Beauty Makes a Come Back!: Sunday post

Hello Everybody!

Another week has passed and life is still changing.
Last week was quite a down beat post, however this one is definitely an improvement. I have seen some friends this week who are still living near me and we have half planned a few nights out. Also I had a great week in College, in fact I am now ahead in my assignments! That might just be because I am fast at typing but all I know for sure is I feel a lot happier in myself.

So the big change this week- Make up!
I posted about my capsule wardrobe on Friday (click here to read it) and have now begun shopping which means I am making more trips to town and into department stores and past all the beauty counters, which got me thinking about my own beauty regime.

Last January in a strange change of mind I stopped wearing make up. I never used to dare leave the house without it but recently you would be lucky to see me with mascara and a little lip gloss on.
Since then I have got it into my head that make up is this strange thing that goes against self confidence and oppresses us by making us think that we aren't naturally beautiful- I know it got a little extreme!

But my mind is once again changing, I don't think I will ever go back to a dependency on wearing make up and to be honest I never want to, however I would like to start wearing when I feel like I want to look a bit more done up.
There's only one problem; after 9 months of not wearing anything not only have I lost all of my make up, I also wouldn't know how to use it if I had it.

So I am now on a mission of two things:

1. To rebuild my collection with quality products that I have researched and properly tried out before buying.
2. To be confident about my beauty skills but still happily not wear make-up when I don't feel like it. 

As with anything I get into my head, I will always have a plan of how to achieve it. Make up is no different.

I started off last week by subscribing to Birchbox so I could get a selection of new products to try out each month. There's also added benefits like collecting points when you buy full sized products to get money off future purchases. I'll talk about my Birchbox in an unboxing/review post later in the week.

Some of Birchbox and BodyShop mini haul

Birchbox October 2014 Editiom

Another thing I will start doing is talking to the girls at beauty counters. I have always been cautious about beauty counters as there's no prices and I worry that I will be dragged into buying something. However they want you to love the product you get so that you come back time and time again so they will happily go through the products, try some out on you and maybe even give you the odd free sample. The most important thing for me to remember is that there is no obligation to buy anything, no one is going to force you into it.

I have found that is worth keeping your eye out for events at beauty counters and department stores as they often offer free treatments or consultations. Obviously their intention is to make a sale but if it doesn't impress you then don't waste your money.

At the moment The Bodyshop are offering free skin consultations and 5 minute makeovers. I have the consultation booked for next Friday and I will ask if they have time for the make up to because there's a BB cream I saw in there that looked nice.
Benefit are also doing free mini makeovers to promote their Christmas gift sets. I'm definitely going to take them up on this offer as I have been told that their make up is great, but I have to see it to believe it.
Finally, Origins are doing a free mini facial, I only encountered their products last week but they looked very natural which got me excited. I will be doing this when I get a chance to go to the shop.

The other thing that has got me excited about make up are the discount cards. There's loads out there but the most recent one I got was the Bodyshop one. You get loads of savings, free gifts and vouchers with it, which means I will definitely be spending when I go there next Friday!

Before I sign off I must remind myself that beauty will always come from health and within. Make-up and beauty treatments are good fun and nice to have but we must always be confident in our own natural skin that we take good care off with health, fitness and general care.
However, all this comes second to a positive and happy attitude on life.

Thanks for reading... in the comments tell me:
Whats your best beauty tip?
and
Whats your favorite beauty product?

Claudia x