What's in there Wednesday

My lovely SIL is participating in a weekly blogger question that she has passed on to me called, "What's in there Wednesday". I think for her the idea is to get us blogging, especially if we have been idle lately like I have been since my mother's hospitalization.

I followed her directions and went to her blog (see above) where I discovered that this week's "What's in there Wednesday" was "What's in your make-up bag".

So much for my excitement at having a topic to blog about that didn't have anything to do with heart attacks, oxygen tanks, and hospital visits, because if there is one thing, besides nursing, I'm not an expert on, it is make-up.

I am not old enough to have grown up in the era of Leave it to Beaver where the mothers wore dresses and pearls to clean the house. My mother was an athlete who bowled weekly and golfed daily. She rarely wore dresses and only when she wore them did she wear make-up. I had no introduction to make-up, no tutorials on how to apply it, and zero discussions on what was best for my skin tone.

My experiences with make-up were sneaking into my mother's bathroom right before I caught the bus, using her sparse assortment, and then screaming good-bye as I ran out the door so she wouldn't catch me. God only knows what I must have looked like, but I wanted to fit in and be older. I thought make-up was the answer.

As a teenager I tried, but it just seemed like a hassle. In the summers I worked at a pool and life was all about a tan face sans make-up. As a young adult before children, I worked at a pool and make-up just rubbed off after hours teaching in the water. By the time the children came, I was married to a man who hated make-up and so it just didn't really matter to me.

At times I tried. I had a Mary Kay beauty consultant come to my house. I went to a beauty party at someone else's house. I bought the expensive bottles and wands and lip liners, but no matter what I caked on my face I just felt inadequate.

Finally, my good friend, Kelly took matters into her hands. Kelly is never without make-up in public if she can help it. She is a beauty and an expert at the face stuff and watching her perform her daily ritual is fascinating not only to me but to my children. In fact, she is the one that will be educating my children on the art of make-up.

At Christmas in 2006 Kelly discovered Bare Essential make-up and she insisted I try it as it was something she thought I could handle. This is the before photo she took of my natural beauty without Bare Essentials. I emulated the faces of all real people in their before photos.

This is the after photo with Kelly's expertly applied Bare Essentials. I spent the rest of the day staring at myself in the mirror enjoying the beauty of my made-up face. I especially liked the fact that I didn't feel the make-up. With the Mary Kay brand foundation, I felt like I had mud caked on my face and the color was never quite right making me look like I had pancake batter on my face. This make-up was quite nice.

Thus Kelly spent her hard-earned money on setting me up in style with Bare Essentials. She bought me the starter kit from QVC and gave me another lesson on how to use the stuff. She bought me the correct brushes and even set me up with extras from her own stash with some handwritten notes telling me when and how to use it.

Eventually, I used it all up and had to go to Sephora to purchase new make-up on my own, although I was armed with a Bare Essentials catalog with items circled by Kelly. I pretty much handed it over to the clerk and she tossed it all into a little shopping bag and we met up at the cash register.

I don't own a make-up bag. All of my make-up is stored in two pockets of a three pocket basket that sits on my dresser. When I wear make-up, usually during cold weather and special occasions, I pull the following from my basket:

• Bare Essentials bareMinerals foundation with a SPF 15 sunscreen in medium beige, mineral veil, and a tiny "warmth" from Kelly's personal collection, along with the handy dandy brush for use with the foundation.

• BareMinerals compatible blush duo in joyous jennifer and sorbet with the handy dandy brush that came with the starter kit purchased by Kelly.

• BareMinerals blendable eye collection in wine country glimpses, which I purchased alone. The colors are chardonnay glimpse, merlot glimpse, and pinot noir glimpse. Whichever color I wear is the wine that I feel like drinking that night. No, I'm just kidding. 

• While I own these lipsticks, liners and such they are rarely used. Instead, my preferred lip choice is Blistex and Chapstick, and despite a daily and nightly regiment of either or both my lips still looked cracked and chapped.

So, that is my make-up not in my make-up bag. Sigh. A lost cause indeed.