I spend 23 hours a day wearing makeup & even go to bed all glammed up – I think women should look glamorous all the time
A MUM who spends a staggering three hours a day doing make-up has opened up about her addiction to being all glammed up.
On average, most beauty buffs spend around 20 to 30 minutes doing their everyday make-up before heading out to work or on a date – but for 49-year-old Maureen this process takes an astronomical three hours.
The mum-of-three, from Long Island, New York, bravely confessed that she is ”addicted to make-up”.
”Nothing comes between me and my make-up. I can’t deal with life without it,” the blonde admitted.
The mum, who sports a glammed face a whopping 23 hours a day, explained that she needed to do her face ”to feel more confident and more presentable”.
Although Maureen doesn’t mind investing so much time in her appearance, those closest to her shared their concern – as they’d never seen her with a fresh face.
”The only time I take of my make-up is when I’m in the shower,” said Maureen who also dolls up just to go to the mailbox nearby.
”I even sleep in my make-up. Sometimes when I wear my eyeliner to bed, I wake up and my eyes are stuck together.
”I guess I want to be glamours 24/7,” chuckled the mum-of-three who owns over 1,000 make-up products to keep up with the addiction.
To ensure she feels her best, Maureen will start the three-hour process with piling on cakey foundation, followed by blush, eyeshadow, eyeliner, eyebrow pencil, lip liner, bronzer and a lippy.
This will then be topped up with even more bronzer – a total ”of about 40 products to complete the look”.
The addiction has got so out of hand that Maureen would stock up on her beauty essentials before covering any bills or mortgage payments – and would rather drop her daughter off to school late than arrive without a full face.
”I first became interested in make-up when I was about 16. I started going to disco events with my friends, so I would glam up, dress up, doll up.
”Ever since then I just feel more comfortable wearing my make-up – I still like to look like a diva from the 70s.”
However, looking her best at all times hasn’t come without its consequences, as Maureen was also told wearing heavy make-up for extended periods of time had also aged her skin.
After visiting a dermatology expert to examine the real cost of her love of make-up, the 49-year-old was shocked to see her pores had been clogged – and she had been inhaling so much setting powder, her nostril hairs had turned white.
Biggest beauty mistakes
Fabulous' Beauty Editor Tara Ledden has shared the do's and don'ts when it comes to beauty.
“No matter how much time and money you spend on your beauty routine, if you’re not getting the basics right, the rest is wasted.
“There aren’t many non-negotiables, but these are the biggest beauty mistakes sabotaging your regime.”
- Not wearing SPF: Sun-damage is the main cause of premature skin ageing, so if you want to keep your skin looking plump and glowing, sun cream is vital.
- Using expired products: Best case, they’re ineffective and don’t deliver the results they promise, worst case they cause irritation and infection. The shelf life of beauty products differ – for example, mascara is usually good for 3-6 months while lipstick can last for 9-18 months. Check the ‘POA’ symbol on the packaging (it looks like a jar and will have a number inside for how many months it’s safe once opened. If you can’t remember when you opened your product, throw it away and start again, marking the month and year with a permanent marker on the packaging.
- Not knowing your undertones: If you’re using make-up with the wrong undertones, it’ll never look natural no matter how much you blend it! An easy trick to work out whether you have cool, warm or neutral undertones is to check the veins on your wrist – if they look blue, you have cool undertones, if they’re green, you have warm and if they’re a mix you have neutral.
- Skipping heat protector: It might feel unnecessary, but much like sun damage on the skin, excess heat is the most common cause of hair damage. So, if you want shiny, healthy hair, or you’re trying to grow it longer, using a heat protection product is key.
- Not washing your face before bed: it’s as simple as this, if you’re not washing your face before you go to sleep, everything that’s been on your skin during the day is sitting there for even longer, clogging your pores and drying out the surface. Any skincare applied on top isn’t going to be effective with a layer of dirt underneath, and you’re probably going to end up with dirty pillows too – yuck!
But despite what the expert said – and a therapist encouraging her to wear less make-up – the beauty lover only lasted a mere hour without being dolled up.
Her story, shared on TLC on YouTube, sparked mixed reactions – whilst some thought she looked better with a bare face, others felt sorry for the mum.
One reckoned: ”I feel like she’s been hurt really badly. She’s using make-up to hide. To convince herself that she is beautiful and valuable.”
”It’s not an addiction – it’s an insecurity,” chimed in another.
”She’s naturally very, very pretty,” a third penned.
”It’s a control issue. She feels if she isn’t in control (perfect makeup), bad things will happen. It probably stems from childhood trauma,” someone else said.