Just a minute! I have to put on my face… January 30, 2008

I started wearing make-up when I was thirteen years old.

 My first eyeshadow was a teal colour. I applied it every morning. I marched into that Grade 8 classroom with my teal eyes shimmering and my confidence level through the roof. That colour looked terrible on me.

 Soon after that, I bought eyeliner and mascara. I discovered concealer and foundation. Then I tried powder and I traded my teal eye shadow for a nicer pink colour my mother helped me pick out.

Somewhere between 14 and 21, I found out what cleanser, toner, and moisturizer did to my skin. It cleared my complexion and smoothed out the lumps and bumps of my skin.

Now my daily routine involves washing away the dirts and impurities of my skin and putting on a mask. I disguise that zit on my face, and I soak the oil with powder to make it not so shiny, and when my eyes are looking a little droopy I apply some foundation under my eyes.

Just now, I’m looking over my life and wondering how many pallates of colours I have been through, how many gallons of foundation has passed over this skin and then washed away, how many make-up brushes I have lost in the bathroom and on on my travels, how many zits I have actually had that were covered by caky concealer, and just how much money I have spent.

It must boggle the minds of men everywhere to see women trotting around with a layer of make-up on their face. I wonder to myself if men every wonder if the woman they have their arm around, or the girl on the date they are paying for, would look the same without the thickening mascara and the complexion smoothing foundation. I wonder sometimes, what a man thinks when they see a woman leaning over a counter or dresser applying make-up like it’s a lost art. I wonder sometimes what those men think, when it’s all washed away, and the make-up is gone, and they watch us wake-up just to apply it all again.

Woman wake-up. Woman wash face. Woman moisturize face. Woman apply make-up. Woman apply make-up during the day. Woman comes home and washes make-up away. Then it all happens again the next day.

Now if you excuse me, I see I need a touch-up.