There were many, many more things I wanted to add to this list… perhaps it will be an ongoing project. I was sat in the car waiting for Mr. L yesterday making a mental list… I’ve forgotten 90% of them. Here’s what’s left.
1). Cleanse your face in the morning. This is probably hugely obvious to most of you, but I never did anything more than splash my face with water. Infact, I thought I was doing my skin a favour by not using product. Boy, was I wrong… I’m a morning cleanse-convert!
Since using a gentle cream-based cleanser in the mornings my skin has become far less prone to dryness in the middle of the day. I learned this tip from Jo Givens at the Liz Earle Treatment Rooms in London who recommends using a gentle cleanser both morning and night to remove sweat, dead skin cells and daily grime. Who knew? Well… not me obviously.
2). The thrill of the chase is often more exciting than the capture. Tell me about a brand I’ve never heard of… a must have cleansing oil from Guatemala and I’m on it. I will spend inordinate amounts of money and time to track that baby down. The harder it is to come by, the better.
Once I’ve landed it? I usually move onto the next thing pretty sharpish. Meh.
3). You can kiss goodbye to French Manicures. I haven’t seen my naked nail beds in around 18 months… well only for the length of time it takes to swap out one opaque polish for another. Despite what started out as a religious and devout use of high quality base coats to prevent staining… my nails are yellower than a canary on a sunny day.
The only way back for these babies is an electric sander.
4). You will notice and develop flaws in your appearance that simply don’t exist to the 90% of the population. Milia? Oh yes… I have a few of those. Eyelashes sprouting from your tearduct? Ahem… thanks eyelash growth product *pluck*. Teeny tiny pigmentation mark near left temple? Oh Hai! Let me go in search of 439 different ‘whitening’ products so that I may eradicate you (and then blog about it).
A beauty blogger’s vanity goes a little deeper than most.
5). That one woman really can own and rotate over 50 lipsticks. Why she’d want to? I’m still not sure… but it’s definitely possible.
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What favourite things have you learnt from reading blogs or keeping your own?
To add to your list…
– There are some really unusual products out there. Case in point; I recently had a bath with a bag of seaweed.
– It is possible for a woman to own and rotate almost 150 eyeshadows (yes, that’s me, *and* I have about 50 lipsticks too. Gah).
– A blogger’s vocabulary just grows and grows. There is a difference between shimmer, sheen, sparkle, and shine.
Amen on #3 – who knew there were so many ways to describe it! x
OH MY GOD! I have exactly the same post in my draft files, you’ve obviously hacked my account and copied me 😛
I totally agree on the “you only see problems that nobody else does”..I think my pores are mahoosive but that’s only because I’m forever taking photos of my face and cropping them down..
Another thing I’ve learnt is the fact that a simple Google search for something will usually bring up a host of swatches and reviews on something you want to buy. I don’t think I ever Googled a product I wanted to buy before I started blogging, it was straight to Boots/wherever it was sold.
In closing (I thought it time I be quiet and not take up the whole screen), I leave you with this shocking admission of my own ineptitude..I still don’t use a cleanser in the morning BUT!! that’s only because 1)the oily one I had contained mineral oils and I haven’t found a decent alternative yet and 2)I’ve been using a cleansing soap so I hoped that would be ok.
LOL! Stop stealing my BRAIN! – I’ve said it before… great minds and all that jazz! xx
LOL at cropping photos, I know.. it’s like looking in the magnifying bit of the mirror and then brainwashing yourself into thinking that’s what you look like ALL the time.
Swatch, swatch, swatch. A blog without swatches isn’t really a blog.
I don’t like it when you’re quiet (thankfully it’s not often). Get cleansing bitch! xxx
I totally agree with the harder it is to get the more you want it! i’m always craving shu uemura and dolce and gabbana makeup which are not available in ireland!
Oooh, no Shu? That’s a travesty. Still… you get Essence nail polishes. I’m craving them atm!
Yeah and no burberry makeup either! Still makes my makeup shopping trips to London even better!
