Out of My Comfort Zone: In Which I Try Wearing Bold Lipstick
I’ve had only a
handful in my adult life and they were all red.
I am naturally talking
about lipsticks. What are you thinking??
Looking for more posts? You can now find me on the brand new The Seated View website.
I have never been a lipstick person. Growing up in a very relaxed country in the 1960s and 70s, lipsticks were the purview of my mother’s generation, not mine. I put makeup on my eyes, but never my lips.
I have never been a lipstick person. Growing up in a very relaxed country in the 1960s and 70s, lipsticks were the purview of my mother’s generation, not mine. I put makeup on my eyes, but never my lips.
With the exception of
weddings, that is. When going to weddings, I’d wear lipstick and it was always
red. And then I never wore it again. That is, until the next wedding, when the
inevitable debate was whether the lipstick that had been rattling around in my
makeup bag or drawer was still good or if I should purchase a new one. If the
latter, it was red again. And never worn again after the big day.
And then a whole lot
of things happened and collided in the last two years.
There was the medical
adventure, which has had a significant impact on my life and no, I’m not
just talking about the PTSD. For a very long while, I have struggled with how
to reclaim my life, how to find a way to plug back into joyful living. To live
in a way that acknowledges the gift of yet again being handed another chance at
my life. Not exactly on a silver platter, but still.
Twelve years
ago, I honoured my second chance at life by changing how I lived and who I
was and that’s hard to beat. And then, a few months ago, it hit me.
Regardless of how changed
I am, there are still some things that make me uncomfortable, some that I even
find scary. And since I don’t want to waste the rest of my life backing off
from anything, why not challenge those fears and discomforts?
And just to make sure
that I am accountable — to myself and others — why not record them on video and
share them with the world?
There’s a reason The
Boy calls me All-or-Nothing Girl.
The other thing that has
entered my life in the last year is YouTube videos. I never knew how wonderfully
relaxing it was to poke around the different channels, but now I’m subscribed
to at least a dozen and many of them are my go-to moments of calm and sometimes
a laugh of the day.
Enter Boldly and Ladylike,
both Buzzfeed channels, both targeted at women. And that’s when I got some
inspiration. In a Boldly video some time ago, Jazzmyne challenged some of the other
women to try bold lipstick. Fun video, which percolated in my brain for a
while.
So why not try it?
That could be an interesting way to challenge my discomfort around lipstick.
The video above this is the result.
For those of you who might
have become enamored of any one of the lipsticks used in the video, specifics
are as follows:
Day 3: MAC — Anything Once (might be unavailable - I can't find it on the MAC site)
Middle Aged Vampire: MAC Satin Lipstick Cyber 3G
End of video: Sephora Co;;ection Cream Lip Stain 01 Always Red
And yes, I am particularly enamored off the
Cream Lip Stain Liquid Lipstick from Sephora — it’s wonderfully vibrant and
sticks to your lips through almost anything. Except apparently eating toast
(see Day 4).
This whole experience has had
ramifications. Because of my now-increased comfort level with lipstick — I
actually quite like it, especially the fun colours — and a certain friend and
enabler, I accidentally/on purpose purchased the NYX Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick Vault
during the Boxing Day sales. And aforementioned friend (this is JJ, The Boy’s
sister) and I have decided to work our way through all 30 colours, one day at a
time and I’m starting tomorrow. Because it’s January and you have to do
something to liven up this time of year.
during the Boxing Day sales. And aforementioned friend (this is JJ, The Boy’s
sister) and I have decided to work our way through all 30 colours, one day at a
time and I’m starting tomorrow. Because it’s January and you have to do
something to liven up this time of year.
You can follow along on Instagram
as I wear every single colour, no matter what it looks like.
What do you think I should do for my next
challenge? Leave your suggestions in the comment section here or on the
lipstick video on YouTube. Subscribe if you’d like to keep up with my next
crazy idea.
How you feel about lipstick?
Comments