Dear Younger Self
I want to talk to you about makeup.
I know that from a young age you’ve been itching to wear makeup and finally get your hands on your mums makeup bag and that mecca known as Rimmel’s “Heather Shimmer” lipstick. The pencils, potions and lipsticks look fascinating, I know, but do try and hold off on wearing a full face of makeup or becoming dependent on “putting on your face”. It may seem glamorous and exciting now but when you’re in your late 20’s (like I am now) waking up an extra half an hour before you need to leave the house simply to apply your face can feel like a bind and you’ll long to be the girl who goes out of the house barefaced and not feel completely naked.
I know you’re stubborn and have a fiery disposition (ginger through and through) so you’ll no doubt be huffing at that last statement, so if you MUST start wearing makeup, then let me give you a few tips:
Foundation is meant to even your skintone, not change it completely. Just because a foundation says its the lightest shade it doesn’t mean it is – pesky cosmetic companies! Make sure you match your foundation with your skin tone, Oompa Loompa Orange is not a good look. And one more tip when it comes to foundation? For godsake, blend. Tide lines aren’t attractive.
White eyeshadow is not a thing. The only people who will wear white eyeshadow in the future is Jeremy Kyle contestants and people who should know better. While we’re on the subject, when Jamie Lee Curtis says “a girl can never wear enough blue eyeshadow” on My Girl, she was lying. Especially when smeared across the lids with a standard foam applicator.
When you’re older you’ll LOVE your ginger hair. This is not a joke. Feel free to continue to dye your hair, brown, red, plum, even blonde… experiement is the spice of life but rest assured that the people who tease you now for having ginger hair will be the ones years down the line commenting on your Facebook pictures to tell you that your hair is a “gorgeous colour” (and their hair will be sh!t compared to yours)
You see those pale wispy hairs above your eyes? They’re what are known as “eyebrows”. Well done for not giving into the “trend” of shaving them off and then drawing them on in pencil but do use them to your advantage. Eyebrows shape your face, and right now the shape of your face is round. Round and moonlike.
Frosted lipsticks are the devil. I don’t really need to elaborate on that.
Sometimes it’s wise to invest in makeup pieces. I know your pocket money right now just about stretches to the latest Westlife single and a Constance Carroll lipstick but some items of makeup are worth saving up to buy. Bargain bins will still be of interest to you, as will the prospect of cheap and cheerful products which do the job, but paying £0.99 for a “Deep Tan” coloured foundation when you’re a porcelain kinda gal is ludicrous.
LOVE your freckles. Yes, they come hand in hand with ginger hair and you get teased for them, but they look bloody beautiful and one day people will be using brown eyeliner to draw them on their own faces. I kid you not.
* post written in collaboration with Legal and General’s “What Would You Say” campaign
** I like how I was perfecting my “bitch, please” face even from a young age
What a great article and oh yes I used to wear heather shimmer!! I also have red hair and freckles and love them, now!!