When Matt and I met, I wore no make-up and the color pink hadn't touched my body in years. I probably didn't shave my legs at that point, either, seeing as how I was in the Women's Studies program at a small liberal arts college and involved in MPIRG on the side. Times have changed - and if you stop and think about it, perhaps we should all be grateful for the changes that have taken place, because imagine if you were frozen in 1993? Shudder.But let's move on.
I was accompanied to the cosmetics counter of a department store by my mother when it was time to buy some make-up for my wedding in 1996 (I did my own hair and make-up for the wedding because the idea of having someone else do that crap made me gag with the preciousness of it all), and the fruits of that trip were still the only make-up in my possession when Baxter was born in 2000.
And then came the children. Is it about having babies and feeling more in touch with one's feminine side (and exhausted, pathetic, "what about me?" side)? Or maybe having boys and needing to claim one's new role of being the only woman in the house? I don't know, but all I can say is that every time I have another son I buy more pink and a lot more make-up. Thank god there will be no more children or I'd need my own bathroom.
Soon after Baxter was born I walked into a Benefit cosmetics store in Mill Valley, California and never looked back. I go in every few weeks in order to keep my eyebrows from taking over the entire top 2/3 of my face, and always enjoy a little sampling of the goods. I tend to ask for Benefit cosmetics for birthdays, Christmas, et cetera and by now have an impressive supply. (Matt gets lots of credit for freelancing on gifts there.) But for the very first time, about two weeks ago, the fantastically flamboyant young man who waited on me (I love this guy, and not only because he transports me back to many such interactions in San Francisco) pulled out the eye concealer. Now, this shouldn't be a shock, I think that was the week when the wheels were seriously falling off the bus. I'm sure the bags under my eyes had taken on a life of their own.
The product he tried on me had to be purchased immediately, and I have been using it nearly every day because it truly hides the puffy circles I wake up with but doesn't look caked on or fake. It's called Lyin' Eyes and it's the best $13 I have spent in a long while. Now, drama mama commented last week that she uses Boi-ing, which I then discovered I have in my Realness of Concealness set (another treasure to check out if you want to try a few of their best goodies - this is a great one to throw into your handbag). Boi-ing appears to be a heavier-duty concealer that looks like it's meant for the lids as well, and it was great. For me, a solid application of Lyin' Eyes, along with a little magic from my Eye Bright pencil and Lemon Aid on the lid (oh, how I love Lemon Aid!) does the trick. But be advised that you can't go wrong with Benefit. In addition to their web site, their products are available at Macy's and Sephora. If you are lucky enough to live near an actual Benefit store (thank goodness one opened in Chicago the minute we moved here), stop on in - if only for the fun atmosphere and to marvel over the brilliance of their product naming team. And if you live near me, invite me along.
My, how the times have changed.
20 comments:
Thank you for such a timely post! I looked for Eye Bright in our local Macy's last week but no luck. I'm planning a trip to Sephora (I've never purchased anything there before, believe it or not) later this week. Might have to try the Lyin' Eyes too.
Hmmm, looks like it's time for me to step up to the action. Apparently my current concealer just ain't cuttin' it...my own mother looked at me recently and said "Wow, you've got really awful dark circles under your eyes!" And I had on concealer. Sniffle...
Dude! Let's go!!!! I need help, and I need it FAST. :-) I have also come a looooong way from our Mac days (I, too, now shave my legs!) and I am also surrounded by boys! And boy kittens!!! Argh. (Not that I do not LOVE them all deeply, but the dark circles only get darker when the Noster wakes you at 5 am to cuddle!)
I echo Tulipmom: timely!! Now that I am back in the classroom twice a week, the make up is back on. Dark circles be gone! Maybe you and Drama Mama need a radio show?
Oh bummer, I was hoping for some nice easy drugstore recommendations. You know, like stuff I could pick up at Target? I live in a small town, after all. There is no Benefit store, no Macy's, no Sephora. Of course, up in Minneapolis there is, but that's an hour away, one way. Dang.
That's why god invented the Internet, Shannon! I live in a huge city and still do most of my shopping online! I do have a mascara from Target (the one Susan W. recommended) but it got clumpy too fast...today it left a huge mess on my shirt and I had to change before work. Blech!! So I can't recommend that one, but any suggestions from others are welcome!
