The really nice thing about blogging about beauty is this – I meet a ton of women (and men) out there, who share my fascination with makeup, skincare and beauty stuff in general. That is the one positive thing about putting yourself out there, because you will soon realise that you aren’t alone, even if it feels that way in real life.
The thing is that few of us are truly alone in the way we think and/or feel about things. We often may feel that we are, until we go on online and voice our thoughts, only to have them echo back at us from a kindred spirit. Over time, some of these kindred spirits become friends, and it’s always nice to have someone you can go to, to talk about “frivolous” stuff, the way beauty talk is perceived to be.
But online friends aside, do your other real-life friends share your fascination (or some might even say obsession) with beauty and/or makeup?
Personally, at the beginning, I’d say no. My real life friends, all the way to adulthood never expressed an interest in makeup or beauty products, and we never even talked about them. Through college and university, we shared lots of other interests, but I didn’t even own a lipstick back then, and neither did my friends!
When the time came that we had to put on a little lipstick and powder, we would just pop into the local pharmacy, pick up something by Maybelline (because it was cheapest) and wear it for that one event. Later, I’d go to The Body Shop for their powder foundation and a brick red lipstick. Those were my earliest forays into makeup.
We didn’t stand at the counter, dithering and comparing the different merits and demerits of each colour and formula. We didn’t think about checking out other brands, or textures. We just picked up what was light on the wallet, and didn’t look too ghastly when worn. Besides, it was only just for one day, or one evening. Other times, we went bare-faced.
But to say no for me is strictly not true as well, because my friends who I later met online and who are now real life friends I meet up with both regularly and infrequently, do enjoy their beauty products and beauty talk. At the beginning, it was mostly what we talked about – what that newest lipstick was, whether we should get together to buy stuff online so we save on shipping, collecting the latest pretty blush.
These days, we sit around the dining table, talking about where to find good quality and affordable groceries, and sharing tips on household matters, or where to go to eat some delicious food, or just how we should be exercising. But inevitably, some beauty talk will creep in – in the most recent meetup, it was Meteorites powders, lipstick and whether the newest limited edition makeup was worth spending on.
And you know, it’s nice having people you can sit around with, who don’t judge or give a side-eye to your beauty purchases, and with whom you can discuss skincare or makeup with. Quite often, I find myself enabled to purchase something that was discussed, because my friends love them. We all hunt our beauty in different hunting grounds, so it’s nice to be able to share.
I’ve come to realise that not everyone enjoys this foray into beauty. For some, it’s frivolous talk. For others, it’s obsessive. I like to straddle that middle ground. So, it’s nice that I have friends with whom I can discuss serious matters, or even to find out where to buy groceries, and then in the next breath, discuss that new Chanel blush.
Do your friends enjoy talking about beauty? Do you have friends who do?
So yes, my friends do share my fascination with beauty and/or makeup. It’s a big part of why we became friends in the first place, except that we’ve also now grown beyond that, which is even better :)
Paris B
Yes, I have friends who are just as fascinated with make-up as I am but the only difference is I’m a bit more cheapskate and I’ve sworn to never hoard on make-up so I don’t buy as much hahaha. We talk abt things getting restocked and being out of stock and like, I’m not one to text people 24/7. I almost never show up on other people’s Whatsapp notifications but the other day, I tJUexted my friend JUST to tell her the MAC Retro Matte lips (which I’m waiting for you to review, hopefully) has arrived in Malaysia lol.
You know Hani, I think this makeup hoarding this is a fairly new phenomenon. While at the beginning of my fascination with makeup, I too ended up with loads and loads of makeup items, I soon learned quickly that I could enjoy makeup and beauty, but not have to own a beauty counter LOL :D I’m not trying the MAC matte lipsticks unfortunately. I don’t use anything by MAC :)
I don’t think I would be trying them either. I might just walk in, try it on and see how it holds up throughout the day though. I saw reviews that they crumble when you drink or eat, sort of like the NYX lip liners (not sure if you’re tried those). Not all of them are bad but not all are good either :)
Nope, haven’t tried the NYX lip liners either haha! I’m just not that big on liners, although I used one by Shiseido a while back, that I liked for creating a longlasting fairly matte and gorgeously red lip! :D
I have nerded out on many weird things in my life, but certainly, beauty-related stuff can be at the top of the list. I think I have a few friends that share the interest, and for that, I feel that I’m very lucky.
