Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Confessions of a Not So Girly Girl

Last night, I had my first bout of contractions/braxton hicks? I had 9 within an hour and am to pretty much rest today. Because I'm unable to do much, I thought I'd whip out this post.

This past weekend, I went to a "make-up party." I'm sure you all know what I mean. I've been to "candle parties," "cookware parties," and "scrapbooking parties." Never, have I been to a make-up party. Normally, I just go to these parties for the social aspect. I'm not one to be rolling in dough, so I'm typically not a big spender for these things if I'm even a spender at all. So, for the social aspect, I went to this "make-up party." However, here's a not so big secret: I don't know anything about make-up. As soon as I walk in and see tables with little stations set up for applying make-up, the panic light goes off inside me. This doesn't happen at candle parties. This doesn't happen at scrapbooking parties. Ok, you can look and smell the candles. You can try out a few scrapbooking supplies. But, nothing is mandatory! So, maybe my common sense flew out the window. I don't know what I was expecting, but I wasn't expecting that. What am I going to do?

I sit down and remember my brother's lovely advice I mention a lot on here. "Just pretend like you know what you're doing." (Yes, when he was teaching me to drive that's what he told me.) So, we started with a hand scrub. Not too bad. It smelled peachy, and my hands came out nice and smooth. Now, I have to put stuff on my face. We put on cleanser and other stuff. We wiped that off. We put on moisturizer and other stuff with vitamins. Then there was probably something else before the foundation. Foundation? I have to do this?

I'm the type of girl who wears dollar store mascara some days a week, and maybe a bit of blush and lip gloss (or smackers...haha) on Sunday. I literally put it on in the car on the way to church. I'd rather have a few extra minutes to sleep than to have to take time for make up. Growing up, to be honest, it used to bother me how long it took my mom to get ready in the mornings. Sometimes, I'd watch her do her hair and put make-up on, and it seemed like such a waste of time to me. I thought she was just beautiful without it. I also grew up with 3 older brothers, and though I liked playing with dolls and testing out that little girl lipstick in my Christmas stocking, I liked doing whatever they did. Such girly things weren't high on the list. (Hmm, possibly another reason why I'm not sure I'm ready for a little girl yet.) Maybe the whole real turn off to the make-up happened at one of our open houses as a kid. My dad's a pastor and growing up, once a year or whenever we moved, we'd have an open house for all the church people to come over for desserts. Another boy took that little girl pink lipstick of mine and wiped it across another's "lower" cheeks. Umm, that lipstick was chucked. Then there were all the times Mom and little Becky were at the mall and she'd sample the perfumes. I tried once and the squirty part was messed up...and the perfume shot directly into my eye! Oh the burn! I didn't get my ears pierced until my 22nd birthday. No joke. I was always in sports and couldn't wear jewelry anyway, so it didn't make much sense to me to do it. The lady at the mall honestly looked at my license and couldn't believe this was my first piercing.

So after the liquid mask, I mean foundation (I feel I could just go for a run and have the same feeling on my face from sweat and oil), came other things, I don't even know the names of. There was bronzer and oh, that wrinkle stretching stuff to make you feel like you've had a face lift. I even learned to use my pinky to dab stuff under my eyes to get rid of those wrinkles. I felt ridiculous. If I'm worried about wrinkles at 25, I think I need to resort my priorities. Next was the lip scrub before the lip gloss. "If you've never used this before, it may burn a little bit." This was to get rid of the dead skin. My lips have been terrible this winter and really peely. As soon as I get this stuff on, my lips shed...and shed...and shed gobs of white skin from that scrub. Everyone else has a smooth look. I try to wipe it off quickly (umm, but over and over) before the lady notices that obviously, I'm not a regular user. After all was said and done, I was so self-conscious. This is just not me. On to the paper-work. "What facial products do you currently use?" Umm, ____ daily facial moisturizer...somewhat daily. And, that was it for that question. "What products are you interested in today?" Ha! An empty compact was 18 dollars! I don't care if it is scratch and smudge proof (though, I saw smudges)...it would have to be bullet proof for me to think about spending that! "Why are you interested in our line of products?" One of the choices was something to the effect of "raising my self-esteem." I couldn't believe it. This was mentioned at least 2 or 3 times. No beating around the bush here. If you use make-up (or our products), you will feel better about yourself, at least that's one of the goals.

Now, I'm not totally anti-make-up. However, I don't think make-up should be the avenue to feel better about yourself. (Ha, I felt worse about myself...I felt so self-conscious with all this stuff on my face. It's not me, and I worry I look like a clown.) God created women beautifully. I think we should try to take care of ourselves, and sure, you can accentuate your beauty with a little make-up. Our self-worth does not come in a bottle, certainly not from an $18 empty compact! (Sorry, I'm a little hung up on that.) It should come from our Creator. I also know I'm blessed with a husband who loves me and finds me attractive without a lick of make-up on. I came home, and he just smiled. He told me I looked cute and tried to cover some chuckles as my foundation was flaking off my dry forehead.

So, I probably won't be going to any more "make-up parties" anytime soon, but it provided me with some good laughs...after the fact. If those are your thing, party on, but remember where your worth comes from. I sure would be up a creek if mine came from an $18 empty compact.

1 comment:

Kimberly Nicole said...

hahaaa, you are too funny!! Just thought I'd share my make-up history.. haha. I experimented with make-up in high school like crazy. I wouldn't leave the house without it -- thought I was hideous any other way. Now I know that was so NOT TRUE!! There came a time when I just stopped wearing make-up. I was beginning to get to know the Lord, and I started seeing my worth in HIM, not through cover up and dark eyeliner. Then when I was in Spain I felt comfortable enough to start using a little make-up again now and then. The funny thing is, at this point, I feel okay going with just mascara in the summer, but in the winter when my skin is so blotchy and pasty I just can't get myself to go without a powder base!! Another funny thing, thought you'd get a chuckle out of this: I actually had a smoothie/make-up party for my bachelorette!! My bridesmaids weren't going to be in town until the afternoon of the rehearsal, I didn't know what else to do, so we grabbed some smoothie makings and called up a friend of a friend who sells Mary Kay.... haha. Fun times. =) Hope this post gives you something to be entertained by while home resting =)