Lets wipe the slate clean
So here we are,
A 3 week minimum extension on lock down.
What are we going to do with this this time?
Well first of all stay safe and stay inside, that's number 1!
The NHS staff are working tirelessly and putting themselves at risk everyday to save our lives, the least we can do is stay in our houses.
But there are a couple of things we can do while we are couped up in our houses to help us emerge from this lock down and pandemic like a phoenix rising from the ashes.
I am talking about our confidence, our self acceptance, the way we see ourselves in the mirror.
We can use this time to wipe the slate clean.
All those horrible things we have told ourselves about the way we look or what we don't like about ourselves,we can literally start from scratch and start to re-build our self image.
How?!
Well firstly almost EVERYONE is in the same boat right now.
We are all sitting at home with little to no makeup on, let's be honest there are some days we haven't even got dressed.
Firstly I would recommend getting up in the morning like normal, get showered, clean your teeth, hell throw on some of that gorgeous smelling body lotion you got for Christmas and just haven't had time to use yet. Do you hair, put those rollers in, curl it, what ever your feel good hair style is, do it!
Put on your face serum and moisturiser .... and then....go on about your day!
Yep, no makeup, not a scrap, just you, your favourite hair style and the world.
Go and do your weekly shopping, keeping the 2m distance at all times of course, come home, do the washing, play with the kids or what ever it is you would normally do.
This for some people will sound like just an average day but for others it will sound utterly terrifying and that is because some of us over the years have built up a dependent relationship with some of our makeup, Foundation, eyeliner etc. they have become our masks to hide behind because we feel ashamed of the way we look.
Well, believe me when I tell you, you are beautiful. What you have seen in the magazines and instagram aren't real.
They are photo shopped and edited, blurred out acne here, pinched in waist here, shrunken nose there, slight angle change here. None of what you been conditioned to believe is true beauty exists. even the models themselves do not look like their pictures in real life.
After a few days or even a week or two of this, your old beliefs about how you should look, how your redness should be covered or that your lashes should always have mascara on will start to fade.
You will catch glimpses of your gorgeous hair in the mirror as you walk past and start to feel that little skip of confidence rising up, after a week or two of this you will start to see yourself differently, you will no longer be focusing on all the things you used to.
Now you will start to look at yourself bare faced and begin to notice all the things you DO like about yourself and by the time we come out of this lock down the damaging self beliefs we all had about our appearance will no longer be the same cripplingly loud voice it used to be, it will be a faint wisper in the background you can barely hear.
There is one addition to this you will need to be conscious of in the beginning and that is what you allow in to your mind. Years of conditioning and self berating have caused us to look in the mirror and focus on things we "don't like" about ourselves, you know the,
"ugh look at my skin, it looks disgusting",
or the
" I hate how dark my under eyes are"
Those are the things you will need to be conscious of and when you feel yourself doing it, push it out of your mind and say 1 thing you DO like about yourself, maybe it's your brows, maybe it's your hair, maybe it's how long your lashes are or maybe it's your lip shape.
What ever that thing is, use it to replace the negative thoughts.
There really is never going to be a better time to start working on our self confidence.
The shops are quieter, the streets you take the kids out for a walk on for their daily exercise are quieter and everyone is walking around barefaced.
I am not saying stop wearing makeup all together, I LOVE makeup!
What I am saying is, how amazing would it feel to no longer wear makeup because you feel you have to! and to no longer use it as a mask to hide behind and instead start using it because you want to enhance your existing beauty.
Anyway that's advice for anyone that suffers with lack of confidence or self image. It is something I have struggled with for YEARS and these exercises, pushing myself out of my comfort zone and by that I mean out in to the world with no makeup on along with focusing on what what I was telling myself dramatically changed the way I see myself.
Don't get me wrong it's something I still have to work on but it's nice to not feel weighted down by all the self negativity anymore.
I would love to hear from anyone that gives this a go, you can email me and let me know how you are doing.
Here is my email address: robyn@coabe.email
Much Love
xoxoxoxoxo
