What’s important with my mouth is whether it’s smiling or not

by Louise Jensen

 

For those who have not read my previous blog, my aim was to embrace the natural look for a week to see if I felt differently about myself - and if it changed the way others perceived me.

 

Wow, well not only did I survive my make-up free week but I actually found it a really enlightening exercise.

 

Although I was very aware the way I feel internally reflects externally - everyone can see when I am happy, sad, etc. by my facial expressions, glow (or not) and posture.

 

Being someone who usually takes care of her appearance, I hadn’t fully appreciated that the way I present myself externally would have such a dramatic effect on my internal world.

 

Day one was fine. To be honest it was a “shut myself away and write day” anyway so aside from the school run I had nothing too taxing to contend with.

 

Day two was a different matter. I had a meeting with my son’s head-teacher. To be honest this is a situation I am never entirely comfortable with anyway.

 

Previously lip gloss would have been my shield, but I had nothing to hide behind. I regressed from a calm, confident mother of three who runs her own business to a bumbling, inarticulate mouse who found it difficult to even make eye contact.

 

Surviving the meeting, I had to console the loss of my make-up bag with cake - great for my skin, but not so good for my waist. Uh oh, this experiment could well end up deflating my confidence and inflating my stomach.

 

As the week went on however it got easier and easier. Mornings were great. I actually had free time to plan my day properly before the school run.

 

There were cases where I had to return faulty goods to a store, to negotiate buying a car for my son with a salesman and to return food in a restaurant with hairs in it (that induced a whole other trauma not relevant to this piece).

 

I realized that actually nobody cared whether I wore make up or not, and I was treated exactly the same. I don’t think my partner or children even noticed and in a way I felt more accepted than I ever had been before, which made my confidence naturally soar.

 

In conclusion, I’ve realized I am exactly the same person, with exactly the same capabilities, however I look. That’s not to say I will abstain long term, after all it’s a girls prerogative to change her mind, and I do like to dress up.

 

But once you have conquered what’s going on in the inside, the outside doesn’t matter so much after all. In short, what’s important with my mouth is whether it’s smiling or not, not whether it is coated in lipstick.

 

Spreading the love

Louise xx

 

Louise Jensen is an award winning holistic therapist. A regular writer, Louise has overcome living with a disability and has 12 years of experience helping others to heal. Louise recently co-created The Happy Starfish, an online community dedicated to celebrating health, happiness and peaceful living.