beauty

LEIGH CAMPBELL: The beauty habits I used to turn my nose up at.

Confession: I used to be a beauty snob.

I started out in beauty in my early 20s when I became the beauty editor of Cosmopolitan magazine. I suddenly had thousands of free beauty products and more services at my disposal than I could ever dream of.

I could get my hair cut and coloured without getting my wallet out at pretty much any salon in Sydney. Get a facial for free wherever I went. 

And I didn’t spend a cent on beauty products for many moons.

Watch 5 Minutes With Leigh | Applying mascara and postpartum hair loss. Post continues after video. 


Video via Mamamia.

After years of free stuff, I guess I developed a bit of an attitude that some beauty habits were beneath me.

Gross, right?

Since that time (well over a decade ago), my approach to beauty has broadened and I've been humbled by the reality of my life now. 

I’m a busy woman, and a mum, and I don't have endless hours to primp and preen like I used to. Sure, I still get access to a lot of free beauty stuff, but I spend my own money and - more importantly - my valuable time wisely these days on the beauty stuff that I love.

So in the interest of celebrating not being such a d*ck, I thought I’d share three things I used to turn my nose up at that I now repeat on a regular basis.

1. Colouring my hair at home.

I used to get my hair coloured in the salon every three weeks. Which took several hours each visit. WHAT?!

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Current Leigh can’t even fathom having that sort of time or luxury. 

Now I very proudly colour my own roots at home regularly and also dabble in doing my own highlights every now and again. I still get a pro to fix it up maybe twice a year, but for the most part I’m a happy at-home hair colour-er.

Read more from Leigh: Yep, I did my own balayage at home. Here's how it went.

2. Stick on nails.

I used to think these were for tweens only, but both my attitude and the products in this category have come a long way since then. I also get quite bad anxiety getting a manicure as I don't like not being able to use my hands, so a quick set of stick on nails (my faves are from Dashing Diva) are perfect for when I have an event to go to.

They look really believable and I can take them off without damaging my nail underneath when I’m done.

Listen to Leigh on You Beauty, the twice-weekly podcast for your face. Post continues below.


3. Shaving my arms.

I feel there’s an unspoken snobbery when it comes to which sort of hair removal method you opt for. For some reason, shaving is the lowest in terms of classiness. I hated my hairy arms for so long, but waxing them meant I had to wait ages for them to grow back so it could be done again. 

It was also expensive and time-consuming. The day I started shaving my forearms was a lightbulb moment for me. They could be smooth in 30 seconds any time I wanted (I do it in the shower), and I didn’t need to be embarrassed that I achieved that through shaving. 

And no, they don't grow back thicker or darker - that's a big shaving myth.

Feature Image: Instagram @leighcampbell / Mamamia.