I'm at My Best When I'm at My Worst

Today, I realize I look better when I don't wear make up or brush my hair than I do when I spend an hour making an effort on myself. This is not me being narcissistic, by the way, it's just something my friends, my boyfriend and my mother* pointed out.

My friends came over today, and I woke up only an hour before they showed, so I didn't have time to make an effort.

This makes me wonder why I make an effort at all, and indeed, why any of us spend time preening. I realize that a lot of people genuinely look better once they're made up, of course, but what I wonder is why we all, regardless of our looks, feel an inherent need to preen.

I understand the pressure to look good, but where, along the line, does the connect between beauty and beauty products appear?

Is the advertising really that good now? Are we such hopeless slaves to the beauty sections of fashion magazines?

Do we all really believe we need our hair irons, our foundation, mascara, eye-liner, eye shadow and lipstick to be presentable to other people?

I know this post is rather scattered, but there's really just one thing I wanted to say:

I've made a decision to go au naturel. No more ironing my hair, no more dark eye make up, no more bright coloured lipstick, no more 'concealor-ing' every tiny spot on my face.

I'm at my best when I'm at my 'worst'.

* Despite everything, my mom and I have a relatively normal relationship, now.