I haven't gone shopping yet but like other bloggers I have been posting gift ideas and will post my personal wish list. Every year there's a little reality and a little dream on it. We don't get them anymore but I used to love catalogue shopping. As a child I would dream about toys and as I got older, clothes, stuff for the home and of course beauty stuff. I could literally spend hours flipping through the pages, looking at pictures and thinking I need this and oh I definitely need that!
My daughter who's 13 is much more reasonable than I was. Sign of the times or the fact that there are no catalogues around, I wonder. She's not much into girly stuff yet except for nail polish. She has her basic skin care, not very exciting, she doesn't wear makeup (yet) and has all the electronic/tech stuff she could want. I'm stuck! Although I do have a few ideas, I don't know what I will get her.
One thing is certain, even if she were into makeup there's one item I would not get her.......
A magnifying mirror!!!
They can cost as little as $20.00 or take you back $3000+ like this model from Bergdorf Goodman (I'm sure you can find similar options at Holt Renfrew or Ogilvy). They do look good on a vanity. There I go, "vanity"!
They are useful for applying makeup but unfortunately it doesn't tale long for most of us to end up scrutinizing, studying, analysing our faces. If you place your mirror in front of a window, with daylight, you can see every single flaw!!!
Clog pores, black heads, sebaceous filaments, tiny scars, expression lines and oh noooo, facial hair and dare I say, wrinkles!
We forget about makeup application and start popping and pinching. We want perfect flawless skin like models in magazines. We forget that these pictures are photoshoped, retouched. Even if we don't have the bone structure of super models we at least want our skin to look like theirs do. So unrealistic, Utopia!
Narcissus (1594-1596), Michaelangelo Caravaggio (1573-1610),
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome
Unfortunately for many of us our reflection is our own downfall. Mainly into the long tunnel of insecurity. Are we pretty enough? Is our skin flawless? And that is even before we start putting on our makeup which is the main purpose of getting a magnifying mirror in the firs place. A magnifying mirror should be used only for eye makeup application period.
What about the rest of the face, foundation, blush, powder etc? No one sees us up that close! Who cares about large pores (or our definition of them) or tiny acne scars? Nobody can see them because nobody stands up to you with a magnifying glass in their hand. Good thing too since I would probably scare half the people I know!
Insecurity!
Sad but why do we care so much about what others think of us or our skin? Think about those who are fighting desperately with severe acne or worse, women disfigured by acid thrown at them by men in their lives. Most of us have no reason to obsess about our reflection on the contrary we should be happy and think about the day ahead, not about the few large pores or that little pimple that just appeared. Most of what we see, others don't.
So, if you have someone in you life that has asked for a mirror, give her a beautiful compact.
This is what we should all have in our bathroom!
Mirror picture from magnifying it.
