I was able to get some new make-up yesterday. I convinced my mom that new make-up would be the perfect early birthday present, and receiving this gift a month early would be the most appreciated time, as I will be little more than a week away from delivering this baby on my special day. She agreed and I made an appointment at my hair salon with the aesthetician who does free consultations and sells a mineral-based product guaranteed to work with my drrrryyyyy skin and still give me a 'dewy' feel all day long. I was so excited! I knew new make-up and a consultation on how to properly put it on and most flatter my features was what was lacking in my world. I have been feeling all seven months of this pregnancy lately, all the antibiotics I have been taking have affected my sensitive skin causing discoloration and intense dryness. I have never had such pronounced circles under my eyes and even my eyelashes have been looking pale and droopy. My body has felt foreign and my face unfamiliar. I desired to take charge and start afresh. I sucked in a big breath when I met my angel of transformation: Tricia. Her make-up was lovely, I would even say 'dewy' but her expression was one of boredom and she was five minutes late. I tried gently to encourage her to sense my enthusiasm and grasp how much I had riding on a successful consultation. But she wasn't conversational, in fact the first thing she said to me was, "oh my, you need a facial." "Oh," I said. I knew a facial wasn't possible in my 30 minute slotted appointment and I wanted to crumble, my hopes for a fresh start would be impossible on a canvas that so desperately needed a fresh start of its own. "well, I'll just see what I can do anyway" she said, "but I would insist you get a facial asap." Part of me wanted to just leave, I felt embarassed and exposed...but I considered how hard I had worked to get up on the high bar stool of a cosmetic bench and recognized the danger of my hormones guiding my feelings and I bit my lip instead. "I'm sorry about my pores, I haven't really had time to care about them for the past 5 years" I admitted. Tricia just nodded. Suddenly she swabbed me with a big gob of white goo, she directed me to rub it in calling it 'the best moisturizer ever to hit my face'. It was nice, silky and I closed my eyes and began to relax as I rubbed and rubbed moisture onto my starved face. I opened my eyes to Tricia's face no more than an inch away. I startled, which is awkward on a chair with no back. She said, "hold still, I've got to get your coloring right." Apparently Tricia is an expert color decoder, trusting only her eyes, not even holding color samples up to my skin, just taking it all in gave her all the evidence she needed to know I was 'warm silk'. "Will you be tanning this summer?" she asked. "Um, not likely..." I muttered feeling like I was letting her down again. She used a flat brush and applied the mineral foundation, then she applied under eye concealer and blush. This was all without a word and with tight lipped concentration. I tried to focus on being still and breathing gently, but then she shocked me with an aerosol can aimed straight for my face. "Don't breath!" she said. She sprayed me with a gentle breeze, ohhh it felt lovely and she guaranteed it would lock my make-up in place for 12 hours and provide moisture to the minerals in the powder which would then moisturize my face. She said my eyes really just needed mascara, any further effort on her part seemed to be less than worthwhile given my lifestyle as a stay at home mom. "Okay," I concurred, resigning myself to learn the art of eye make-up application from someone other than Tricia. She gave me a mirror and I was impressed. I looked relatively the same but healthier, I smiled and I felt like the minerals sparkled. "Wow, that looks really good," she said, oddly surprised. Suddenly Tricia perked up, it was time to talk about purchase. "So...you want the base, the brush, the blush, the brush, the mascara, the under eye miracle cream and the facial spritzer? Altogether that's just $275." "Oh," I said, "I'm sorry, I may just have to save up for the whole package, today I could just get the base and the mascara." "Okay," she sighed, "but without the proper brushes you're going to blow through your product." Those were Tricia's final words of wisdom and she was gone. I clutched my new purchases happily and rushed to the car to check out how I looked in natural light. The compact and mascara have a dull gold outer cover, always a sucker for packaging, I love it. They are both relatively heavy and make me feel grown up. I drove home feeling fresher and prettier than I had in a while. I smiled at people at stop lights and they smiled back. I sunk a little when Scott didn't immediately notice my new face, but he had a lot on his mind last night. I began my new beauty regimen first thing this morning. The boys noticed immediately when they got up that I "looked bitiful (beautiful) today". That made me smile some more. Jack complimented me again after lunch, "momma, you're so pretty today!" Ohhhh, I do love that boy. "Thank you honey, momma got some new make-up yesterday and I really like it." "No, that's not what I mean," he said. "You have the most happy smile on your face like you used to have and that makes me remember how pretty you are." ......... "Wha-aat.." I stammered. I felt it was necessary to make my case clearer; my coloring is evened out and I don't have circles under my eyes, I explained. I even showed him the compact and said that it had special minerals that made my face sparkle. Both boys laughed. "Momma," Jack said giggling, "momma, there isn't anything in there that makes you pretty, its what is in your heart!" In the next moment, I tested out the waterproof-ness of my new mascara. Why is it that my five year old can sometimes pour wisdom straight out of his logical, simple little heart to my complicated, distracted and misguided one? I am simply flabberghasted that I could have spent $275 on something promoted by
Tricia to feel more beautiful when God has given me the antidote to feeling unspectacular and He keeps it in my heart: joy. Joy of my salvation. I am reminded of this quote:
"If you are saved, inform your face." ~Unknown
I have been so focused on the thoughts in my head lately, on me and how I am feeling (physically and emotionally), I forgot how good it felt to smile. How much my mood changes and the moods around me change when I just smile.
