Lucy Fitz has opened up for the first time about taking a break from social media, how her Leaving Cert results video going viral impacted her mental health, and why she has chosen to stop drinking alcohol.
The two-time Gossies winner has already had a best-selling makeup palette with Inglot, multiple brand deals, her own makeup studio and over 72k Instagram followers – all by the age of 19.
In an interview with Goss.ie Founder Ali Ryan on The Gosscast, the Limerick girl talks looking after her mental health during isolation, dealing with negativity online and why she took a two-month break from social media (listen to the podcast HERE).
“Before I took my break off social media at the start of the year, I kind of lost myself a bit. I didn’t really know what I was doing,” Lucy revealed.
“I think it all kind of got on top of me and I didn’t even know what I was posting anymore.
“But know that I’ve took a break for a bit, I took about two months off Instagram, since I’ve come back I’m a lot more me,” she explained.
Lucy, 19, encouraged others to take a step back from social media, admitting she feels so much happier since coming back.
“I know exactly what message I want to put out there and I’m just being myself. I think I lost myself for a while. But I’m happy now that I took the break, I think everyone needs to take a break from social media.”
“I just deactivated my account one day. I didn’t put up an explanation or anything, I just took it down.
“To be honest, I didn’t even know if I was going to come back on again,” she admitted.
“But it’s been brilliant since I’ve come back, I’m a lot more happier. I’m being my true self. Before I took the break I just didn’t even know who I was.”
Speaking about the influencing industry in general, Lucy admitted that focusing on likes and follows can really affect your mental health.
“I think it gets you down a bit, the number of follows and likes and trying to keep up with every trend.”
“You kind of have to take a step back sometimes and realise ‘okay this is is me talking to my phone and talking to strangers that I don’t know’, it’s not important.
“What’s important is who is around you and what you’re faced with in reality, not on Instagram. I think that’s really hard to get caught up in.
“I was so used to talking on Instagram and coming on happy and being all chirpy, I kind of didn’t realise that I was down.
“I was so used to portraying a happy image that I convinced myself this is who I am, when really I wasn’t actually feeling the best mentally,” she admitted.
Last summer, Lucy’s Instagram account went viral when she shared a video opening her Leaving Cert results for the first time.
In the video Lucy broke down, as she was disappointed with her results, and while at the time many commended her for sharing such an honest video, she later got backlash for asking for a job online before getting a college degree.
“Before I took my break I was getting quite a lot of negative DMs and comments and I just felt like people were really annoyed with me,” she admitted.
“Because it was my job at the time, the only content I was creating was paid sponsorships and then people were like ‘you’re only in this for the money’. I think people got the wrong impression.”
“(The Leaving Cert video) is when it all went downhill for me,” she admitted.
“I had said it since I was in transition year that I would post my Leaving Cert results, no matter what results I got.
“It bloody went everywhere. I didn’t really expect the reaction,” she revealed.
“Even though it caused me a lot of negative emotions, I am happy in a way that it did get the publicity that it did. Because the people that get all A’s, they’re on the newspapers…
“It’s not really talked about enough, the people who are really disappointed. And even though it did cause me a lot of strain on my mental health, I am happy that I did help some people.”
After trying two different college courses, Lucy eventually dropped out and has been focusing on her mental health as well as working before deciding whether or not she wants to return to education.
“I actually went into college in September through direct entry. And I hated the course, I was never in college. I think I hated college.
“Then I went to another college and I felt the exact same. So I ended up dropping out of two colleges in two months.
“But I am so much happier now then I was. College was just such a stupid idea for me to go straight into after school.
“I am much more practical,” she explained.
Meanwhile Lucy, who is a professional makeup artist, revealed she also gave up alcohol when she took her social media break, and admitted she now feels so much better about herself and about life in general.
“I felt like I had no other option really, it’s a depressant,” she admitted.
“It’s a tricky really, it’s a mind game, you think ‘oh I’m going to drink now and feel happy but it actually knocks your mood down ten times more.”
“Obviously a lot of people are drinking during lockdown. I’ve told myself if I want to have a drink I will, but to be honest so far nothing has been worth it.
“I’m really happy with myself because I’m just a better person without it and I’m a lot more focused.
“You don’t have to be drinking everyday for it to be a problem. It’s a problem if it makes you feel a certain way,” she explained.
“Without alcohol my mind is so much clearer, I’m able to deal with my emotions as they come.
“Who know what the future is, I’m not saying I’ll be off it forever, but for the moment I don’t need it.”
You can listen to a special edition of The Gosscast with Lucy Fitz below, where she talks in depth about her mental heath, her career in makeup and her journey over the last year:
