Perfect skin is something we all want, but only a few of us are fortunate enough to have. I happened to be one of those teenagers you imagine from cheesy American high-school films, featuring your stereotypical pretty girl- perfect teeth, flawless tanned skin, bumps in all the right places, and then the geek- glasses, acne, braces, and yes bumps, but in this sense I mean around the waist and thighs. Yes it’s fair to say, puberty and I were not friends growing up.
Thankfully, all that changed once I hit 16 and started discovering clever little ways to hide my flaws, such as substituting my really expensive NHS glasses for contact lenses, and opting for clear braces instead of visible, metal train tracks. I began exploring makeup, particularly foundations, as my skin is always something I have been conscious of. I remember stealing some of my sister’s beloved MAC foundation, and applying so much to my face I looked like a porcelain doll as well as an oompa loompa as it was totally the wrong shade. Even so, I loved it.
For the first time, any red scars or unattractive blotches were hidden beneath a smooth, silky layer. My eyes had been opened to the power of makeup, and it is now not a luxury but a necessity that I have my MAC foundation. Every time I go to the MAC counter in House of Fraser I’m in my element and can spend up to an hour just sifting through the different shades of foundations and lipsticks. Now this is the kind of shopping I like. There is no skin tone that they don’t cater for. I’m really boring; I’m neither pale nor beautifully bronzed, I’m smack bang in the middle: NW20. For £22 my dad always says ‘you could get 2 three-course meals for that, and you’re wasting it on your face’, but to me it’s not a waste, it’s my escape.
