You look fine!

It's no secret that I ride into work every day. In fact I pretty much ride everywhere, if I can't get there on my bike, I probably don't want to go. And it's made possible by the fact that the building I work in has some pretty decent showers available. I lock up my bike, climb up to the first floor, have a quick wash, brush my hair and get down to my desk in about 10 minutes. As long as I'm clean and tidy no one gives a toss what I look like. Sometimes my shower takes 15-20 if it's cold and I want to stand in the warm water. My hair dries in the first half hour of the day, and I tie it up when I get sick of it getting in my eyes.

But this morning, I ran into the woman who thinks she owns the showers. She leaves her towels (plural!) hair dryer and various products just lying around. She was already in the shower when I got in this morning (there are two stalls) but based on what I could hear, let me give you a run down of her morning routine.

1.  Shower -I'm going to assume there was the full round of washing, shaving,  shampooing and conditioning.
2. Dry off and get dressed - fair enough, expect it took her longer to dry and dress than my whole shower did. And I heard at least three bottles of product, plus an aerosol spray (in a confined space, not cool lady!)
3. Hang up your towels over the shower curtain rail, when we have a towel rack provided. Again, not cool lady!
4. Time to blow-dry your hair! I saw three different hair brushes, what the hell!
5. More products, I heard three bottles open and close and on my way past saw makeup strewn all over the counter.

In the time it took me to rinse, dress, and comb my hair in the shower stall (because I know it's not worth fighting this lady for mirror space). I heard her go through at least seven different products, and walking out I saw three hair brushes, the full array of make-up and a hair-dryer.

Let me say this for every woman out there. YOU LOOK FINE! Put down the make-up and step away from the mirror. You do not need to douse yourself in fifteen layers of chemicals and fake colours just to look 'okay' for a day at the office. Make-up is for weddings and parties. Unless you are trying to impress someone, a pony-tail is a 100% okay hair style (and even a tidy pony-tail can be professional and stylish if you really need).

Take back your life. How much of your time and energy are you wasting pretending to look different? If it takes you more than five minutes to do your hair and make-up everyday, you're wasting your time.

Okay sure, if you're a regular make-up person when you first step out 'naked' and make-up free people might comment. But if people say "hey, you don't look so good" and it's just because you aren't wearing make-up, that's not a sign there is anything wrong with your face. That's a sign you've been coated in too much crap for too long!

Get some fresh air and sunlight on your face. Rather than spending 20 minutes layering make-up on in the morning, sleep in, drink coffee in the sunshine, hug your pets, go for a run. Spend some time being alive, rather than trying to look alive.