Fun

To me beauty and fashion are hobbies. I'm a garden-variety cube slave (office worker) who has the luxury of working in an office where a strictly corporate look is not required, but I'm not immersed in beauty and fashion every day. In light of this, maybe I don't take it as seriously as others may.

For example, take the below picture:



Yes, that's me. With green and gold nails as a symbol as support for the Socceroos at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. I love my soccer football (thanks dad), so for a bit of fun I painted up my nails in OPI's "The It Colour" and "Jade Is The New Black". I was quite pleased with the result (even if the lines were very crooked thanks to my lack of two-tone polish skills) and wore them with pride.

The majority of comments I received about them were very positive - apart from one. I was asked how drunk I was when I did them and it was insinuated that having multicoloured nails was somehow wrong. I was surprised and a little hurt for a few minutes, but then I got to thinking.

Like I said before - I'm not immersed in fashion and beauty all day, every day. I work a full-time job and have a variety of other things going on that take up my time. For me, my fashion and beauty picks are a chance to have a little fun, to experiment with things and ideas and sometimes to be a bit silly. That's me and that's fine. To someone else, being silly with their fashion may not be an option... and while I disagree with it, it's ok. I just feel sorry that they don't get to giggle at themselves when they catch a glimpse of their world cup nails - and hope that there's another part of their life that brings them the fun that a silly manicure brings me.

Beauty & Fashion - srs bizness. Or not. Just remember that if you're enjoying it, you're doing it right.

It doesn't come easily

Doesn't everyone like it when things are easy? I know I often do - but not everything all the time though, that would be pretty boring.

It's easy (ha!) to fall into the path of least resistance. Reaching for the same clothes again and again. Skipping parts of the beauty routine that seem to take up time and effort. Doing the same things all the time. Things that are familiar and cozy.

The thing is - Glam takes time. It takes effort. It means stepping outside your comfort zone and trying different things. This is part of what makes it so elusive yet so sought after. The very basis of it is a big deal.

The problem with it being such a big deal is that it seems unattainable. The effort, the expenditure and the time all seem to be out of reach, making the idea of staying in that comfort zone just that much more appealing. The funny thing was when I first started to glam up, I felt the same way, but as I added different things to my routine, they became easier and seemed to take less time. Once they became normal, they weren't as big a deal any more.

The one thing to remember throughout all of this is that you are worth the effort. You are worth the time. You are worth the money. Putting back into yourself makes you feel better and look better... which leads to better self worth and the cycle continues, building your self-confidence and self-worth. On the flipside - if you think you aren't worth the time, effort and money or you can't be bothered, you run the risk of devaluing yourself - which again can continue in a cycle. Been there, done that and have the t-shirts to prove it. It's not a fun place to be.

Glamour is all about challenging yourself every day to be the best you can be... and being the best is never easy, but it is attainable no matter who you are.

Beginnings

Everything starts somewhere. This story starts here.

I know what I want to get out of writing this. I know what I want to accomplish... but I am not sure how I'm going to get there.

I want to share ideas I have. Tips I've learnt. Things I found out the hard way, things I knew before I started. I want to document this journey to help keep myself motivated throughout it. There isn't an end in sight - it's going to be ongoing and it's something I'll need to keep working on.

So here we go...