Have you ever caught yourself studying every line, blemish and feature of your face in the mirror wishing different or dare I say, for a more youthful appearance?

Well, I must admit I’ve been guilty of that for sure.  But I will also say in my defence I have a wonderful mother (God Bless her) who taught me to be my natural, authentic-self and enjoy the blessings I have been given.  Now at the age of 47 I really understand the value of her teachings.

As a mother of two beautiful, young girls aged 7 and 11 years, it’s my mission in life to pass down my mother’s wisdom to them as well.

While I feel it’s my duty as a woman and as a Makeup Artist to share this kind of empowerment with other women so they too can attain the level of self-love and acceptance they deserve,  I also acknowledge the reality that looking good leads to feeling good, feeling good leads to empowerment also.

Unfortunately, the reality for us older women is that today’s culture equates youth and beauty with value.  Many of us tend to walk a tight rope of wanting to feel comfortable with the aging process against this modern-day culture obsessed with youth.

Sadly, we don’t need to look far to see this in effect.  The unapologetic, gender driven marketing printed in magazines or fed to us through social media happily shames women (especially the older among us) into believing we are no longer worthy to be considered beautiful after a certain age.  It is then through their promises of lotions and potions (at varying degrees of cost to the hip pocket) or through far more extreme measures has women sadly scrambling for the holy grail of beauty.

Well, what if I told you this hamster-wheel of fear mongering and sabotage to our womanhood can be stopped this very instant – starting with you?

You should take ownership on how you play the beauty game, set your own rules and choose what’s important to you.

Take both your blessings and shortcomings in the way you physically look and embrace them.  Never lose sight of the fact you’ve been given the privilege to age in life when sadly there are those who have not been so fortunate.

However, having said all of this, I also want to make clear there’s absolutely nothing wrong in taking care of yourself through traditional methods of beauty.  Performing skin care regimes, applying makeup suited to your taste and style is just as important in giving you the confidence you deserve as a woman.  Just don’t ever let it become an obsession or competition in attaining the falsehood of what the ideal woman should look like.

In closing, I would like to wish all you beautiful women (young and old) a “Happy International Women’s Day” for Sunday 8^th March 2020.

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• All About You Makeup

  Vanessa Busby is a makeup artist with over 20 years of experience, graduating from The Australian Colleague of Beauty Therapy with High Distinction. Being a woman in her 40’s, she loves working with those who are of a similar age and above. Her mission is to help women embrace their beauty and redefine their expectations on what it is to be beautiful, at any age. Whether she is 'work-shopping' with you or spending time in creating a particular look for your special occasion, a critical component is that she makes it a fun and relaxing experience.