Just remember this...- K

Supermodels sneeze.  Every time I notice a small imperfection (or a big one, let’s be real) in what I look like, I remember that little tidbit.  Sneezing is in no way sexy or elegant.  It’s pretty gross, actually.  And yet everyone, even porn stars and the Queen of England, sneeze at some point. 

It may seem trivial to remind myself that everyone gets a little sniffly sometimes, but remembering that anyone can have a moment where their picture would look as ugly as it gets helps keep things in perspective.  These days, supermodels are hailed as pinnacles of beauty, put on a pedestal to be emulated.  I sure buy into it.  I’m the first person to admit I wish I could look like they do in the clothes they wear.  Celebrities make it look so easy: they glide down the red carpet like it’s nobody’s business.  Imagining them sneeze jerks me back to reality.  I can look at myself in the mirror and remember they have personal trainers to work out with and that their job is to look fabulous in what they wear.  If I had a stylist, a huge fashion budget, and my own yoga instructor, I might be able to be that way, too.  Instead, I’m a full time student with a moderate beauty budget and no closet space. 

Every girl should have her own little reminders to keep her grounded in the reality of the situation.  My roommate and I wrote, “We’re beautiful” on sticky notes and stuck them to the mirror in our room.  I forgot it was even there most of the time, but after 5 minutes of fussing with my makeup, it was nice to catch a glimpse and take a step back.  Fashion and beauty have become this imagined need for perfection in our appearances.  Sure, it rocks when my jeans fit just right and the shirt hits at the right place on my arm.  Everyday, though, my lipstick doesn’t need to be perfect and I can wear flats when my feet hurt.

It’s hardly fair to blame the media for the way we expect ourselves to look.   Sure, magazines take already beautiful women and Photoshop them into extreme beauty robots.  Maybe it would be refreshing to see an ad where the model’s knees look like actual knees.  I might even appreciate a girl who has whispy hairs on her ponytail.  At some point, though, we have to accept that you will notice the sweat on a woman’s forehead, or the pit stains on her shirt.  Advertising is all about getting the customer to believe your product will make them a superhero. 

Sadly, this leaves the blame on us.  Sure, we’ve been fed these ideas since we were mere babies in our strollers, but as anyone who has been fed cafeteria food knows, you don’t always eat what’s in front of you.  We all have to stop comparing ourselves to people who don’t exist (or who do and are paid to be beautiful).  We should celebrate fashion as art and celebrities as entertainment.  They don’t need to be role models for a perfect lifestyle.

I imagine you are shaking your head right now, rolling your eyes and thinking that you like yourself just fine and think it’s weird to put sticky notes up to boost your confidence.  That’s fine, too.  I applaud you, in fact.  I want to learn your secrets.  I love getting compliments, as I’m sure everyone does.  Even if the compliments are from me, who cares?  The key is to give yourself a little confidence boost.  Tiny (and big) imperfections fade into the background when you feel like you look great.  No one is going to notice if your eyeliner is not exactly even as long as you don’t rub at your eyes all day.

The average person is lucky.  When you have a runny nose, your mom, your roommate, and maybe the person next to you in a quiet room will notice.  If you were a celebrity, someone would probably photograph it and post it online.

Top 5 Underestimated Beauty Products -K

1.     Lip liner- Until recently (read- this past week), I’d never even tried to use lip liner. I had pictures in my mind of dark red lip liner with lighter red lipstick and I shuddered.  I didn’t need a pencil to draw on a lip shape! My lipstick was awesome enough on it’s own.  Then, I bought a value pack of lip products that came with a light pink lip liner and, never one to back down from a beauty product challenge, I tried it on.  Although I would never put it on under lipstick, under lip gloss it definitely solidifies the color just right. For the past few days, I’ve been experimenting left and right and love it more every day.

2.     Primers- Again, the behind the scenes make up has proven essential.  I should point out, I have pale skin that breaks out every couple weeks.  This means most of the time light powder is all I use.  By 5 o’clock, though, I find myself looking in the mirror wondering why I even bother with makeup in the first place.  Enter my primers.  All of the major make up lines have them, but until I used one, I rolled my eyes.  Now, every time I need that extra coverage to stick, I dab some of the lovely clear stuff onto my chin and voila! My makeup sticks (and even looks natural.  Plus it feels like silk against your face, and when I have a little too much make up on, something clean feeling keeps me from messing with my face all day...

3.     Mascara- This product shouldn’t really make the list, as plenty of people in the world understand the importance of mascara, but it’s my blog entry so here you go.  I am an eyeliner girl, and to keep my eyes from looking unnaturally dark, I usually skip the mascara.  Dark, fairly long lashes grant me that luxury.  But really, ladies, think of the time we could all be saving by skipping the eyeliner and going straight for the lashes! No more minutes spent evening out our eyes! No more bottom lid, top lid, inner lid debates! Just slash on a hint of purple mascara (DARK purple) and those hazel eyes are transformed to green without anyone knowing it’s not natural.  

4.     Sleep- This “product” is underestimated by others, but treasured by me.  In high school, I had a bedtime.  I could have ignored it and stayed up in my room awake all night studying or texting, but I usually stuck pretty close to it in order to get my 8 hours of shuteye.  In college, especially I always gave myself the chunk of time I needed to feel well rested the next day.  This translated to very few mornings and even fewer nights where I skipped my skincare routine.  I am not a morning person (just ask my mom), and my 9 o’clock classes last year might as well have been set for 6 the way I acted getting out of bed, but I was never too tired to skip brushing my teeth (ew) or washing my face).  I’m sure sleep also does something to how your skin works, but to me it means the energy to treat it how it should be treated.

5.     Blush- Be honest, if you’re one of those people who likes to keep their beauty routine short, sweet, and to the point- you skip the blush, don’t you?  You think- it’s not that important.  Maybe you run on a little for special occasions, but what’s the point?  Blush is awesome.  Done the wrong way, sure, it can look faker than one of those creepy porcelain dolls, but done the right way, you’ll probably look more natural than if you only had on foundation.  Do yourself a favor and try it for a week.  

Bonus material: Five Overrated Beauty Products (That I Still Use)

1.   Cover up- Nothing makes a pimple more noticeable than coating it with 8 layers of makeup.  Give your skin a break! Maybe your skin will thank you by getting rid of the nasty blemish.  Or maybe it will continue to be angry and red. Why risk it?

2.   Gel- Unless you use it perfectly, it looks crunchy and oily.  And yet I still have at least 2 kinds in my bathroom.  They have such promise!

3.   Under Eye fixers- I have one of these in my purse, and yet I still don’t know if I believe they actually do anything.  Even if they don’t, the little bit of massage my dark circles get at least make me feel better.

4.   Those Evil Pore Strips- Ouch. I’ve heard these are actually bad for your skin, but ever since I saw them on TV, I’ve been absolutely addicted.

5.   Bronzer- Okay, I’m biased. I don’t tan.  But I feel like bronzers run such a fine line of making your tan look unnatural, I’m sticking it on the list.  Feel free to prove me wrong.

What Do They Say?

In our case, they say a lot.  Instead of sticking with one theme for the rest of the blog, we plan on mixing things up.  K’s going to start with beauty, while A plans to kick her leg of the trip off with some philosophic musings.  Let’s be real though, there’s only so much two college students can say about either of those topics before we start getting bored: this is the age of 30 second commercials and 140 tweets, after all.  Instead, next month, we’re going to pick something new and talk about whatever we pick next.