Keep It Simple, Sarah

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I feel like another rant about our overwhelming modern world. Last time it was about supermarkets, this time it's about beauty products.

This has been sparked by two things.

1) I went to Coles today. I had to buy things that you can't get in Aldi (curry powder and my favourite toothpaste). As usual, I spent a good ten minutes in the bathroom products aisle staring like a goon at body scrubs/moisturisers/milks/gels and wondering how in God's name people choose one. This always makes me cranky.

2) I have had a thought lately - seems to me as I'm 31, perhaps I need to be doing a bit more for my skin, specifically my face and eyes. I have begun to feel like I should perhaps be changing my current beauty ROUTINE and upping the ante to a REGIME. (This is, of course, my stupid ego crumbling before the relentless onslaught of woman-focused advertising and other media telling me that there is nothing worse than AGING.)

And then this happened - Aldi let me down. I turned to them for a face or eye cream that might save me from the horrors of getting older and the tyranny of choice! I thought "Hey, Aldi has one product for everything. No variety. No decisions. This will be easy."

WRONG.

Aldi has a beauty range called Lacura. I've been using their facial cleanser and hand cream for a few weeks now with success. I'm happy with them. But a simple thing like moisturiser? There's more than one option.

They've got:

• "Multi Intensive Serum" (in two varieties)
• "Intensive Serum"
• "Rejuvinating Night Cream"
• "Protective Day Cream"
• "Cream for Mature Skin "
• "Night Cream for Mature Skin"
• "Face Cream"
• "Q10 Day Cream"
• "Q10 Day Cream"
• "Q10 SPF15 Anti Wrinkle Face Cream"
• AND
• "Anti Aging Face Cream SPF 15" (in two varieties)

What the hell, Aldi?

At least there is only one eye product, and it is helpfully called "Eye Cream" - although there is three varieties of this stuff as well.

I don't know about you folk, but I DO NOT WANT to spend 15 minutes of my life reading the fine print on each of these packages trying to figure out which one would be best on my skin.

I KNOW that I am not the only one that feels lost about these things. I've probably mentioned before how I feel like a complete idiot about all things beauty, hair and makeup but I also resent the fact that sometimes I feel that knowing these things is actually important. BECAUSE IT'S NOT. And I hate that magazines, tv and the even my beloved internet make me think this way.

The world will not end if I use the wrong type of hair gel/spray/wax/fudge/mousse. Planes will not fall from the sky because I do not know how to apply eyeshadow. Cities will not crumble because I fail to cleanse, tone and moisturise every morning and night.

However, I do acknowledge that looking good is very good for one's personal morale and gives a good self-esteem boost. How to find a balance?

At the end of the day, I hate beauty products but know I need some of them. I definitely need moisturiser with sunscreen to protect my fair skin from the harsh Queensland sun. I definitely need some kind of shit for my hair because the frizziness is driving me insane. And I definitely do not want to end up looking like a dried up piece of leather when I'm 60 because I didn't care for my skin.

Oh, and I'm going to design a product range that has one or two words on the front label, and all the fine print on the back. There will be MOISTURISER, HAND LOTION, BODY WASH, EYE CREAM and LIP BALM. None of this rubbish where I have to read seven lines of text before discovering what the product I've picked up actually is.

And the bestest idea of all - shampoo and conditioner that say nothing but SHAMPOO and CONDITIONER on them. In huge letters. Because I can never tell which one is which without my glasses on in the shower.

Do you use a day/night cream/serum/intensive repair treatment? How in the heck did you end up choosing from the massive variety out there?

I Heart My Body 2011

I struggled a bit with body image in my teens and early 20s. I was always the slightly-larger girl, never slim enough to fit into trendy clothes, or pull off the kind of outfits my friends never gave a second thought. Additionally, I'd had huge boobs since primary school and it was hard sometimes knowing they were the first thing people noticed about me!

I never hated my body but didn't think that much about it - except when I couldn't find clothes in my size at the shops.

Meeting my partner was a big revelation. He thinks I'm pretty (hee hee) and LOVES my big boobs and hips, and every lump and bump. He even loves my frizzy hair and snub nose. I only realised that I do in fact have a tiny waist when he told me! I have resolved recently to try to dress to emphasie this more, as I really feel it's an asset.

I bought this dress for our engagement party, and yes it's probably not the most flattering piece of clothing on the planet but it shows the real me - big boobs, belly and hips too. I have large thighs and I was once asked if I had been bitten by something because my ankles appeared "swollen"!

I would have to say my fave body part is my boobs, then my waist, then my hands. Heh. I have lovely hands and fingers, if I do say so myself :p

I think it is important that you love yourself first, and not rely on the validation of others to boost your self esteem. Yes, I adore that my partner loves me just the way I am - but I am comfortable with and love my body interdependently of that. The last few years, I have even become less anxious about appearing in a swimsuit. I'm resigned to the fact that I will never look like a model, and when I look around on the beach, there are more ladies that look like me than look like Miranda Kerr!

My photographer abandoned me this morning, so these are iphone pics in my messy bedroom. I'm not going to ask you to excuse the mess though, because I happen to know you all have similar-looking houses (I love that bloggers tell the TRUTH about these things!) I am sans makeup and hair styling because I wanted to look more "real" - if other brave ladies can post their bodies in their underwear, surely I can post something where I'm completely without product to aid me! When I first heard about the We Heart Life link-up on twitter, I didn't even posting a pic of me in my underwear. I applaud all those folks who have - but it's just not me :)