I WANT TO WEAR MAKE-UP!

My reaction to Balsam of Peru products has changed dramatically over the last 10 years.

For the first few years I continued to wear make-up, but my eyes became more and more sensitive until I could no longer wear anything on my face at all.  I know it's vain, I know it shouldn't be that important, but living in a society where 99% of women wear make-up, one feels a bit naked going out into the world bearing one's true face.

This should not be the way society works.  We should not be conditioned by the media, by advertisements, by comparing ourselves to those around us.  But we are.  It's the way humans work.  We have been taught our whole lives to constantly compare ourselves to others, to be better than others.  We are in constant competition with everyone and everything, and we want to be the best.

But I had to stop.  Either way, I thought I looked horrible.  If I wore mascara, my eyes would puff up, go red and all the skin on my eyelids would flake off.  However, if I didn't wear make-up I looked hideous!

This obviously isn't true, but it has taken me a few years to come to love my natural self.  Most days I will face the world with my full, true self with nothing to hide.  But occasionally there are days or nights or parties where I just want to live up to the competition surrounding me - after all, if we weren't competitive as a species, we wouldn't still be here.

So I started creating my own make-up out of completely natural, scent-free ingredients.

Charcoal Eyeliner

This is so simple but so effective.  It makes me wonder why we even need all the choice of eyeliners, or in fact any make-up, in the shops.  Oh yes, so multimillion dollar companies can monopolize on our need to look like those beautiful women on the front of fashion magazines.  Of course.

So, all you need is:

• activated charcoal capsules - you can get these from any health food store and if you have indegistion then these will be a double whammy purchase!
• a few drops of oil such as castor, vitamin e or coconut
• a spare little make-up pot

Just mix a few capsules of activated charcoal with a couple of drops of oil and press down into an empty, clean pot.  Use a brush to apply.  I usually use a wet brush to apply a more distictive line to my lids.

Coming up... A natural mascara recipe that does not use beeswax!