Hey I have the teeny tiny pigmentation thing on my left temple too lol, and lashes that grow in my tear duct (but they’ve always been there hehe 😀 My list of wants grows daily and the quest for flawless skin!
Good, we can be imperfect together!
Ahhh flawless skin…. wouldn’t that be a dream? x
It’s not that beauty bloggers are vain we’re just externally conscious… (innocent whistling). One thing I’ve learned so far from having a beauty blog (mine’s an infant, i started in March) is that morning light is your best friend for product shots and swatches. And I find it so pathetic and funny when I’m scrambling for my camera to shoot my makeup “toys” in the morning because I’m late for work and have to post an article when I get there. 🙂 Everything and yourself happens to be so much more beautiful in a windowed area in soft morning light no matter where in the morning, next best bet is afternoon when the sun isn’t fierce anymore…
My dad laughed himself into a fit my mother said when he saw me late at night testing a FOTD (face of the day look) on myself. He had seen me in full coverage makeup at midnight during practice. “Our daughter’s strange, it’s half past midnight and she’s got makeup on” he said as he climbed into bed. Mum goes “Oh just let her play.”
Second, you can never have too much makeup and nail polish remover.
I agree with you Charlotte, the thrill of pursuit is the drive behind acquiring something from far far away, and the arrival and opening of the package is the climax of it all.
LOL @ externally conscious!
I’m too busy in the mornings, I always have to use late afternoon/early evening. Gonna be in trouble when the clocks go back and it starts getting dark earlier *sigh*.
Soft light is essential though defnitely!
Amen to the nail polish remover. And it’s worth spending a bit more money on one that doesn’t drive you INSANE with it crapness!
It’s funny you should mention the morning cleansing thing … I just made that decision a couple weeks ago. I was having a big hormonal breakout, and started cleansing twice a day instead of just once, and it cleared up faster than breakouts usually do, and I just didn’t stop. I’ve been enjoying clearer, happier skin ever since.
I’ve actually been using a cleansing oil in the morning, because I have two jumbo bottles, and I’d like to use it up before it goes bad (does it go bad?).
Hi Ann,
I guess they go bad… though I’d imagine it would take quite a while. Glad you’re seeing results, it’s always the simple things isn’t it? x
I totally agreed with you and the comments left above… seems I have similar ‘bad habits’ now after have been blogging for a year. oops.
i think i should add another one: already have an mental list what to buy next and lots of products already sitting in our bathroom cupboard/ storage cupboard, waiting to be try out, yet seems we have products that can last us around 5 years+ if we have to finish every single drop.
Oh lord yes, I have a stack of drawers of products that are waiting to be reviewed. Hell, I bought a Korres primer in February and I STILL haven’t opened it. Why the hell did I buy it?! xx
I just recently started cleansing in the morning too! It was after I added several products to my night routine and I felt it the next morning. It’s really been keeping my skin clear(er) – though I do have a chin break out today, joy. I use a foaming cleanser that I’m quite liking morning and night!
Foaming cleansers dry me out 🙁 Must be the SLS. Isn’t it weird though? I really thought I was doing my skin a favour by just using water in the mornings. Hope the pesky breakout clears up soon! x
That deserves a full post, I think! Will do that next week.
But I must say everything you talked about is true for me as well 🙂 I also notice that when I didn’t know about skintones, I bought the colors I wanted without thinking more, now I’m really confused when I’m shopping LOL
Skintones are so hard to master aren’t they? I struggle lots with foundations. I generally aim for the pinkest, palest one I can find and work my way from there! x
Yeah me too! being on one end of the spectrum or another is handy that way! I left you a tweet on twitter (d’uh!) about the shade of MUFE F&B that you used under the names bowsandwhistles (i dunno why i set my twitter under a different name!). Anyway, I’d love if you could get back to me on that! Thanks x
I definitely agree with #5! Before I started blogging I remember watching a youtuber’s collection video and she had over 80 lipglosses in one drawer, and I was like ‘OMG SHE IS SO RETARDED HOW DOES ONE PERSON NEED THAT MANY’ but now I’m slowly turning into that person XD
LOL@Retarded.
