To make-up or not? Oh vanity !

Who would have ever thought that I would be so dependent on make-up? It sounds insane and very vain indeed! It is not easy for a woman to overcome her vanity. I go through phases where I do not really think about how I look. I manage to suppress my insecurities concerning my appearance at most times. How do I do it? I just do not think about them! I just lead my daily life without thinking that every day is a bad hair day or that every day is a facial spots day!
Being in the final year means being on placement all the time. As a result, the routine is going back home for the weekend and then returning to hospital accommodation on the Sunday night to enable yourself a few hours sleep before you start placement on Monday morning. This also means living out of a suitcase. Having some of your things at home and some on placement means that in the process you lose things as you transport from one place to the other or that you forget things.

This weekend I managed to forget my house keys which meant I could not get into the house! Fortunately, my housemate was at home so she let me in but then having no keys meant that once I was into the house I could not possibly leave the house without keys. My housemate was not going to be around all weekend long. As a result, I had to leave the shed door open and my room door open too, which was a scary experience as there was the risk of thieves getting into the house. I was only in the house for 2 days so this did not happen thank God!

Furthermore, apart from the house keys I had forgotten my student ID! As a result, I could not go to the gym ! In the end I told them I was already a member so they let me know, but they said if I forget it once more they might cancel my membership! Scary stuff!

Nevertheless, my weekend was very relaxing and I spent some time reading and finishing my book (yaya) and watching a film. On the way back to placement I thought I had packed all my stuff but little did I know when I got up on Monday morning and realised my make-up kit did not travel with me up to Guildford!!!!!

'What a terrible start to the day! Such a trivial thing but for me it was a big thing! How can I go to work without make-up cover?? I would be so spotty and look so untidy and not really myself! DISASTER!!'

BIG DISASTER! Then I started thinking how dependent we are as women on make up! Trying to cover all our spots and trying to look better for some reason. Why? Someone might say to attract the opposite sex , others just to feel good in ourselves. I think for me it could be a combination of things I guess! At the moment it is just my morning routine. I always need to have some time for my make-up or else something is not right. I thought that without it I would not be as confident and not able to face up to the patients. In the end it made no difference! I hardly even thought about it! My day went on as normal and nobody commented on the fact that I had no make-up!

Vanity is a big thing and I do not think I really like going through vanity phases. I always look back and thing that

'there are more important things in life than me looking pretty.'

However, as healthcare professionals we know that looking after oneself and looking good is part of the health package. Being healthy means looking after yourself and caring for yourself. Making sure you look good is part of that self-care. What is to be condemned, however, is going to extremes just to look good. Cosmetic surgery could be beneficial if it helps treat psychological problems such as depression and allows people to feel good about themselves. However, I think people need to realise that being self-centred and caring about how you look all the time is not healthy. Being balanced and not going to extremes is definitely the way to health.

So the message of this blog is to look after yourself, love yourself but everything in moderation. Do not become slaves of beauty and appearance but keep an open-mind and look after your spiritual well -being at the same time. This will set you free....