When it comes to navigating life sober, it’s very common and important for those in recovery, like me, to channel that energy that would have been put into my bad habits into something more productive. However, productivity doesn’t always have to involve meaningless tasks; it can be as simple as little things that bring you joy. Makeup has always been an easy way for me to express myself, but it also makes me feel good within a couple of minutes.
Social Media
As a Gen Z myself, I was born into the generation of social media. I watched YouTube from the age of 7. I had an account on Instagram and Facebook at the age of 12, so I have been exposed to trends, inspiration and culture from all over the world at such a young age and as it’s evolved into multiple platforms like X, TikTok, Pinterest and now Threads.
My phone has become a useful tool to introduce me to things I may have never thought of or come across before in my local area. Like any young girl, I wanted to look older and act like my older sister, so I plucked my eyebrows and put mascara and lip gloss on, and was born a diva.
My Makeup Journey
Makeup was never officially an outlet of mine when I was younger, and it’s not because I didn’t love it, but I knew that I didn’t have the tools available to be great at it. My mother was never big on makeup, so I generally only used what I could get my hands on as a young teen, whether it was expired eyeshadow or a foundation two shades too dark for me.
It’s only when I was able to buy my own and understand what suited my face shape and features, and could buy brands that I saw all my friends using, so, whether it was drugstore or influencer-inspired, I started to dip my toes in a bit more.
Why Did I Choose Makeup?
When it comes to creative outlets, I had dabbled before really choosing makeup, while my sober journey hadn’t started yet, I still enjoyed tapping into my creative side during moments where I had the motivation to do something with my life. I have painted, created figurines, and made dishes with clay. I have crocheted, knitted, nd tried to sew, but all didn’t hold my attention too long because of how long creative journeys like these take.
For example, when sewing, I would have problems with the machine, which pauses and restarts the creative process, which in itself is draining, and it’s the same with crocheting. I think overall, I just lack patience, which makes it difficult sometimes with these creative outlets.
When it comes to makeup, you can really choose how long you want to put into a look, so I could do a full face in an hour, or I could spend more time creating an eye look or experimenting and drag it out to about 3 hours, a nd that’s what really helps makeup stick as a form of self-expression, but other than that:
- I could paint who I wanted to be: essentially, that is exactly what I mean, so I can express exactly how I feel on my face, so whether I was in a cutesy, moody, or plain Jane mood, I could express that.
- I can incorporate deeper meaning into it: as someone who is relatively thoughtful and intentional, I enjoy that makeup is also linked to ancient royal history, so I can incorporate symbolism and meaning into my makeup, and it’s nice because a lot of people don’t know this anymore, so at the same time, it feels personal to me.
- A community: While I’m not a beauty influencer, and it’s not something that appeals to me, it still has a great community online that shares so much information about products, which inspires other products and so forth, so it’s great when you need reviews.
How Did It Happen?
So it all happened out of boredom. I would get more creative where there was no pressure involved, which meant I didn’t have to leave the house for an occasion. However, the more I did bedroom makeup, the more love I was building for it, which led me to plan my next look and choose this more expressive makeup beyond my bedroom.
As some looks take hours, it’s a great creative outlet that I enjoy doing by myself, and as an introvert at the best of times, it’s a nice solo time for me to just sit in silence or with some background noise.
This also motivated me to do my research with products and get to know what my skin likes and doesn’t like, but I’ve invested in good skin, hair, and akeup products, which include lip products from Refy Beauty and Charlotte Tilbury and skincare from places like Obagi and Zelen.
It’s crazy how much energy you take away from one bad thing and put into something good – how your life can change even if it’s something silly like makeup.
Overall
A creative outlet for sober girls like myself, I think, is an important aspect of recovery because there is so much distraction, joy, and connecting that you do with yourself, which really helped me with my journey.
