My Relationship With Beauty and Skincare

GIFTED | I’ve always had a weird relationship with beauty and skincare. I’m either all in or all out. There’s no in between. I’ve gone through various phases with beauty and skincare, which I’ll get into in a bit. But ultimately, I’ve finally realised the importance of beauty and skincare not just for vanity purposes but health purposes too.

Rewind to when I was a young girl and started to get interested in make-up, everything was pretty normal. I still remember the first silly little lip glosses my Mum bought me one birthday! I went through all the phases as a teenager too, from head to toe in pink to head to toe in black and panda eyes for days.

It was when I was 18 when things started to shift and we could end up in a mental health spiel here but I’ll spare that for another post. I’m not ashamed to say I got a bit obsessed with trying to look a certain way. And this was even before I knew about Instagram influencers!

I know most 18 year olds want to look their best but looking back, I know I had an unhealthy relationship with beauty. My fake tanning got excessive. Not in colour but in my routine, I would wear 4 sets of hair extensions on a night out and 3 sets of fake eyelashes. I must have spent over £2,000 on hair extensions during that period.

I went to the gym twice a day and severely limited my calories because I was so unhappy with how I looked. Even though I had no reason to be. But again, that’s another story.

Then a couple of years after that, I developed my anxiety disorder and everything changed. My relationship with beauty and skincare did a complete 180. It was around this time I really started to neglect myself. Which is an equally horrible feeling to have.

I longed to get back to that girl who was obsessed with beauty. Heck, if my anxiety hadn’t happened, maybe I’d have been a beauty blogger now instead! And I still grieve for that girl sometimes. But my relationship with beauty and skincare is much better and balanced now than it was. I’m not quite at either end. But floating around in the middle.

I don’t take as much care of myself as I wish and know I should. But I’m definitely a lot better than I was a few years ago. I’m 26 years old and my skin still isn’t great – the pill I’m on gives me hormonal acne which flares up from time to time (like now!) but I’m discovering a new approach to skincare and beauty.

It’s people like Lady Writes who have actually made me realise the importance of beauty and skincare. She’s one of the few beauty bloggers who’s reviews I wholeheartedly trust. I even purchased almost the entire My Clarins range just based off of her review!

So I like to think this whole blogging thing has had a positive effect on me in regards to my confidence, my relationship with beauty and skincare and how I view products. I’m much more open to trying new things and  branching out. Which leads me nicely onto my review of a new product I’ve been trying lately!

Sesderma Abradermol Microdermabrasion Cream – £18.20

I was kindly sent this pot of the Sesderma Abradermol Microdermabrasion Cream which is something I’ve never tried before. It’s a facial and body scrub, created with aluminium oxide crystals which helps exfoliate dead skin cells from skin, remove impurities and stimulate cell renewal!

It also helps increase the production of collagen and improves skin elasticity, thus creating smooth and flawless skin instantly.

I really love the packaging of the pot itself. I think it looks really neat, high end and professional and the pot is actually much lighter than it looks! The product have a very subtle scent, nothing which hits you as soon as you open the pot but it’s not scent-less either.

The exfoliation crystals in this product are so fine. SO FINE. So using it is a really nice and relaxing experience because you can feel the exfoliation working as you rub it in but it’s not harsh in any way. It’s also a light weight cream so you don’t feel bogged down with product afterwards.

I was told that my skin would feel really soft after application and they were right. Applying my normal My Clarins moisturizer on straight after using this and my skin felt softer than ever. I really like this and enjoyed using it and it’d be ideal for use a couple of times a week in the morning or the evening.

My only downside is that sadly, I don’t think it’s cruelty free. I can only assume that it’s not cruelty free because I search high and low on the website for any information about whether it’s dermatological tested or not and found nothing. That might have changed my mind about using it had I realised that beforehand.

So just a note for anyone who only uses cruelty free products.

So I’m slowly learning to take care of myself again. To not be scared to buy and try new products. Take pride in the way I look. And to consider it a form of self care. I might not ever get back to that girl I once was but maybe I can become something better.

Have you ever tried this before? What’s your relationship with beauty and skincare like right now? Have you ever been through tough periods in your relationship with this area of your life?

* Products in this post were sent to me in exchange for a review and feature. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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