But seriously, why is talking about cosmetics any more frivolous than talking about other things like cameras, video games, books, TV/movies etc? It seems pretty much holier-than-thou to me.
Indeed, you are lucky to have friends to nerd about makeup with! I think the whole idea of it being frivolous, is because it’s perceived to not serve a purpose, and is almost exclusively a girl thing. Nevermind that the industry is one of the biggest, and is almost exclusively helmed by men! :P
I think I’m quite fortunate to have friends who are into beauty and makeup since I was young until now… but my wallet is weeping because we can be such bad enablers for each other, LOL!
I still remember buying those cheap, ultra glittery eyeshadows during my teens and wearing them out PROUD together with my friends, feeling like a million bucks… complete with body glitter somemore! *shudders* Oh well… at least I can say that “everyone” (ie. me and a few friends) did the same at that time :P Hahaha XD
Yes yes, friends can be so bad for us! :D I’m kind of thankful I never went through the glitter shadow phase (or maybe I should be upset I didn’t!) but it’s fun to be able to just talk about things like this with friends who won’t consider us a bore. Goodness knows, I know of people who, when the subject of makeup or skincare arises, actually roll their eyes!
There are 2 things I enjoy – skin care/cosmetics and alcohol. I don’t friends who share my enthusiasm for either. :/
that’s why i stalk you so much. :p
Stalk me too. I like all those and more. That’s why I’m always broke. :'(
I concur! We really can find kindred spirits all around the world! :D
<3 And I stalk you for the latest bars/drinks in town! We're even ;)
Fortunately yes! It’s nice to have friends who share the same passion. We often update each other with makeup stuff which work (or not) for ourselves so that the other person can try (or stay away!). And also sharing news on what’s new and promotions etc. I’m blessed! :D
You are indeed blessed Ween! And you know, that’s like being a real-life influencer – who needs all these social media enabling eh? ;)
I only have a few friends who have recently started enjoying the makeup and skincare worlds. I think it’s more ‘attainable’ to more friends now that we are older (just a touch! ;) ) and work more, so we can also spend more. My biggest outlet is probably still online however.
I have noticed that some friends (not online) get a bit lazy and ask me questions which they could google and find the answer to themselves (i.e. how much a product costs when I haven’t purchased the product myself or don’t know). Does that happen to anyone else?
P.S I love the brands from my ‘youth’ like the Body Shop. It makes me look at their products with a more ‘forgiving’ and sympathetic eye ;)
You are right Sylvia about “frivolous” things like makeup and skincare being more attainable the older we get, and the more disposable income we have. As a student, I honestly had my interests and concerns elsewhere (grades – I’m Asian after all LOL!) so I only really got into first, skincare and then makeup, when I was already earning my own keep. Didn’t feel right spending my parents hardearned money on things I didn’t really need back then. For that, I’m glad there was no social media in my time LOL! Oh and people do get lazy all the time! Sometimes, because people know I’m a blogger about beauty, I’m suddenly a walking encyclopaedia. What gives eh? :P
LOL, nope.. I got me some new friends added that do love skincare and beauty in general. Some of them only ever hear me talk about the industry and they love it :D
I’d love to sit down and talk shop with you one day, Phil! :D
I spy some Deciem product in your picture!
I myself am geeking out over the entire NIOD, Hylamide, WhiteRx and Fountain ranges. I have multiple orders across the Deciem brands in shipping as we speak!
How do you find the SubQ Anti Age? I just placed an order for it. I do enjoy the NIOD ester cleanser, CAIS and I just got ELAN (because I’m a nerd about vitamin C and always looking out for the next best one!).
