yay no. 14

I use to think that MAC had the monopoly on cosmetics for women of color. I must say they’ve never done me wrong. In fact, their use to be a man named Roger in l.a. who worked at the Westside Pavillion who could hook my makeup UP. Yes, I intended for that last up to be UP ha! He could make my almond eyes edible. I mean they were so fierce I wanted to drown in my own reflection. The last time he did my eyes was for my parents 25th anniversary I believe.  I’m not sure where he is now. Hotness!

So, last year I developed a slight skin pigmentation issue. As it worsened and  I went on the search for some facial makeup to just cover up the spot that eventually would turn into spot(s). For this natural girl it took a moment to get used to the idea that I now needed makeup. In addition, I now had  to carry a little tube of makeup – sampler really – and being conscious of needing something to cover a blemish.

My first attempt at finding a color didn’t fare well. I felt like I had orange makeup on top of my honey skin. How could I go out in public like that? On top of it all since it was summer, the sun tan my skin making the orange color brighter and thus worse.  Whoo….not good!

The hunt began. I went to visit a couple of makeup brands,  MAC included. I just couldn’t get use to the consensus that I was getting from these “color” experts that the solution to covering the two spots was to do a full face of makeup??? Could you imagine…me with a full face of makeup everyday? I just couldn’t. Besides, one of the lines required that I base my face with a hue of gray first before applying the color that they suggested.

I remember when I was younger saying that i never wanted to put on a face and become that “someone” who couldn’t leave the house without wearing makeup. And now, I felt I was about to eat my “never” words. I remember when I was younger, my dad telling us that we should never say what we never would do. Pun intended I believe. So, I always tried to never say “never” when it came to jobs or menial tasks, or just things that I knew I “never” wanted to do, just so that I wouldn’t have to eat my words. Once, my dad said never and had to eat his words and he said it was a hard lesson to learn.

Now, here I was having to eat mine. But, if I took care of the problem, stopped feeding the disorder I knew I had a good chance at preventing myself from ever having to wear a full face, ever. Get it – ever, not never.  Last summer, one makeup artist turned me onto coverall 16. It was really cool.  Then, it seemed like a near close match. I realized too that as fall approached my pseudo-summer tan went away and my natural color blended seemingly well with the makeup color. 

Perhaps I liked the color so much because I keep low lighting in my house. So, I never really saw how bright the color was sometimes until I hit true light – like the sun. So, I always had to check myself in a fully lit mirror so I could see if I applied the color evenly. I learned to apply an initial layer lightly followed by another layer to darken the color a bit. I quickly learned firsthand what I never missed about not wearing daily makeup.  As soon I ate – whether biting into something or putting my mouth on something – I could guarantee that my makeup was coming off. Hmmph! What’s a  “I-dont-want-to-wear-makeup-girl-to-do?”  Cue sip out of straws, eat food requiring utensils only and keep a constant tube of makeup as my companion.

I’m happy to say that the tube I bough last fall just ran out, quite the longevity for a $30 tube. But, it wasn’t like I was using it on my whole face anyway.  I made a trip to the makeup store and I think I secretly yearned for something different. Once inside I bypassed coverall no.16 to test another color -  no 14. I dabbed it on my palm, the color seemed to blend in almost immediately. I was pleased.  I think I was onto something. I let it sit and then blended a little more over it. I got a tester bottle.  When I got home I tested out the color in my mirror. The initial application looked very light. Uh-oh what did I do? I relaxed. I added one small layer over it. Loved it! This color is actually so much better than what I had. Yay no.14! Makeup isn’t so bad after all especially when its just for a small cover up.

cde