Treating Mouse

I have been having a bit of a rubbish time of it again which included a little melt down on twitter the other week.

I discovered that I had yet another viral infection and a new side effect of infections - swollen lymph nodes on the back of my head on both sides which made sleep difficult as they were so painful. On top of that my body decided to throw one of my 'hell' periods at me as I have mentioned before I have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and for me this means I get heavy and painful periods and this in turn has thrown my back into spasm :( 

So with all of this I decided that I was due a little treat. Now I had seen the adverts for the new colour match service for Boots No7 foundation and as I popped into Boots yesterday for a new toothbrush I noticed that the counter was free and thought why not.

Because of having very pale skin I have never been able to find that right shade of foundation and I had given up. I had also pretty much stopped wearing make up (apart from a gorgeous lipstick but even then rarely). I used to wear make up all the time when I was younger, but over the years I have lost my confidence partly due to aging (ok I am not old but I was afraid that the colours I was drawn to were too young for me) and also because I stopped wanting to draw attention to my face because of other side effects of PCOS I get acne and I have mild scaring on my face but also *gulp* I suffer from excess hair growth. 

The medical term for this excess hair growth is hirsutes and occurs in more than half of woman with PCOS, its mainly on the face, chest and lower abdomen - I get it on the face and lower abdomen. It doesnt make me feel very feminine and I am embarrassed by it, I pluck, wax and epilate which in turn all has its problems and can leave my skin sore and slightly red and open to infection - queue acne. I own that many pairs of tweezers that I may have a tweezer addiction. 

So my dream has always been a foundation that would work - yes it wont melt the hairs I still have to deal with them but it would blend away the redness and the scaring. 

So the colour match service is really fantastic - they use a little gizmo that takes pictures of your skin on both sides and then it works out the best shade for you, it also gives an alternative. The No7 consultant also listened to what I wanted out of a foundation and took my combination skin into account. 

So the result - I am calico which is the lightest shade and the consultant recommended Essentially Natural Foundation and did my face for me giving me tips on application of foundation - when I looked into that little mirror it was amazing - didnt look like I was wearing anything and the areas I wanted blended away were well and truly blended it looked like I had perfect skin.

The consultant also said that my skin isnt as bad as I think it is (that was nice to hear). I then decided that I would get some new eye-shadow and lip gloss - but I was a little bewildered by the choice and the consultant was again lovely and went through some tips - and suggested colours that would be a nice gentle start to getting back into make up but said that I would suit anything it really depended on how daring I wanted to go.

I didn't feel pressurised into making a purchase, I felt that I was listened to and I am happy with the advice that I received.

It may only be a little thing, but sometimes a little thing can make a world of difference.

Photo A Day - Day 25

Still on the theme of colour and my chosen colour of red


These are my oh so gorgeous Hush Puppies 

They are my lovely lovely lovely Victorian style ankle boots and I love them