lip smacker

my mother did not wear makeup when i was growing up. although the mid-seventies, for some, were equated with glamourous high gloss lips, contoured blush and aqua net…my sensible swedish mother eschewed the artifice in favor of a more natural, earthy sensibility. one that also rejected synthetic fabrics and orange drinks made popular by astronauts.

both my grandmothers wore makeup. differently from each other, to be sure, but that is how I understood makeup; it was the markings of an individual. a way to enhance or create your idea of self; whether it be a signature or a mood, it was part of a work in progress.

i loved everything about makeup. the packaging, the colors, the smells and textures of powders and creams. i was dying for the day i could wear makeup. like so many girls before me, my early days wearing makeup were garish and exaggerated. i wore my mask of adulthood thickly and aggressively. blue and gold on my lids, glittering at 7am in homeroom, i forced my blinks to stay closed a second too long lest someone miss the masterpiece slathered on my lids.

i loved colors then, and really still love them now. i remember when i first read a blurb in a vogue essay deriding “midwestern blue shadowed lids”, i stopped confused…wait…is blue eye shadow bad? is midwestern (as i am) also seen as a detractor? how was i to know that?

i am still quite loyal to my blue lids. my green, purple and gold lids too, depending on my mood, my outfit, the season, my tan etc. i have never paid heed to make up trends or fashion. i just like to paint and painting requires color.

we always see these vivid colors in editorial. why is everyone so afraid to use them in life? if they brighten the pages of a magazine, wouldn’t they have the same effect in our real life?

i live in a quiet and rather dull mid atlantic city known for its fashion conservatism. i recently cut my long blonde hair in the fashion of jean seberg and instantly rendered myself simultaneously disturbing and invisible and yet obtrusive all at once. i love it. it draws attention to my robin egg blue eye lids all the better.

*photo credit linde evangelista, via weheartit.com