I have to confess that I’m not really a terribly girly girl when it comes to skin care products and make-up.
As much as I’d love to believe that an investment of just thirty odd quid would keep me looking young forever, I just don’t. If it worked, no one would ever look old would they?
Dur.
I do like to moisturise, but it doesn’t need to break the bank. A basic, light moisturiser with built in sun protection is all you need – I’ve been using mine for about 20 years and I got asked for ID to buy a bottle of wine in Sainsbury’s just a matter of weeks ago, so it must be working.
I’m also not taken in by fancy pants shampoo and conditioner adverts, which show Cheryl Cole, inch deep in foundation, waving her extensions around over-dramatically, telling me I’m worth it. Worth what exactly Cheryl pet? Spending unnecessary amounts of money on a shampoo that will give the appearance of stronger, healthier hair? (When you listen, all the ads say stuff like that – it doesn’t actually make your hair healthier, it just makes it look it.)
Stretch marks though are a bit different. As hard as I try to see them as a ‘badge of motherhood’, they really don’t do it for me. The trouble is, I’m a total skinflint, and would much rather spend my cash on a book or a nice cup of coffee, so the lotions and potions that friends use and swear by, and that might actually work, like Apothederm stretch mark cream, never quite make it as far as my dressing table.*
The paradox in my reluctance to spend money on skin care though is my love of bottles, boxes and pretty packaging. I love how it looks, just not what it does. I have happily over the years lined up my Chanel nail varnishes, still in their boxes, admiring the elegant, sleek black lines they makes, but you know what? They chip quicker than Rimmel. Fact.
Don’t get me started on ‘scrubs’ either. Who needs to pay extra for shower gels with bits in when you can just use a bar of soap and give yourself a good hard towel down afterwards?
But then if it were left to me, I’d probably just not wash at all. I never did like showers.
So tell me – am I missing out? Can you recommend any fabulous products you love that might lure me into the shower?**
*Lifts up t-shirt for a nose and wonders if it’s an investment I really should make.
**I don’t mean into the shower WITH you. That would be creepy. I would be using them in my own bathroom obviously. In private.