I think we’re all a bit of that with our MEGA collections :/ xx
– There is always a more expensive product out there. Feeling guilty you’ve just spent £12.50 on a single eyeshadow? Go and check out the Chanel website.
– Two colours that look identical are probably entirely different.
– That storage is key.
(It also gives me great relief that you have yellow nails too. I’m giving my nails a break from polish because they keep splitting, and I look like I’ve got jaundice.)
Amy! I just bought a Chanel today… talk about making me feel guilty!
I’m LOLing at #2… oh yes!
I’m envious of your nail polish hiatus… Mine are too yellow for that, I would really have to buff them hard to get them somewhere where I’d feel comfortable wearing the nakey.
just a little tip – to get rid of yellow staining on nails brush them with whitening toothpaste. it helps!
I’ve tried everything!
Denture Tablets, Bicarb of Soda, Lemon Juice, Bubble White, Bleach *blush*… they only make a tiny amount of difference 🙁
I’ve just bought a single Chanel eyeshadow. 6 months ago I would have baulked at buying a single eyeshadow from No. 7. And I have things in my make up collection I’ve never even used. This is the consequence of beauty blogging/ beauty addiction!
Great post, very insightful!
It’s true. I have honestly never spent more of my personal income on beauty products in my life. And that’s despite being in the priveliged position of receiving samples too. It’s a sickness I tell ya!
What I have learnt is that your own sense of humour is very hard to explain in written form, other people/readers will most probably think you are mad, and following on from that I think that if you don’t blog ultimately for yourself and therefore put effort and energy into it, nobody else will be interested….see what I mean….I can see the tumbleweed blowing past!!
Isn’t it just? I’m always writing stuff then thinking… that’s far too random – no one will ‘get’ it.
I think that blogging has to be a total passion… even more so than whatever it is that you’re blogging about. You need to want to connect in some way to strangers or you’re dead in the water.
No tumbleweed near you lady! x
I have found since I started blogging that I’m suffering from makeup relativism. I used to think that a Bourjois item was a little pricey. Then I started lusting after MAC, making Bourjois seem affordable. Now MAC is my go-to and I look to Chanel for a treat. Soon you know I’ll want everything to be from Chantecaille!
p.s. I also have little eyelashes that grow from my tearduct, one of the very good things about blogging is you find out that other people have these funny little things too and I am not in fact a complete freak. Never going to read that in a magazine, are you?
Makeup Relativism is my new favourite term. You need to patent (trademark?) it.
It would also be my #6 for sure. So true that I would balk at the price of No7 and now I’m off buying bloody Guerlain palettes! x
I love this!! Great post!
Thanks Sara! x
Erm just a few things
1. Beauty blogging has made me realize that spending £60 on one item is not longer that out of the ordinary
2. There’s only so much new skincare you can “test” on your skin before it punishes you
3. Most products do not deliver what they say they will
4. Beauty blogging takes up a lot of space
Will that do?!
I’m LOLing at #4. More space for some than others eh?
I’ve learned two things that seem to be at odds with each other, yet somehow manage to live in the same universe.
First, you should never take for granted your knowledge or think everyone knows what you know. If it was once a moment where light bulbs went off in your head, chances are there’s someone whose day you can brighten with your knowledge. No tip is too elementary, because new people are starting on the journey every day.
Second, it’s that no idea is truly original, but this doesn’t mean it’s not unique. Rhamnousia’s comment that she’s got basically this same post in her draft files just reinforces the fact. I’ve done posts or created looks, only to have another blogger, YouTube guru or even a celebrity step out and present it first. DAMN. But even still, we all have our own fingerprint to share, so go ahead and share!
Too true! We can all learn from one another regardless of our experience. x
[…] No Comments Posted in: Chit ChatDate: August 13th, 201010 Things I Learned from Beauty BloggingCharlotte over at Lipglossiping had an excellent post on five things she learned from beauty blogging. I […]
I have, and have always had eyelashes in my tearduct, and so does my sister. I am also guessing if and when I do have a child, she/he will also have eyelashes in their tearduct. Mine grow downwards and to a point though so it just looks like I have very thin liner on. Weird, huh?