Have we gone makeup mad?

If you follow me over on YouTube, you would probably know that I'm currently on a Makeup shopping ban for the foreseeable future. To be completely honest, before I uploaded that video ('I'm not buying makeup' Scroll to bottom of page for the video) my finger hovered over the Publish button for much longer than normal. I was a bit worried. Having built a little YouTube family based predominantly around makeup, I was concerned that this video would turn people off and quite honestly, that I would lose a lot of subscribers for bucking the trend of owning every new eyeshadow palette release. However, something strange happened. So many people supported me in this, furthermore so many women wanted to join me in this challenge, and others even expressed that them owning huge collections of makeup was a source of stress. That last feeling I recognised. So it got me thinking; Have we gone Makeup Mad?

It wasn't like I didn't know I was buying too much makeup. I was buying more makeup, whilst makeup I had bought only the week before hadnt even been touched. The feeling of glee when I bought something new was always tinted with a bit of an odd feeling - was it guilt there lurking deep in my stomach? Hey, let's just ignore it, push it down and buy more makeup!

I realised I was getting a bit obsessed and unrealistic when I started flicking through the Ikea catalogue for storage ideas for my makeup. Yes, I'm a YouTuber and therefore its fairly normal to assume that I might own a lot more makeup that the 'average' consumer, but I'm no Jaclyn Hill or Tati Westbrook - I am very grateful that I sometimes recieve a small amount of PR, but it's not like I have mountains arriving week on week that I need to store. Buying more furniture to enable buying more makeup is quite frankly RIDICULOUS.

The makeup marketplace has changed a lot in the last few years. Now in every drugstore, you can find more brands and merchandising space for cosmetics than I can ever recall growing up. When it comes to makeup application, there are also more steps than ever before; contour, highlight, lip toppers, eyeshadow toppers, the list goes on. When I decided I wanted to improve my makeup skills at the end of 2016 I was left aghast at how much more I supposedly had to do, and I was someone who didn't consider themselves to be all that bad at makeup!

Makeup has become really cool too through the rise of social media platforms like Instagram. Like in the way it's cool for every 20 something guy to be an 'entrepreneur', so many young women are labelling themselves on social media as MUA's. Not that there's anything wrong with that, some people are making very sucessful careers out of makeup. But I often wonder, is this all just a trend?

Back in the 90's, my icons were fresh faced rocking the 'no makeup makeup'; in the 2000's it just had to be a glossy lip teamed with a smokey eye on nights out. Now, it's a whole new world. Not that I'm critizing - hey, I started my YouTube journey because of falling in love with makeup so I will forever be grateful for that as I simply LOVE blogging. But that's the thing about trends, they don't stay around forever. Often we see trends come around again, just like how 70s boho has been revived in fashion again and again. Could we see a return to the barely there face in a revolt against the highlight you can see in space looks? Crazier things have happened.

One thing that has interested me about my makeup no buy has been how much I wanted to buy something when I was having a bad day, especially if it was a day I wasn't feeling so great about my looks, and in some ways this makes a lot of sense. You see, I wanted to improve my makeup skills after feeling insecure about my looks whilst moving ino my thirties and seeing all these beautiful girls on instagram. Having done some small time modelling in my younger years I knew a lot of what I was seeing was a decent camera, great lighting and great makeup. But buying more makeup is merely a sticking plaster, perhaps I wonder, should I be spending a little more time on self love and acceptance, rather than spending money on yet another foundation?

Don't get me wrong - as a blogger, and especially as a blogger who loves beauty & makeup amongst other things, I am far from saying makeup is a bad thing. In fact I LOVE it, the way it makes you feel good, like you, but just that bit more put together. How certain makeup looks can make you feel strong and empowered, feminine or summery - it really is that good. I just feel like we have all gone a bit mad when it comes to makeup, we really don't need it all, we just need the makeup that makes us feel truly special. And although my cynical side may sometimes disagree, I'm sure this is what the makeup brands want too.