Speaking of beauty friends, we still have yet to meet in real life! I do chat casually about skincare to anyone who asks but nobody really knows the true extent of my obsession haha…
I just started the SubQ Anti Age not long ago, and it’s been OK so far. Quite impressed by how it leaves my skin feeling, although I’m not sure if the little breakouts I’m experiencing are attributable to it or something else. I also started one of the Fountain drinks which I’m meh about. Haven’t tried much else from the brand although I’ve been reading a lot of good things. Oh I have a Booster serum as well, but that’s waiting to go into rotation later. Oh and yes, next time I’m down South, I’ll drop you a note! ;)
I got the C25 booster and SubQ today, can’t wait to try them!
I do have some clogged pores (only on my forehead and chin, strangely) after using LVCE from the NIOD range. I strongly recommend CAIS as it kills redness and irritation really well too. My skin seems softer and less irritable and dry since using the LVCE instead of my usual oil cleanser/foaming cleanser combo.
I’m waiting to see if using less LVCE will reduce the bumpiness. My skin gets irritated if I use too much of their products, since they are so concentrated. Cutting down may help.
I really enjoy the WhiteRx serum too.
I have the resveratrol Fountain supplement since I don’t drink alcohol (it worsens my rosacea) so I’m hoping it can give me the benefits of red wine that way. Not much change but I try to eat healthily anyway.
Thanks for the recs! You could be right about the concentration. Going to cut back on the SubQ and see how that goes. There are no instructions on how much to use, so I was using quite a lot but am now at about 2 drops. Maybe I should cut back to 1 :P
I average 3-4 drops for the serum products, CAIS is 4 since the product is such low viscosity that using less would mean only my palms get the benefits!
Their customer service team is pretty good about replies. I usually ask by email if I have any product queries.
Plus, if something doesn’t agree with you, you are eligible for refunds even 1 year down the road!
Thanks for the heads up! :D
Sad to say, I don’t have any friends who are as into beauty products as I am. When they hear how much I spent on a Guerlain lipstick, they usually go “You spent HOW MUCH on lipstick???”. Sighhhhh
I’m not lacking in the “enabler” department tho….visiting your blog takes care of that…lol. But which of course, was the start of the incredulous looks regarding the cost of my lipsticks. :/
Oh oops! :P but you’re happy with it right? Cost aside haha! :D Often, when it comes to luxury makeup, I think very few people understand why there’s a need to drop almost RM200 on a lipstick, when a RM30 one looks the same on. But it isn’t, is it? :P
No. They don’t understand how one person can own SO much makeup, and then come to my house and stare at my collection, turn around to call me a “hoarder”. I prefer “collector” tqvm!
hahahha indeed, collector is the word. So long as we’re not hitting up anyone for money to fund our eccentricities, it shouldn’t matter to anyone else what we collect, should it? ;)
I’m not sure if my real-life friends share same fascination level but I’m part of a close trio friends who do like to share our selfie whenever we thought we did different looks LOL Mine is always the vampiric or bold red or sometimes, I play with striking colours while one of my friends always use some filter or photoshop faces (not just her pictures but mine and other friend) to make too extreme looks and lastly, one friend just put on normal, natural face :D
Selfie buddies! That’s fun! :D I’m still so bad at taking selfies, I’ve all but given up LOL! I blame it on my phone all the time, but really, I just don’t look/feel right 90% of the time :P
I so love this post and our frivolous conversations lol. ?
I do too! How we get from groceries and household cleaners to makeup, I’ll never know, but we have fun ;)
Before I moved to Australia, I’d say not really. I had a few female colleagues who were into makeup and skincare and all that but we didn’t talk that much about it, not something widely discussed over the water cooler. Having a beauty blog certainly changed all that! Knowing like-minded people through the blog allowed me to be able to talk about skincare and makeup without being judged for being shallow.
PS: Btw you’ll be seeing a slew of my comments coming in now. For some reason, I have to turn VPN on to access your blog or else it would always time out for me. >.<
Ugh! So sorry my blog is being a pain! >.< I tried to get Geek to help me check but she said she wasn't on the same provider. Perhaps the ISP is blocked :(