A few days ago, my friend Gingerrama posted a new entry on her blog. I love reading her because she has a unique perspective on things and a beautiful writing style. Her article, in praise of makeup is quite simply, one of her best so far. It's not a long post but it's....wow!
Her words, although masterfully put together as always, had little meaning except send me on my own train of thoughts!
Gingy! This time you gracefully put the spotlight on a star! A beautiful inspirational shining star!
What are the reasons we wear makeup? My guess is we want to be socially acceptable. Seems it's to be expected of us and depending on the social roles we play, it can become a requirement.
To achieve a polished professional look, most of us wake up one hour earlier to make sure we'll have time to style our hair and put on our makeup. This demands special equipment since at 6:00 in the morning, it's still dark outside. The bathroom becomes our torture chamber, for real! How's the lighting in there? Will hubby have to go... or will it be the kids? Thank God I only have one daughter! Then there's the dog that's asking for the door. You go, open the door, mascara in hand, turn around and hubby, who was trying to get his first coffee, ends up "wearing the mascara" on the white t-shirt that you will have to wash later on trying to figure out how to get that stain out!
Make sure to always keep the toilet seat cover down, you never know, one false move and where do you think your luxurious loose powder brush may end up? That's right. If this happens with a small eye liner brush, forget about retrieval, it's gone! No, hubby will not help you, not at that hour, especially if he hasn't had his first coffee, plus, he's probably not too happy about the black mascara on his white t-shirt!
You're toast!
Some mornings are so crazy, you don't even have the time to eat one, toast I mean.
The point of all this?
For most of us, makeup is not fun anymore! Remember the days when you used to experiment in front of the mirror? Dreaming of becoming the new Helena Christensen or Linda Evangelista....hmm to old for you? What about Emma Watson for Lancôme or Pink the new face of Cover Girl? Of course we can still get excited over a new lipstick or blush but come Monday morning, back to the torture chamber we go and the giddiness of our latest purchase has subsided.
To be a young teen again, playing in front of the mirror with a head full of dreams about the future!
Some teens will only have that, dreams!
My daughter turned 13 on June 17th. Recently I've noticed a new determination, a boost of maturity. Could it be the Olympics effects? She's a competitive swimmer. Does she see herself as a female Brent Hayden? Is this one of her dreams? I don't ask. If she wants to share she knows I'm here and will be here no matter what. I've mentioned on a previous post that she's not a girly girl, yet. Makeup? She couldn't care less. Clothes, well, I think she's starting to figure out her own style.
She's very smart and this is not a mother's pride talking, she just is. She's very aware of what's happening in the world, aware of wars, violence and injustice. She also knows about sick kids....
She did not want to watch the videos. I made her.
At first, she took it lightly, the way many 13yrs old would react. At the end of the 3rd video, after a few minutes, it sunk in. She had noticed the pool behind Talia. Remember she's a swimmer and dreams of having her own. I asked her, what do you think Talia would prefer, a pool or health?
That's when it really hit her!
The realisation that it's just stuff! She has her flat screen, her Wii, her XBox, her lap top, her iPod Touch, her own iPad..... She doesn't have a pool! It's just stuff! Stuff doesn't give you good health. She realised she was blessed and tears where coming down.
Smart beyond her years, please go have a look at Talia's videos. There are makeup gurus and then there are makeup gurus.....
In praise of Talia!
Make-upisMywig videos by Talia Castellano
Again, please go have a look at Gingy's article in praise of makeup.
An apple a day to keep the doctor away...
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Nature morte, pommes et poires, Gustave Courbet, 1871
Great post, my good friend! I'm so glad you and your daughter were able to sit down and watch Talia's videos together. Brave, mature, responsible, thoughtful daughter.
ReplyDeleteOdd how happiness can be found, or happened upon, in unexpected places and ways. Thank you Talia!
Thank you for the compliment but mostly thank you for giving us the opportunity to learn about Talia. Grace & courage are what we saw in her.
ReplyDeleteThis morning, Catherine woke up with a fear of cancer! We had a long talk. Normal reaction which could be considered egocentrical by some, but I know it's not the case. Coming from her it's was normal because she knows it can happen to anyone.
I know that she wasen't thinking about herself. She told her dad about the pool!
We can only hope Talia's voice will be as loud as Mattie Stepanek's or Ryan White's.
Merci Cocotte! xoxoxo H