Friday, April 23, 2010

Fashion: Makeup Or Not

It's Friday and I'm bored at work so what am I doing? Surfing the blogosphere, that's what. And once again Mightygirl is inspiring me to think beyond my usual existance, and re-evaluate my lifescope with this post. I generally love her packing light blogs because who doesn't like hearing tips on wrinkle free clothes that will look good in all of those vacation pictures. I take more pictures on vacation than anywhere else and I'm always looking wrinkled and schleppy. Mightygirl has definitely given me tips on how to keep my facebook albums looking sharp, is all I'm saying.

But when I saw her latest packing post on makeup and toiletries I had a serious what the fuck moment. I know that I am not the most makeup-y person I know. I'm probably one of the least makeup-y persons I know. Maris and Claire out rank me in that arena by a good leap ... maybe even a bound. But I'm not makeup ignoramous. For proof of this I bring you a photo of me from December - probably wearing the most makeup I've ever worn ever:



I know how to make it work. The smudging and stuff, the morning after beauty. I can apply lipstick. But I do probably 3 times a year? MAYBE. So when I read this post and was all "woah! that's a long list, I'm lucky if I remember my toothbrush on vacation!" I thought - there has to be comments with my exact sentiment, right? There had to be people out there just as blown away by the amount of beauty products listed in that post. I'll give it to her, she is really really put together, but who needs a nose hair clipper or a nail kit on any vacation ever? Aren't there things you take care of before you go? So I checked the comments, read through them all, and did not find one person who thought maybe the list was a little excessive. Instead the comments were all "great tips! I'll add that to my list!" Whhaa? Really? Why? And then of course I couldn't help but feel a little left out.



Because I want to be put together too! I want bleed free lipstick! (do i?) And I want perfect hair and well manicured nails! I want people to be like "wow, she is flawless and she doesn't even try!" And I do. Except I don't want to just SEEM like I don't try, I really want to not try. I want my wake up to out the door time frame (with a shower) to be no more than 45 min and that includes a blowdry. I don't want to spend an hour getting ready in a hotel room when I could be running around seeing and doing lots of things (life list things?). I would prefer to have decent hair and wrinkle free clothes and nothing stuck in my teeth while I'm posing in front of Aztec Pyramids, but I don't think I care about removing my makeup before I go to sleep or making sure I have baby wipes on hand for sticky situations (those things are great for everything I hear), but does that make me a complete tomboy doof? For some reason I'm still feeling left out of the girl club and kind of like I need to get my act together. And I'm feeling pretty annoyed by how a list of beauty products is giving me this knee-jerk reaction. Where are the girls who like buying shoes and purses but also don't care about walking out of the house with mascara on? I need a middle ground.

3 comments:

  1. I reside in that middle ground with you. I am completely on the same page. I love purses, shoes, clothes, dressing up, etc. but I also am completely low effort. I have PERFECTED the up and out the door (with shower and blow dry) in 45 mins or less. Maybe I don't look like a super model and maybe I wear a teeshirt, jeans and sneakers most of the time, but sometimes I'll throw on a dress and maybe even a little bit of mascara. And honestly? I feel just as attractive either way because I love my personal style and if you don't? So what! So many people's interpretations of what "being feminine" means are too narrow. Woo hoo to us for blazing the trail of the middle ground. And hey, it's all about the natural beauty! Or at least that's what I tell my lazy self. :P

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  2. I totally agree. I also I don't want to set myself up to be someone who people go "WOAH!" when they see them without their face on. Me, naturally, should not be a horrible shock to anyone. ha.

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