The Great Reveal.

Before we even get started today I have a confession to make. Two confessions actually. The first is that I have sat on this blog post for about six months debating about whether or not I really wanted to stick my mug all over the page and then post it out into the great big webosphere. The second is that I never, ever, NEVER, under any circumstances leave my house without make-up on. Did I mention, NEVER ?

Sometime back, actually not long after I took these photos, the lovely Jodie over at Mummy Mayhem, initiated a bloggers without make-up day. This day took the blogging world by storm and brought up many interesting debates about just how comfortable women were in their own skin. I clearly fell into the 'I would rather die a thousand deaths then show my bare face to the world' category.....until now that is.

Actually these photos started as a personal experiment. After years of sitting down and spending at least thirty minutes each day meticulously applying all my make-up, I thought it would be interesting to break it down into stages to see what I could skip and what really did seem to make a difference.

Anyway....I think that I've procrastinated as long as I can.....so here's me, without a a single speck of make-up and a suitably unimpressed expression :


I'm sure that you can appreciate, in the interest of not alarming small children, I took this first shot from a little bit further back....eek.

Now this is more like it. Here we've tamed the wild brows, applied concealer and powder and a dusting of bronzing powder..oh yes, and I managed a small smile.

Next, the eyes, five shades of eye-shadow (I'm all about subtlety), eye liner and mascara.

A slick of lip gloss.

And, ta da, here's the end result, and a far more happy looking Waffler.

Oh, and just for fun, here's what happens when you send your photo through to the ever-so-clever @gotads on Twitter. I may have borrowed Miranda Kerr's hair but the cleavage is mine, ALL MINE I tells ya, and you know I would never tell a lie...well...most of the time...

So there you have it, the make-up journey I take nearly every single day. I'll be the first to admit that I'm insanely jealous of women who can just get up and leave the house (especially that woman on the commercial who rolls out of bed, pulls her hair into a ponytail and dives out the window, she's my own personal hero) and perhaps the day will come when I can have the confidence to walk out the door in my mostly natural state...but I will never leave the bushy brows....over my dead body.