Selfies?!

I have never felt as awkward as I did in the toilets of that club, in those moments. The things I do for you guys. ;-)

Selfie – "a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website". Now unless you've been living under a rock for the last few days, you'll know that this word was recently named the word of the year by the Oxford English Dictionary, which is utterly pointless, but true all the same. ;-)

I'm not entirely sure why selfies have become such 'big business' in recent times, nor why so many people appear have such a problem with them. Yes I've seen plenty of girls firing out masses of duckfaced selfies, pouting like their life depended on it; and the 'pumped' lads tensing every inch of their being to get that 'I'm so buff, fancy me please' selfie, and whilst they do look absolutely ridiculous doing this in a serious manner, it's not actually harming anybody so I struggle to have any real issue with it.

The fact is, I think most of us take selfies these days, just more 'acceptable' ones. Maybe it's because you've got ready for a night out and thought you'd scrubbed up quite well but live alone so only have yourself available for photograph duties, or maybe you're always taking photographs of others and just want a pic in there of yourself so it actually looks like you've been at an event/existed. Whatever the reason, I'm sure we have all done it.

I'm 'guilty' of this myself these days, especially whilst trying to get over my camera fear... and also trying to figure out/find my 'camera face'. You know, the one you know you look ok-ish doing in pictures when you actually feel really awkward?! Because, as a prolific camera avoider over the years, I've lost any sense of knowing what to do with my face or body, when faced with a lens pointing at me. Ha.

I'd also say that us bloggers take lots of selfies when showing Face/Outfit of the Days, or swatches of products on the face etc. Does this mean we're all a bunch of 'Selfie Wankers'? I certainly hope not. ;-)

What's your opinion on the selfie? Do you take them? Are you offended by them? :-)

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

'Normal' Sized Mannequins... What is 'Normal' Anyway?

I've just been on Facebook and this image of 'normal sized' mannequins popped up on my news feed as a friend of mine shared it on her timeline (therefore sorry about the image quality). This story seems to have originated around March this year, but seemingly escaped my attention back then (not surprising, with everything that was going on at that time), and I thought it apt to post about it; especially with my bikini body challenge that I set myself still going strong - I'll be updating you on this soon, but also continuing the challenge, since I'm still not at my goal size/shape.

The department store (in Sweden) was apparently criticised for introducing these 'normal sized' mannequins into their store; the mannequins were a size 12 and size 16. Apparently this 'condones obesity' or something equally as bizarre. For a start, I've never seen an obese size 12 girl, have you? This kind of thing really does my head in, as this is one of the reasons that girls, myself included, are never happy with their body.

Left: a standard mannequin. Right: a 'normal' size 12 mannequin.

What gets me though, is that women come in all shapes and sizes, so what constitutes 'normal' when it comes to sizing of clothes/mannequins and even models? I've seen both size 12 and size 16 women with more wobbly bits than these mannequins, so in a way, the mannequins are still misrepresenting their respective sizes to a degree.

I also think there's a place for every size to be represented when it comes to mannequins and that includes those for the naturally very thin/petite - I don't think we should forget that not all tiny girls are anorexic, or that every larger girl is unhealthy or greedy.

I get that the brands/stores want the clothes to sit well on the mannequins (and models) in order to capture peoples attention and translate to sales, but is that actually saying that unless you are a perfect size x with no wobbly bits or imperfections, that the clothes won't look just as good on you? If that's the case, why do we even bother with these clothes?

I don't really know where I am going with this rant, but I felt compelled to write about it all the same as I am a bit sick of seeing the media's perception of beauty all over the place, namely that we should all aim for absolute perfection, and if you're not perfect, then you don't matter.

Is this something that winds you up as much as it does me?

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk