Tuesday, August 16, 2011

30 in 30: Question #1
When Did You Start Putting On Makeup?

The other day I was checking in on my friend Mariella on her site, Musing on Beauty, and I happened to catch the introduction of her "30 Makeup Questions in 30 Days" challenge. I thought, "Hey! That sounds fun!" After all, these are the types of questions I'm asked all of the time, so I decided, "why not?" In the next 30 days, I'm gonna dish. So, on with it...

Question #1: When did you start putting on makeup?

I have to admit, I don't really know the answer to this question! Like most little girls, I had my share of flavored lip balms and pretend makeup, and my mom has used Mary Kay ever since I can remember, so I was never a stranger to makeup.

I suppose my first “makeup” makeup came in the form of the electric blue mascara that was on the lashes of everyone who was anyone at Jackman Elementary; I was no exception. My true cosmo-revelation didn't come for another year or two, when a gorgeous gold tube of Coty Flame Red lipstick came into my life.

I don't remember where, when or why I bought it, but I remember the adoration. I remember the feel of the tube in my hand. I remember wearing it proudly- the scalding, matte red almost glowing up against my milky pallor. This, at an age and time when most other girls were tanning themselves silly and shellacking on frosty pink gloss. I didn't care, I knew I was on to something special. This gilded totem lives in the highest echelon of makeup memory for me, and it remained a coveted piece of my arsenal for years. Alas, a girl who loves color can't be limited to just one for long...

Perhaps I should be ashamed to admit it so brazenly, but later that very same year, my thoughts began to stray. The confidence Flame Red had given me had taken root. Maybe if a particular Beetlejuice-esque outfit hadn't found it's way into my closet, I wouldn't have wandered. I don't think it was the thick vertical stripes that tainted my thoughts. After all, they were banal black and white. No, it was surely the golf ball-sized, multi-colored poppies interspersed over the stripes (obviously I was never content to "blend in") that inspired me to take things to the next level. No longer satisfied with matching my lips to the bold red flowers on the outfit, I moved on to the other, slightly less conventional hues featured in the ensemble. Since color availability wasn't quite as varied as it is today, this meant getting creative. That might have meant filing in my lips with with blue eyeliner, or perhaps crushing up some green eye shadow & mixing it with Vaseline. The horrors, I know, but I did what I had to do.

In the end, though, it all turned out fine. A little experimenting turned into a life-long affair with color. As I sit in my Atomic Vomit Green* living room, I can truly say, we've lived happily ever after.


Tomorrow's Question: How did you learn to put on makeup?

*Actual name of the paint shade used in my living room. No, really. But if you Google it, please remember to use the word "paint" in your search. Trust me.

5 comments:

Ana said...

Well, the Atomic Vomit Green isn't that bad of a colour :D .

Unknown said...

Tell that to my brother-in-law!

The online swatch actually looks a bit subdued on my monitor, but it's totally my kind of color- I wanted a crisp, bright lime green. I didn't want celery, sage or pastel. Thus, Atomic Vomit.

Unfortunately, it's got a touch too much blue in it, so it comes across as rather fluorescent. If we lived in a more modern/contemporary home, I'm confident it would have lived up to my vision.

HOWEVERif there's anything I've learned about interior design it's that you have to honor your home's innate characteristics. Turns out neon green walls in a 100 year old Tudor Revival isn't quite the look we were going for! Oh well :)

Ana said...

A bit subdued? It looks it Could be, for something with a like that :D .

Still, it reminds me of one of the most pleasant homes I ever visited - and everything was in tones of that colour, more or less saturated. Love ^_^ .

Daniela said...

You started big on makeup! BLUE MASCARA! That's all ok as long as it turned out fine :)

I just started the tag on my blog, its really fun :)

Unknown said...

Daniela,
Believe it or not, when i started wearing the blue mascara, all the kids were doing it (I swear)...ah, the 80s. Late 80s.

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