Make-up is not for me

I've never been a make-up wearer.  Even when I was a teenager and all the other teeny-boppers were begging their mothers to let them wear just a little lipstick, I was still trying to look and feel less like a dork (I had just recently started wearing contact lenses and was no longer four-eyes).  I learned to wear make-up on stage, when I was playing a character, and to this day, I still feel the same way when I have make-up on. 

Even though I'm not sure I look any different here.

I used to say that if you never start wearing make-up, no one will expect you to, and that bit of wisdom (which probably sprang more from teenage laziness than anything) has served me well over the years.  I (almost) never wear make-up.  I have a fondness for tinted chopsticks, and wore Dr. Pepper flavored/colored Lip Smacker for years.  I still will when I can get my hands on it.  For my 30th birthday, my aunt bought me, at my request, some Clinique Almost-Lipstick in "Universally Flattering Black Honey." I love it, but like anything I put on my lips, I need to reapply frequently, and so you can really only tell I'm wearing it for the first ten minutes after I've put it on. 

Plus, the fancy stuff doesn't fit in my pocket very well.

That doesn't mean I don't like make-up.  I do.  In fact, I am fascinated by it.  I own a Bare Minerals starter kit, in the wrong shade because I over-estimated the level of the tan on my face, of which I used all the colorless Mineral Veil and some of the mascara.  I have one of those eye make-up sets that are supposed to enhance your eye color.  I have even in recent months tried wear eyeliner and eyeshadow, but rather than make me feel more myself as some people say, it makes me feel less myself and more self-conscious.  Perhaps that's left over from my days wearing make-up in the theater.  Pancake make-up is not attractive on anyone in normal lighting.  I never wear blush because I have just the perfect amount of rosacea, right on my plump cheek bones, which is accentuated when I am excited, have a migraine, or have had a drink or two.  I did pay a stylist a ridiculous amount of money to make me up for my wedding day.  The effect was wonderful, but even the professional application of cosmetics didn't make me look as good in the photos as my ridiculously photogenic husband.

He always looks good in photos.  It's sickening.

My sister says she's jealous of the way I can look so natural.  I am jealous of her ability to pull off the smokey eye, bright colors of eyeliner, and style her hair.  It's an art in which I have no talent, and she does. I can french braid my own hair, but so can just about any woman with long hair.  It's very convenient, and makes me look like I put a smidgen of effort into my look.  I've also been experimenting with nail art, with various degrees of success.  It's the in thing you know.

Box O' Nail Polish

So, in conclusion, make-up is pretty awesome (and have you read some of the ingenious things they can do with color matching and chameleon shades, and OMG is there any way to remove all water-proof mascara? That stuff is industrial).  I own some, but don't use it, and when I do, I'm probably not doing it right.  And that's OK.  A little powder (or mattefying moisturizer) to keep the shine down, a little cola-flavored lip balm (no gloss for me, that stuff is sticky), and I'm good to go.  But even though I've given up on full-face make-up, I'm on to new and greater adventures in fashion.

Quirky Gothic TM