Anna Mercer – Fashion Blog

There are so many different words in the English dictionary relating to the word fake; counterfeit, forged, fraudulent, phoney, and the list goes on. You can buy fake anything nowadays, from fake designer items to fake plants. But something which has been spreading over the internet is fraudulent makeup products.

Beauty is catching up with fashion in the resale market. Consumer are able to buy counterfeit makeup products anywhere and everywhere nowadays. With world famous counterfeit markets in China such as Han City in Shanghai, and Silk Market in Beijing. To being able to purchase these fakes online in places such as Ebay and Poshmark. It is now easier than either to buy fake make up and beauty products, even from the comfort of your own home. But there are risks and dangers when buying counterfeit goods.

In LA in 2018, a police raided multiple market stalls selling counterfeit items, to later uncover that the products from one stall contained animal waste. The LAPD raided the city’s fashion district and they seized nearly $700,000 worth of fake products – these included “Kylie Cosmetics”, “MAC”, and “Urban Decay”, as well as others. In the US, it is illegal to buy and/or sell counterfeit make up products, due to the lack of honesty in what could be in these products. One news article found that fake Kylie Cosmetic lip kits were gluing people’s mouths shut, leaving them in horrendous pain and having to go to the hospital. It was later found that the company that sold these fakes, put glue into the mix to make the lip gloss shiny.

I am a sucker for a good deal, and if I can get something cheaper, I will. But with make up, I have always gone for the real deal. I found buying better quality lasts longer on my face, and also doesn’t make my skin break out. But my friends who have brought fake products, it is usually off Ebay or Amazon and they have never had any real problems before. I guess it is luck of the draw.

When I was younger, I used to massively worry about my body image. I always felt like the “fat friend”, even though I know I’m not fat. But society made me think I was.

I am a UK size 14 woman, and I am curvy, with an hourglass figure which I have slowly but surely learnt to love. I used my hide myself under size XXL jumpers and unflattering jeans. I was too anxious to walk outside in the clothes I loved and have seen my favourite influencers wear. I lived in a little village in the middle of nowhere, and grew up in the countryside where wearing tweed jackets and hunter wellies were the norm. There was no occasion to dress up and wear make up, no outside expectations to be a size small and have blonde hair and be perfect. But the older I got, my anxiety grew and grew. I would go out on the train with my friends to Cardiff for the day, and saw these perfect girls with perfect bodies and perfect hairs, walking around, and that’s who I thought I wanted to be.

In group photos, I used to zoom into myself and see double chin, chubby stomach, thick thighs, frizzy hair, spots. I never saw any good in myself, ever. Would go home crying because I just wanted to be pretty. I would never walk out the door without a full face of makeup on. So much so that once when talking to my mum, she said “I know when you’re feeling low, when you walk out the house with no make up on”. It hit home. Even my relationships with guys would be affected because I craved compliments from them all the time and never felt good enough to be with them.

The moment of realisation was only fairly recently. I broke off a very serious relationship with my boyfriend (and my first love). I had known him for 6 years and he broke my heart, so I left. It was hard, I spent so many nights crying, and wondering why I wasn’t ever good enough for him. When we broke up, I packed my suitcases and went out to Italy for 3 months, and I began my journey to loving myself. Spending every day in a bikini and mini dresses, and actually feeling really good. After that, and moving into the city, I started to buy clothes that I wanted to wear, expressing myself through my clothes. I started to not care what people thought, and the more I looked round when I walked down the street, people weren’t staring at me, and it was nice. I felt comfortable. Over time I went down a dress size, got into a relationship where he looks at me like I’m the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen, and learnt to love my curves. There are some days where I can’t look in a mirror without crying, but there are also days where I am strutting around university in my sunflower flares, living my best life.

For everybody that knows me, knows how much I love to shop. I own two rails full of clothes from jeans, to jumpers, dresses, to flares. You name it, I most probably have it in my wardrobe. And it most likely came from ASOS. This is my confession.

My first ever job as a 16 year old was working at my local Topshop, this is where my shopping addiction started. With a generous discount offered by Topshop, I would often find myself buying something new every time I would come in, and as a 16 year old with no other priorities, I could afford to buy clothes on the regular. Since then, my shopping addiction got larger and larger. I would find myself spending hundreds of pounds each month on ASOS, PLT, Topshop, Zara, New Look, Primark etc. I always thought I could never wear the same things twice, and always wanted a new outfit for every occasion.

It wasn’t until last year when I lived in Bristol, is where I discovered vintage clothing stores. My flatmate and I one day got the M1 bus into the centre of Bristol from the university accommodation, in the pouring rain, and we walked around huddled under the smallest umbrella. Going to and from different second hand stores all across Bristol. My eyes were open. We went from 9am all the way until 7pm, just shopping and walking around and trying on clothes. I would find unique pieces which I have never seen before, expensive designers being sold for £10, and racks and racks of clothes. I had no trouble finding something I loved in each store. Since then, every city I visited from London, Venice, Birmingham, Cardiff and so on, I would find second hand stores.

When I started my fashion degree, I knew fast fashion was bad, but never educated myself on the actual affect that it was having on our planet and how ethically wrong it was. After learning more about fast fashion and the benefits shopping in charity shops and vintage stores have, I slowly found myself spending less and less time browsing the ASOS new in page, and more time getting up and dressed and walking round the arcades of Cardiff with my friends and trying on second hand or reworked items of clothing. And I love it.

In a world where the impact of fast fashion is becoming increasingly real to some people. Shopping in fast fashion retail stores or online stores is at an all time low, with companies closing their doors and going into administration. Consumers are turning to vintage stores, second hand stores, or investing in higher end prices which’ll last longer. But the convenience of fast fashion can be too tempting to people. It is easy to access, cheap, and good if you need clothes for a specific event including holidays, weddings, nights out etc. People that shop fast fashion often will wear the clothes once or twice then it’ll sit in their wardrobe, get thrown away or break. Fast fashion clothing items are usually made cheaply due to how quickly they’re turned out from catwalk to high street. So people that need clothes for a specific occasion or reason have no other choice but to turn fast fashion.

Companies have seen a gap in the market for this, and with the only other options being to fork out for expensive, good quality clothes or to shop second hand. Some people can’t afford to pay £100 for a nice going out dress which they will probably only wear once or twice, so the solution, is renting.

When you think of renting, you don’t think of clothes, but maybe you should. MY WARDROBE HQ is the UK’s first fashion rental marketplace. It’s a platform where customers can access both current and past season designers’ collections as well as pre-loved pieces. The website is clear and easy to use. You can search for anything such as “black strappy heels” or “wrap dress” and an endless amount of possibilities come up. You then have the option to rent the pieces for a discounted price, and then if you love and want to keep the piece then you are able to purchase it afterwards. Otherwise you return the item, without having to pay anymore.

This idea is new to the UK, but in countries like America, it is easily accessible to rent out a piece of clothing or even boxes of clothes, where you can then choose to purchase them or send them back after the rental period is over. Could this be the future for fashion.