To be obsessed with make up

[citygirl1961]

I have this obsession with make up. It's not a case of being obsessed with my looks. Like most women I like to wear make up but I never know what to use and, as part of my anxiety I tend to get transixed with it.

I worry about spending money on good quality make up, I can afford it and I will buy it knowing that it will last a long time, more so than the cheaper products but then I worry about spending so much on it and then I start to look for something different.

I have recently bought a bottle of Cinique foundation after the one I used was annoyingly discontinued. A sales assistant tried some on me and gave me a sample. A friend who was with me at the time, and is usually critical, said it looked good on me so I thought it must look OK. I used the sample for a while and then decided to buy the whole bottle and now I am wondering about trying something else and keep going to the make up counters in Boots and googling different things.

All I want to do is just settle on something and stick to it.

Maybe just tell yourself that when you’re getting towards the bottom of the bottle of foundation you can shop around and try something new but, unless it’s a shade/coverage disaster, you finish what you already have first.

I have shopped around a lot over the years but now have a settled small makeup bag of faves that I buy over and over (mostly Charlotte Tilbury) that I don’t mind splurging on for skincare (foundation and cream bronzer/blusher) but other bits like eye shadow, lipstick, blusher colours, mascaras I feel you need to try new things and change it up sometimes so don’t feel bad about buying new bits.

It’s ok to put money into things you enjoy!

Step away from the foundation! It appears to suit you according to other people and it is expensive to replace.

I've streamlined tremendously over past few years so now just stick to the BB cream and mascara I like. Are there any make-up items you like to continue using? It sounds like you have some anxiety around it.

I used to use buying makeup as a pick me up when depressed or worried (not expensive). I now have drawers full of the stuff and could open a makeup shop…
It would take years to use up.
Now life had settled down, I don’t buy any more, but love my makeup.
As addictions go, it’s better than heroin or alcohol.

I mainly use Clinique for foundation, eyeliner and lipstick and Boots No7 for mascara and eyebrow gel. I tend to use my lipstick as a blusher so that saves some money. I always try to tell myself that quality beats quantity and I only use one shade of lipstick, eyeliner etc so I'm not extravagant but still I worry.

The make up items I use are foundation, eyeliner, mascara, lipstick and eyebrow gel mainly.

The problem is your anxiety, not the makeup. It’s not normal to have that level of anxiety about makeup, but it also wouldn’t be normal to have that level of anxiety about, for example, what cereal to buy or what colour your coffee mug should be. Makeup is just the thing you’re focusing your anxiety on - it’s almost like an OCD thing.