveda Control Paste if I can't get away with just running my fingers through my mop.

If I'm going out to lunch or Mums' Group, then the Napoleon Minimal Makeup gets a run, along with some grey kohl eyeliner which is so old I can't even read the brand name anymore. It gets the obligatory smudge with the eyeliner brush. If I remember, I might even give myself a spritz of Coco Madamoiselle.

If I'm going somewhere really fancy, the Napoleon Lip Lacquer may come out to play, but I can never be bothered to reapply. Sometimes I'll blend on some eyeshadow, too.

So, have I let myself go or just become more comfortable with who I am? I'd like to think it's the latter.

What's your beauty priority? Speed or style?

3 comments:

Poppy Letterpress said...

I'm enjoying the 'beauty' of working at home, actually :)

It seems that the only time I apply makeup is when I'm going out for a cheap lunch, and even then I feel like a princess!

So speed or style? Mostly neither, but speed if I must choose :)

ACTing Like A Mama said...

tinted moisturiser is my saviour. and i pretty much do the full kit and kaboodle still when going out so unfortuantly my make-up drawer(s - gulp!) haven't decreased. It does take me longer to use up all the product though so that's a plus!

Speed for me is the key, even on a fancy night out it does not take me more than 10 mins to do hair and make-up - my attention span will not allow it, neither will my toddler!

Anonymous said...

As the daughter of an Irish country girl, I was never 'taught' about makeup (except that it was for hussies). The reason I can tell if my mum thinks something is important is if she feels the need to slather on some foundation, a touch of (neutral) lippy and spray on some of the bottle of perfume she's had for the last five years.

So my foray into makeup has been rather late coming.

In years gone by I would have abided by the same routine as my mother, although on a much more frequent basis, and always including mascara (which a friend in high school informed me was a beauty essential, leaving me feeling rather plain-Jane for being ignorant to).

However, as the years have progressed, and I have started to notice a few badly placed worry lines I have turned my attetion to makeup in a big way. I love the routine, the smells and in the end how girly I feel when I've added close to ten products to my face.

I can't help myself now, for me the answer will be style for some time to come.