Lessons in Make-up

Dated: 26 Apr 2010

The smell of pressed powder is lingering on my face. I imagine this is what adult baby powder would smell like: fresh, but slightly medicinal. This entire day has been dedicated to transforming my face from a fat square to a pretty, fat square. In a roundabout way, I’ve accomplished my task.

My colleague, Audia, who is always looking flawless with her makeup offered to help me get over my fugly (read: fucking ugly) phase. Every girl has one. I’m sure guys do too but I’ve never bothered to ask. Anyway, today we headed to the MAC counter at the mall. I knew Audia was the best person to take with me when they instantly recognized her as we approached the shiny black counter encumbered with every face-altering gel, powder, and cream imaginable. I needed help and these people were going to save me from my face. Before I let the MAC makeup artist, Aaliyah (who was surprisingly Italian), attack my face, I wanted one last picture of the old me.

So sweet

Then off we went. Mainly Audia and Aaliyah did the talking while I sat there like a mute marionette waiting for someone to pull my strings. I didn’t mind as I mentally compared their flawlessly-perfected faces with my color-variant, acne-scars-remaining, shiny one. Best to leave this to the experts. And this is what they made.

Yikes!

Now, in their defense, they said it was the flash of the camera that made me look like Casper. In my mind, I saw myself turning into a prima donna demanding the flash be turned off before any picture of me was taken. Nevertheless, my face in the mirror looked gorgeous, smooth, and shine-controlled. Even the bags under my eyes were packing light. So I trusted them and bought the products. $168 worth of products was required to make my fat face pretty. Yeah, it was a lot of money, but I kept surprising myself with my gorgeous reflection in the mall mirrors.  

Not feeling so hot in the office

So, in my mind it was worth it… until I got back to work. Suddenly, I felt too fussy and too made-up and I was self-conscious about people looking me in the face. I wanted to wipe it off. It felt like a mask masquerading as me. Plus, I still had the issue of Casper appearing whenever a flash picture was taken.




When I finally got home, I had time to process my purchases without the pressures of my friends and without my willful stubbornness to stay completely natural. I made a compromise. With a balance of my old make-up with some of the new (hello right shade of concealer!), I think I made a pretty good natural face. I just hope MAC takes returns. What do you think?

All Natural

MAC Attack

The Balance