Love, lipgloss, life lessons - and taking makeup to bed with you.

I doubt that any of us would argue that men and women are physically different. Weight, shape, size and anatomy are all blazingly obvious. A man’s skull is almost always thicker and stronger than a woman’s. Women, have four times as many neurons connecting the right side to the left side of their brains and often prefer to, and excel at solving multiple problems whilst doing multiple things (DUH! Tell us something we don’t know!).

The question then ladies, is why the hell do we go to so much effort for species that notice not more than one thing at a time. Do you think they actually concentrate on your flawless skin (thanks to Jane Iredale Liquid Minerals), smoky eyes or beige, nude lips? No ladies, they are too busy checking out your ass.

Take for example when I first started seeing my now-ex boyfriend. I was besotted from the word get-go. For a start, I was sure he was too good for me, which meant making sure I was immaculately primped and preened before every date, sleepover or surprise visit. And THAT meant shaving my legs every morning, keeping up with eyebrow waxes, Brazilians (OFF Wax and Brow Bar are amazing) and fake tans. Do you think he noticed? No. After a year and many-a-hairy occasion he duly noted that he never paid attention to my beauty routine, he just liked to wake up beside me.

Did I hear a ‘naawwwww’? Because that is NOT what I responded with! I was pissed off to be frank! All that time I had been carrying a foundation compact in my handbag and if I was caught off-guard, would often stuff it down my bra. This meant I could sweep a sheen of translucent powder over my dull, gray skin before he woke up in the morning - thus resulting in him waking up next to a goddess (well, maybe not a goddess) and never being none-the-wiser.

BUT HE DIDN’T EVEN NOTICE!!!! Or care. I don’t know what’s worse?

Fast-forward three years and I am now single and loving it. Because I not only get to wake up fresh-faced (thanks to Aveeno Ultra-calming Night Cream) I also have the choice to wake up looking like a panda with smears of leftover makeup from a night out with the girls (a good makeup remover for the moment you see yourself in the mirror and cringe is Johnson's 3-in-1 Wipes Dry and Sensitive).

I can dance around the house naked (I have to pre-warn the flatmates), sing at the top of my lungs (again, forewarning is required), sleep in baggy t-shirts, eat chocolate biscuits for dinner and gas-bag on the phone to friends for all hours.

One thing I continue to keep up however, is my beauty routine. Only now I’m not so anal about it, (I definitely don’t sleep with any beauty products stuffed down my top!).

The key, my friends, is to have naturally beautiful skin first and foremost so that when you are sleeping over with a certain hunk-of-spunk, the last thing you have to worry about is waking up drab and dull - if your skin is in tip top condition, you won't need makeup will you?

I follow a quick and easy routine that consists of cleanser followed by Skin Doctors Potent C serum,  I don’t like to wear too much makeup so find that Olay Total Effects Touch of Foundation tinted moisturiser is great for minimal coverage but perfect for evening out skin tone. I sweep M.A.C blush on the apples of my cheek and line my eyes with Maybelline Liquid Liner, add lashings of Smashbox Lash DNA mascara and ouila!!, I look exactly like my lady crush, Rachel Bilson (ok, not quite).

The thing about Rachel Bilson, is that she oozes confidence. Ignore the fact that she has had media training, a makeup artist, stylist, hair dresser, nipple tweakers and the like, and pretend for one second that she is just like you and me…(the point ladies is CONFIDENCE, not Rachel Bilson).

Confidence is what makes sweet babes notice you and when you’re confident, you couldn’t care less what they think of your slightly jaded, sleep derpived, possibly hungover skin (which actually looks pretty amazing from where I’m sitting).

While it’s unashamedly naff to admit to carrying a compact to bed, the point is, it made me feel better about myself even if to the outside, I didn’t look very different at all. The point is, I felt different.

So maybe he doesn’t notice my excellently backcombed French roll, or my perfect foundation application, or my glossy, fresh highlights and blown to hell hair, but I am 100% sure he still notices the effect it has on me when I am walking around in my knickers rather than covering up, or having a fantastic conversation and laughing my ass off rather than worrying about how my hair looks, - or when he watches me across the room at a party looking totally self assured because I know I look good.

.......he does notice, he just doesn't know it.

The moral of the story? Don’t worry about the boy who seems only to notices tits and ass and not your new haircut or fabulous makeup job. Most guys don't even like makeup anyway.

Worry about what beauty trick you are going to try next to give YOURSELF the confidence to knock him off his feet. If you feel good, the rest will follow. It's YOU he notices, not your manicure or your glossy lips.

If spending your lunch money on regular spray tans makes you feel prettier, or more confident, then go for it - just make sure you do it for yourself, not him.

By Kelly Barriball