What Make-Up Should You Wear?

Make-up

One thing I never understand is why there are articles and sites telling you what make-up you should and shouldn't wear. I know they're only suggestions, but finding a combination of what you like and what is right for you seems rare. Someone with a thin, diamond shaped face with warm skin undertones and blue eyes may prefer the make-up suggested for someone with a fuller, round face with cool skin undertones and brown eyes, and vice-versa. To me, personal preference is the most important thing when it comes to establishing your make-up styles, and no one should question what you wear.

Sometimes, reading the suggestions for what I should wear in terms of make-up puts a downer on my day, because it's often the opposite of what I would go for. I don't wear much everyday make-up, and even then I only really add a couple more products into my routine when doing some occasion make-up.

One part of my everyday routine that is important is my lipstick. I have small lips with a fairly prominent cupid's bow. Many make-up tip articles suggest that if you have small lips, you should try wear softer colours rather than bold or dark ones, but bold and dark is my signature look! My lips are small and I'm okay with that, so I want to make them stand out as much as I can and embrace them, not shun them and blend them with the rest of my face with a pale pink or nude.

Eyeliner is another important part of my everyday make-up. My go to style is a classic black winged eyeliner look which I have been perfecting since I was 13 and I think it looks great with my eyes and works. However, as I have green eyes, many articles suggest I should use a brown liner instead of black as black drowns out green eyes whereas brown makes them pop. Personally, I could never imagine wearing brown eyeliner as I feel black works with my cool undertone complexion and makes my eyes stand out more.

If I'm going somewhere for a special occasion, I like to wear eyeshadow to really enhance my eyes. Usually I will do a grey/black smoky eye look, sometimes blending in a colour which matches or compliments the main colour of my clothing. Researching into what eyeshadow colours are suggested for people with green eyes, I found out that most places are quite unanimous on green, purple, and gold, colours I wouldn't usually choose first unless they complimented my outfit the most.

Everyone has a different combination of facial features, and I believe that if you found a make-up look that you love and think works well for you, then go for it. The important things is that you feel good and confident about your make-up as you are free to experiment with whatever colours you want. Don't disregard all advice however. I took the advice of sticking to a matte lipstick as it works better on small lips, and I have stuck to it.

My Delayed Realisation

My Delayed Realisation

'You don't have to have all the answers right now.' I was told this fairly recently following a breakdown due to the results of an English Literature mock exam I sat. I felt like my world was crumbling around me and I was being sucked into an abyss, further and further away from any chances of going to my top choice university. To study Journalism, some universities require you to achieve a certain final grade in an English subject. It's quite a pressuring thought to have circling around your mind the closer it gets to exam time and causes me to put an awful amount of pressure on myself to do well. Getting back my results was something I feared as I knew in my heart I didn't perform how I had hoped. I held myself together through the lesson and was called back by my teacher as she hadn't had chance to moderate my test.

While I was sitting and speaking through the exam with her, it all hit me.

It started slowly; a few tears trickling from my eyes. Then I broke down and told her I felt like I can't possibly complete the year with my dream A/A* grade. I told her I felt that I could have done much better, especially since I had done so much better in my AS exam last year. That was when she told me I don't need to know all the answers.

At first, I just carried on with the conversation, politely nodding while I tried to piece back together my dignity and confidence in the subject. We talk some more and while I was leaving, she recommended taking the next day off school to just completely relax and get better - I have been fighting a particularly persistent cold lately - and try do as little as possible to do with school work. When I agreed, she said she would email my mum her recommendation as well as my form teacher and other English teachers, and then I left the class.

I didn't really start thinking about what she had told me until I got home and prepared to relax for the next day and a half or so. It was constantly on the back of my mind, telling me that it's true. Even though I have been told it before, this is the first time I've fully listened to it. I see myself as a perfectionist, so I don't take incomplete or inadequate things lightly as I feel they aren't right and people won't be happy about it. Hearing that I don't need all the answers at this time has finally stuck with me.

I'm still working just as hard as before, but if I don't know the answer, I don't stress or worry until I did like I used to. Instead, I ask someone if they know or can help me, or just simply wait till the answer finds me.

I know asking for help is something you should always do, but as a perfectionist, and looking back on my previous exam results, I felt like I should just already know it. For once, it actually feels good to make a few small mistakes when it comes to education. Better late than never to learn that I say.