Beauty and fashion can be one of the few ways that we can set ourselves apart. What happens when that is suddenly taken away from us.
Maybe you are someone who is up on all of the fashion trends?
Maybe you are someone who is doing your makeup and hair full out everyday?
Maybe you are someone in between the above two options?
Regardless of what you consider yourself it’s a part of who you are.
Like I mentioned earlier, what would you do if that was taken from you, or had to be changed drastically?
As most of you know I have Central Pain Syndrome, which is a neurological disorder due to damage to the brain, brain-stem, or spine. The nerves in my brain don’t work properly. Certain types of touch such as wearing tight pants and any kind of pressure can give me
I used to be the one who loved to get dolled up. I wore jeans and leggings constantly with cute tops. Now after having CPS for the last few years, I can no longer wear leggings. Jeans are typically for a short amount of time and have to be stretchy. Most times while I am doing my hair and make-up I want to cry because of the burning sensation in my arms from the movement or it just exhausts me.
I have talked to so many others who suffer from invisible illnesses that go through the same things that I do and it can be detrimental to our mental health.
I have come up with a few tips and tricks that i have learned along the way.
Beauty Tip 1: Less is More
I have learned that if you can limit your beauty routine to the basics it will help you to save your energy and you can still look like you tried. I typically put on Foundation, blush and depending on the day I will put eyeliner and shadow. For the most part, it takes me 5 minutes and I feel good about myself all the same. Some of my favorite products include Clinique liquid foundation, Mac blush, Mary Kay eyeliner and I just started using a new eyeshadow palette.
Beauty Tip 2: Save Your Spoons For Special Occasions
Similar to what I mentioned in tip #1 it is better to do less when possible. There will always be times when we have to go all out with our make up and hair. I know from experience if I had to go all out every day with some days having to do it more than once I wouldn’t be able to do
Besides make up, hair is another big part when it comes to getting ready. Even more so than my makeup, my hair is what makes me miserable. I used to have long hair and at one point i was tired of taking the time to do it everyday. I decided to make it shorter. It was the best decision I ever made. Most days I either quickly go over it with my straightener or I use one of my many accessories to look cute and not add to my pain.
Beauty Tip 3: Have Someone Help You
This isn’t always easy or available to you, but if you have the chance to have someone help you I highly recommend it. Before anyone freaks out I don’t mean a stylist or makeup artist. I just mean another set of hands so you don’t have to. There are so many times I will have my mom help me, or if I am with a friend they will help out with my hair. It saves us many “spoons” and it might even turn out better than you planned from having another set of hands doing spots you can’t.
If you are reading this as someone who knows someone with an invisible illness you could also take charge and help them with their hair or makeup. Sometimes we don’t want to ask for help because we feel that we have to do this on our own to feel whole.
Beauty Tip 4: Use Accessories
My last tip and i partly mentioned this above, but I love accessories. I wear cute hats, headbands or even just throwing my hair up in a messy bun to not have to bother. These are such easy ways to be cute, but comfortable at the same time and they won’t take hours to do.
I love doing small braids and tying them, I wear beanies a lot and baseball caps with sayings. When I have to go somewhere nicer I will take the time to really do my hair. I also typically shower at night and let me hair dry on its own most days. If I shower earlier in the day I make sure to give myself a lot of time to be able to give myself a break in between.
There are so many ways to be able to make yourself look and feel good without over doing it and hurting for days. I hope some of these helped and if you have others feel free to share them in the comments below.
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With Love,
Alexa
