The Ghoul Next Door🎀

For sad girls of any gender. Inspired by the very helpful book How To Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis and by sharing tips with fellow depresso friends. Makeup and general beauty routines help me feel my best (and my therapist has told me to keep doing them) but it feels impossible and overwhelming to add anything to my life some days. So here are a few things that can make it easier.

🫧 Makeup wipes or micellar water

I use these all the time when I don’t have the energy to actually wash my face. You can keep makeup remover wipes, or micellar water and cotton balls/pads, by your bed or preferred crash site. I’ve heard that it’s best to rinse off either of these no matter what it says on the package, but that’s not always a realistic option, and it’s better than not taking off a full face. (Garnier micellar water is still the cheapest option I can find but I don’t think it makes a big difference which you choose.) This same kind of thing can be done with full-body and deodorant wipes too if a shower is just too much.

🧴 Dry shampoo

If you can’t bring yourself to wash and style your hair as much as you feel you should, get to know your dry shampoos. For a long time I thought they didn’t work for me (I’m an oily gal) but I just hadn’t found the right ones. Try experimenting with the ones you do have, too. Shampoos that leave a white cast might still work if you use them at night before bed (giving it time to absorb) and I’ve found a light dusting of powder shampoo around my hairline can make a huge difference to how oily my face feels. Also dry shampoos with tint in them can make a huge difference, I find I can use a lot more and not look like a dusty ghost when it’s a dark hair formula.

💄 Multitasking makeup

Multitasking makeup products are your friend when you have little energy or your brain just can’t make another decision. Luckily there are a lot of products that are for both lips and cheeks, and sometimes for eyes as well. This means not having to make decisions about what goes with what or take the extra steps to open and close multiple makeup containers. If you need to reapply throughout the day, there’s no trying to wrack your sad brain to remember what you used. (A couple of my current faves are Nudestix and Fwee pudding pots, but there are loads out there.)

😭 Strategic eye makeup (for criers)

Waterproof mascara is an obvious tip, but if there I think a cry is likely I do a few more preventative things as well. I avoid inner corner makeup (that’s where the tears will mess it up the most) and any undereye makeup that isn’t a semi-sheer concealer. My instinct is always full coverage when I’m in sad mode and feel like my eyes are sad-looking but full coverage is more obvious when it’s disturbed from wiping your eyes.

🛏️ Do only what you need to

I believe in doing the absolute minimal amount of work if it doesn’t make you happy. If you know what each of your products do, you can skip whatever doesn’t make sense for the occasion and doesn’t bring you joy. If you feel you need makeup for an event and you know it only needs to last a short time, skip the primer and setting spray. If you’re getting made up for a Zoom meeting, you can honestly skip almost everything if you use the right filters. If you go no-filter, glowy products won’t show up much on camera and you definitely don’t need to get complicated with eye makeup. If all you’re trying to do is feel cute, pay attention to how you feel as you use products–I’ve discovered some give me an immediate boost (lipstick, blush) and some don’t make me feel much cuter at all (bronzer, contour). On super low-energy days I focus on the products that make me happiest.

If you have any sad girl beauty tips, please leave them in a comment below! I may write more of these as I think of them.

*****Of course if you are dealing with depression or other mental health issues, please contact 988 or whatever mental health crisis lines are near you.