I've never really been a make-up/product kind of gal, but I know that the time has come. I look in the mirror and see my sister (who is 2 1/2 years older than me). Thanks for the tip. I suspect my daughter will be hauling my ass to the cosmetic counter soon enough, since she (at age 3) seems to understand this stuff better than I do.
Vicki, all day I've been laughing to myself as I've imagined a radio show put on by drama mama and me...I think it would be totally out of control, and while all you kind people would listen once, we'd be the only ones laughing from that point on. Which wouldn't be a BAD thing. I'm just saying.
Pink?!? PINK??!? Traitress.
I'm just in awe that you have written about makeup and that we are all sitting here, reading it from beginning to end. My goodness. ;)
Oh, Emily, you know me like someone I've known far longer - I wish we'd had more time in SF together. Your comment made me literally guffaw. I'm with you on all counts - can't believe a) I wrote about MAKE-UP, b) I sometimes wear PINK, c) and that you all are READING THIS SHIT and have something to say about it!!!!
God. I LOVE BLOGGING.
Well, yeah, I do tons and tons of Internet shopping, especially now that I live where I do. That's pretty much how I do all my shopping, come to think of it. But somehow it seems hard to buy make-up online. Without checking out, in person, the shade? How can you tell if it's the right shade for you if you can't see it in person?
No, that's true. I'd probably wait and try stuff out sometime in Mpls to see what you like and then order it later, over time. But what am I missing here, sister? You can't try make-up out at Target, either - I mean, it's not like you can know the color on the closed package any better than the color shown online, can you?
You can't try it out in the store, but I think you can see what a shade looks like better when it's right there in your hand, up close, than how it's represented on a computer screen. Just like sometimes clothing colors don't look quite the same as in the catalog photo. You know? Plus a lot of times cosmetics packaging lets you see through to the actual product--again, it's not trying it out, but it's closer to your own eyes than a photo or drawing on a computer screen. Right?
GodDAMN it, we do need our own radio show.
Jordan.
I TOTALLY know that make up guy at the Fillmore St. store. I call him Binky. To his face. He laughs when he sees me because I yell for him to GO EASY on me - he'd sell me his own mother if he could.
Everything about the store is perfect- from the peachy walls, to the snappy zaftig girls waxing your brows, to the cute packaging.
Materialistic? Maybe. But utterly necessary. Stores like Benefit exist because everyone deserves to feel beautiful and loved and pampered. A girl needs to feel that someone has her back -er- upper lip - covered.
Okay. My morning ablutions. Do It Daily moisturizer, Eye Bright, some That Gal pinkiness all over (yes, PINK!) Then I do some You Rebel and some Throb or Dallas, then for the 19 year old ingenue look some Bad Gal eyeliner and mascara. We finish with Big Magic lipgloss, and voila - I am perfect. Maybe a little bit Drag Queen. But dammit. A self-satisfied and happy Drag Queen.
I could talk about this stuff all day. Damn, I wish you lived here.
Yeah, so drama mama, I remember Binky at the Fillmore store. His twin works at the Armitage store in Chicago, thank GOD. Love that dude, I could stay all day and he could sell me anything. Scary.
I'm all over the Do It Daily and Eye Bright, and then I go for some Non-Fiction, Lemon Aid, Dallas or You Rebel and then Throbb (because aren't those great together?!). I need to get their mascara, the cheap stuff just ain't doin' it for me. I just brought in a 7-year old Benefit lipstick and Binky Chicago matched the color for me, so then I add my new awesome lipstick.
Sigh.
What could be better?
What could be better? I'll tell you what could be better: you + drama mama + podcast.
Get on it! I'll do the tech support!
Really. The Bad Gal mascara is great. Shhh - sometimes I get them on Ebay for $7 bucks. Brand new and never opened.
Just sayin'.
I am RUNNING - FLYING - to ebay right now.
I do not recognize any of the words you two are using right now. Obviously, I am the Ludditess of the makeup world.
I go to the Benefits store in Berkeley and LOVE it. They totally get that I'm not really a makeup gal and that less really is more. And the woman who always helps me never lets me leave without making sure I know how to apply whatever I buy. I'm sure she thinks I'm a total retard, but she never lets on. I'm addicted to their Some Kind-A Gorgeous foundation and their Do It Daily SFP 10 face lotion. And doesn't their packaging rock?
But, you know, the last time I was in there a guy was having his eye lashes dyed. And he wasn't a really fem. guy at all--just an average-looking guy, 'cept he has dye plastered over his eyes. I just thought that was a little strange.
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