thebeautyholder

I was recently asked how I got into beauty and make-up. Most people will say they have always had a passion for it. I can’t say that is true of my journey as my passion came after…after make-up helped me rediscover ME!

Apologies in advance as this is likely to be one of the deepest posts I have made to date (yes, in my 5 post career) but I am hopeful that the content will inspire someone. Even if it is one person.

I was never that girl in High School that wore make-up. I did lip gloss and maybe lipstick (with black liner) but not full make-up. I guess I just wasn’t into it. I didn’t really give it much thought either beyond putting witch hazel or aloe on my face if I had an occasional breakout. I used to think that if I missed the ‘make-up train’ in school then why has it come and steamrolled into my life now. Many years later.

I started to lose my confidence through changes in my life, my beautiful Son’s diagnosis of Autism, stresses at work and home and my weight gain. They all had profound effects on my life and with them my confident, strong disposition started to go. For many people it’s the physical changes (i.e weight gain, severe acne, facial disfigurement etc) that makes you want to run and hide from the world. Such was my fate, putting on weight and not being that confident girl who would have been strong enough to believe she was pretty regardless, led me to make-up. Make-up became my mask from the world and I was able to become anyone but me. I pulled away from family and friends and those close to me. Make-up became my friend.

The mysterious woman with a smokey eye. The coy and funny one with barely there make-up.. The vixen with a flawless face of red lips and smouldering dark shadow (but not the body to match) were some of the many persona’s I adopted. Through make-up it was all possible. At least so I thought. You see, there are many reasons why people do what they do, act they way they do and say what they say. Without really knowing what is inside a person’s mind or heart means you only know what they show.

It didn’t matter how many times people would say ‘you’ve got gorgeous skin’ or ‘you’re really pretty’ I never felt it. Make-up was the only thing that made me feel it. The trouble was it made me feel it on the outside but the inside didn’t match. The artistry was there but the passion was not behind it- YET!

How did it change?

I started to get compliments on my make-up and requests to show people how to do a certain look. Friends asked for beauty tips and for me to do their make-up for nights out etc. It began to give me a confidence boost of different kind. I started to take off my make-up ‘mask’ and figured that what I wore on my face, was a conversation starter but Donna-Marie the person is what kept that conversation going. The creativety that made me transform my face on the outside was helping me rediscover my confidence on the inside. My passion started to grow. It is still growing.

This is the condensed version of the story as I it may end up being a book rather than a short blog post! That being said, I found a different direction to channel my anxiety and low self-esteem and eventually found a way to tackle the issues that were causing the problems in the first place. I was very fortunate to have people who stuck with me during dark days.

I have had quite a few people who have told me their make-up journey- and other journeys- began as a ‘mask’ also. A mask to hide bullying, illness, relationship breakdowns, disability, abuse, weight gain, weight loss and so much more. When the mask comes off and you deal and confront the issues, the passion shines through. When you find the confidence inside, the passion shines through. When you stop apologising for being you and that is the YOU that you want to be (not the one everyone else wants) the passion shines through.

I love make-up and beauty and what it represents for me. It is not defined by a dictionary or a ‘guru’ but instead what you feel inside. My journey now has seen me become strong enough to leave a stable career in Customer Service Management for a path in coaching and inspiring others to find their natural, organic internal beauty. Whether with a face full of make-up or not!

‘Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul’. Saint Augustine.

Thank you for reading my make-up story. What’s your story of how you found your passion?

The Beauty Holder! xoxo