Self improvement vs being obsessed

[ThisFireWillBurn]

I’m interested in what other people think of this and writing from the assumption that all of us who loiter in s&b care about s&b.

For years I thought I was ugly so really let myself go - dressed conservatively, wore no makeup, didn’t do basic things like hair, nails, brows. I told everyone I just hadn’t bought into the beauty myth etc but deep down it was because I was too scared to try and fail.

A few years passed, I realised I was not ugly and since then have transformed thanks in large part to lots of advice from here under various usernames. For the greater part I feel fab now and have discovered a real love of clothes, makeup and s&b.

But. Now I worry about becoming a bit obsessed- I keep thinking of new things to change or fix. For example I never really worried about my crooked teeth but suddenly they now really bother me. I am also much fussier about grooming and worry more about things like the odd grey hair etc.

How do you draw that line between caring and not caring too much about how you look?

I probably am obsessed about clothes. I'll happily spend an afternoon trying things on or fiddling with the length of my trousers. I enjoy it. I said this on anther thread recently but I'm not otherwise artistic so this is as near as I get to feeling creative.

Grooming on the other hand bores me senseless (note - I'm not saying the activity itself is boring) so I'm fairly minimalist about it. I hope this means I achieve some kind of equilibrium.

I'm not sure I'm answering your question very well but I think what I'm trying to say is that I focus on the things I enjoy and don't bother with anything that gives more anxiety than pleasure. And I always try and remember that not everyone finds this stuff interesting (which is why I mostly stick to talking about it on here.)

Also a lot of this stuff is looked down on because it's seen as a women's interest. My husband is obsessed with cameras but nobody gives him stick about it.