In a rare moment of Hollywood honesty, Nicole Richie has admitted she never does her own make-up. The stylish mama recently told InStyle, I actually don’t know how to put on make-up – at all. I have to get it done every time I want to wear make-up. I do not know how to wear it at all. It’s so bad.”
Despite our obvious lifestyle differences, I can actually relate to Nicole on this one. I’ve never been a DIY girl myself. In my opinion, beauty treatments are best enjoyed (and best done) when someone else is there to do the hard work for you. And this is the case no matter how much money you have.
My love of outsourcing beauty treatments, for instance, began from a young age, when I first realised how much better a job my mum did braiding my hair than I did myself at the tender age of eight. Then as a 19-year-old fresh out of uni, I was more than happy to paint my housemates’ nails if the promise of a return treatment was offered.
Now, as I get older and my disposable income slowly creeps upwards, I find myself outsourcing more and more of my beauty treatments. My hair colour was probably the first thing to go, with a one-off experimental request for blonde highlights at the hairdresser turning into a quarterly three-hour date with my colourist. Waxing was the next DIY to go MIA, after my first at-home attempt left me with nothing but burnt skin and a bruised ego. Regular waxing appointments turned into laser (don’t try this at home, kids), and, there you have it, the outsourcing wins again.
Next came the tanning. A couple of years ago, a particularly average start to summer (and an office job), forced me to admit that my skin needed a little boost on the eve of my birthday. I’d seen far too many oompa-loompa scenarios to leave this one up to chance, and so booked in for my first spray tan. Suffice to say, I loved it and haven’t touched a tanning mitt or bronzing foam since.
Unfortunately in my case, life expenses tend to get in the way of a weekly blow-dry, which is why I tend to keep my pampering appointments to special occasions and desperate times only. With far less financial limitations, I can see how Ms. Richie has found herself dependent on her make-up artist.
Am I alone out there in needing to curb the number of appointment-scribbled business cards in my wallet? Or are you a fan of outsourcing as well? I’d love to know of any great DIY treatments you’ve stumbled upon, too.