Louise McSharry: High-performing makeup staples that won’t break the bank

Why spend money on fancy products if you know the affordable alternatives in chemists?

Louise McSharry's chemist-counter favourites

Louise McSharry

I popped into my local Boots recently to grab a click-and-collect order, and found myself awash with nostalgia. I was with my youngest son, who is nearly four, and suddenly had a flashback to when his older brother was a baby. It was a very difficult time. I struggled intensely to adjust to motherhood, and felt more alone than any other time I can remember. I had been led to believe motherhood was a love bubble, a time when you felt overwhelmed with good fortune. Instead, I felt like a total failure. I felt like such a failure that I couldn’t even say it out loud, such was my fear of other people’s judgment. If other people knew I didn’t feel the right way, then they’d know I was a bad mother, which was too much to even think about. Instead, I felt like a bad mother all by myself.

I spent my days alone with my son, doing my best to do the right things at the right times, and seeking joy in the tiniest ways. One such way was a wander around Boots. I remember thinking the staff would think I was mad, such was the regularity of my visits. I mean, I was a bit mad at the time. Still, I went back time and time again to gaze lovingly upon the shelves of beauty products, admiring the items I already knew and adored, and wondering if perhaps there might be something new to get excited about. It soothed me.