little white truths

I don't think I've ever written a post that tells you a few things about me, and it struck me last night that it might be high time I did one. We seem to learn a lot about many of the YouTubers we watch, but us blog-only folk are a dying breed (maybe one day you'll see me on YouTube, who knows) and we do tend to hide under various rocks in cyberspace. 

I think you'll find that most bloggers and YouTubers are introverted: it's a lot easier talking to 2D people than it is to 3D ones.

So let me tell you a few things about myself, and if you have any questions you want to ask, do leave them in the comments.

General

I live in Melbourne, Australia and I'm 37 years old. My birthday is 30 June. I'm married to a half-German Mexican and we have a daughter (she's three next month) and also a son (he's one and a bit). Plus we have a Golden Retriever who's four in two months, and if you have a Golden, you'll know that they tend to be needier than all your kids combined.

I'm the oldest of four kids, I have brown eyes and brown hair, and I'm 178cm tall. I have dry hair and dry skin, and my complexion exists in this apparent non space between light/medium and medium so it's hard for me to find bases that match - especially because I'm very yellow and most things aren't yellow enough for me.

Background

I studied Arts/Law and went on to practise law for three years before deciding that it wasn't for me, so I went back and got a Diploma in Professional Writing & Editing. And that's what I do now: I'm a self-employed writer, editor and proofreader.

My first job was to teach young kids swimming (I did that for five years, from when I was sixteen), then I was a waitress for over eight years to help put myself through uni and fund my travelling habit (I actually miss hospitality, believe it or not), then came law and writing.

I have also lived, worked and studied in Florence, Seville and Berlin, and I've lived and worked in New York. I learned Italian at school and kept that going through uni, although my Italian is rather dusty these days (let's hope it's like riding a bike) and it's also getting confused with Spanish because my husband speaks Spanish to the kids so it's impossible not to start learning it too - especially because it's so similar to Italian.

Interests

So you already know that I'm a beauty junkie and I obviously love writing (why else would I be here), but I'm also big on travel and I've done a lot of travelling in my time, including plenty of solo travelling because that's my favourite way to do it - you're forced to meet people if you're not with friends and you can also follow whatever road you want to take, rather than following group choices.

I've also always been a food junkie and I used to be one of those people who knew every new restaurant that had opened up, where to get good coffee in any suburb, the best spots to eat in different places etc. These days I've fallen out of that because the kids are so young (and so expensive) that we have neither the time, energy or funds to be throwing bills at good meals, but one day I'll get back into it.

At the moment, I would prefer to engage in my love for cooking because it's cheaper and I can do it at home, and my limited budget has been earmarked for beauty purchases over meals.

TV

People often ask about each other's favourite TV shows so let's do that here. Yes I'm big on Game of Thrones and yes I was heavily into The Sporanos back in the day. I did love the first three seasons of Breaking Bad but I personally felt that it went downhill in seasons four and five, and I also liked Sons of Anarchy - it didn't disappoint - but it was never quite up to Thrones or Sopranos.

The best TV series I've found recently is the French show The Bureau (watch it, trust me) and some other goods ones are Peaky Blinders, True Detective and Line of Duty (which gets better as the seasons pass).

At the moment we're watching Berlin Station, which isn't great but it's entertaining enough, and one of my favourite TV shows of all time is the UK series Spooks.

I also love war movies and James Bond films, although that's a relic of my childhood because Dad loves those and we used to watch a lot of them. Same goes with English detective series like Inspector Morse, Poirot and Lewis. I'm always happy when I'm watching one of those.

Writing

I did my writing course in 2008 and 2009, and I'd started doing corporate writing for my old law firm by the end of 2008 (I still do some work for them). I've had various short stories and articles published, and I did self-publish my first novel, which was on the short list for publication by one of the big publishing houses but I didn't make it because I'm an unknown writer.

Then came children, and I knew I'd be giving up my 'real' writing for the first five years because you can't write and raise babies at the same time (or at least I can't). Writing is about delivering emotional truths, and if all your emotions are tied up in caring for little 'uns, it just ain't going to happen. Plus you're tired all the time and you can't find long patches of time to write properly.

That's why I started blogging: I can do that tired, I can stop and start it all day long without losing my place, and I can feed the writer in me so I don't lose the plot.

With my books, I tend to write stories with fictional characters but couched in real historical events (generally spy stuff with guns and bombs) because that's what I like to read - that way we can all learn something at the same time. But the last novel I wrote was nothing like that and I do feel I have a children's book or two in me these days. I suppose that's not surprising, given that all I've read for the last few years is books for my kids.

I can't wait to get back into writing again - it's been calling to me recently and I miss it. Perhaps this year, once my daughter starts 3yo kinder and my son is in childcare three mornings a week. We'll see.

Other

I guess the last thing to mention (you may well be bored of me by now!) is that I'm big on the environment and I really hate waste. Indeed, I have a few posts in mind that focus on those things (eg, easy ways to save water; another post on repurposing bad makeup and skincare), so you might see some of those in the coming weeks.

I'm also heavily involved in the panning community. Not only is it the nicest community I've found so far on the internet (I'm yet to encounter bitchiness there), but it's also a very encouraging and supportive community. 

While I didn't come to the panning community because I have a big problem (there are those who have found themselves spending far too much on beauty items and need help to kick the habit, so we're all there to support them), I came to it because I hate waste and always want to make sure I'm using what I have. 

I also love the challenge of finding alternative ways to finish products, and believe it or not, there are few things more satisfying than seeing that first shiny bit of pan showing through on your powder products. While that may sound ridiculous to some, those who've been there will get it.