MAC Mini Haul and lessons learned from beautiful people

Up until recently I have always been a lipgloss kinda girl.  For some reason I thought I'd never find lipsticks that would compliment me.  One trip to the Makeup Show changed all of that for me.

The first of my purchases were two lipsticks. One in a shade of red by the name of Diva and a neutral called Velvet Teddy.

Honestly, I hesitated with Velvet Teddy because the swatch was not the color I had in mind when I asked for a nude.  It looked to bright for my tone.  The guy doing my makeup sensed my hesitation so he summoned a brown skin girl my way who just so happen to be sporting Velvet Teddy.  It looked so great on her that I couldn't resist.  So I sampled the lipstick using MAC chestnut lip liner, applied a little gloss and fell in love with the final look.  I wear it pretty much daily now. Normally, I'm without anything on my lips but when I rock Velvet Teddy, I still have the look of bare lips but with a little extra oomph.

(wearing a light layer of diva and gloss)

Then I was like "what the heck," lemme get a blush while I'm at it.  I've always wanted a blush for those days when I want to do a full face but had the toughest time finding one that isn't too red, pink, or whatever.  My salvation came in the form of Sweet as Cocoa which is a lovely skin toned blush with just the right hint of shimmer.  It's says, "I'm not wearing blush," I just have lovely cheeks (that makes no sense).  But you get what I'm saying.  Sweet as Cocoa is subtle and oh so pretty.   It's perfect for me.

  
Now that I have these new purchases in hand, I'm challenging myself to take on some new habits.  I want to cultivate the practice of wearing naturally flattering makeup on a daily basis.  I came across a quote this week from Andre Tally who said something to the effect that getting dressed, doing your making and staying inside is the epitome of decadence.  And I'll never forget reading a magazine article years back when a woman challenged herself to wear red lipstick daily for specified period of time.  She shared an account of how much of a difference it made in the way she felt and how others related to her. I, too, would like to practice being intentional with the way I look on a daily basis.

I tried this as an experiment years ago.  On Sundays, I would lay out my outfits for the week. I set aside extra time in the mornings to make sure I carefully applied my make up, I would adjust my make up and hair during bathroom breaks.  The outcome?  It felt like I had a new field of energy surrounding me.  Almost everyone I encountered treated me completely differently. My confidence soared.  I'd hear comments from folks saying things like "you always dress so nice."  Funny thing is that I hadn't purchased any new items of clothing but no one said anything before about how I dressed until I purposely started "styling myself."

I'm a people watcher & observer by nature.  One thing I noticed lately, in my observations, is that "attractive" women normally are wearing flattering makeup and are dressed pleasantly even though they technically don't "have to."  They too seem to be surrounded by that higher energy force field that I remember enjoying in days past.  This goes back to the question I asked myself at the start of my fitness journey.  "These people are fit and healthy", I thought, "why do they need to go to the gym?"  The same way of thinking could be said for "attractive" people who dress nicely and wear makeup.  If they're already beautiful, why do they even need to focus on those (what I consider) extras?

Then I realized the huge flaw in my way of thinking.  What about the fact that, the actions they're taking was directly contributing to the outcome.  Instead of scratching my head and asking, "why does Kelly Rowland need work out daily?" or "why does Gabrielle Union need to drink a gallon of water a day." I could see their actions as a tool that created their amazing results.  I'll talk more on this topic in the future.  I'll also begin a 7 day challenge focused on actions that take me out of my comfort zone.  Maybe a "wear a dress daily" challenge or something like that.  We'll see.

Lipstick

Lipstick