write about what you know

writing about what you know is a good strategy for honing writing skills.  you have confidence in your material & hopefully won't face a scarcity of content.  one of the things i know is makeup.  i don't know makeup from a technical perspective or a scientific one- i only know what i know from experience & having been a makeup junkie since i was at least 14 years old.  & the one makeup item i REALLY know is mascara.  up until about 1994-95, i never left the house without mascara- not even to go to 7-11.  in 2000, when i began running & training for the marathon, i would run without mascara; however, i did come for our 5:30am saturday runs with blush applied.  a girl's gotta have standards, you know?  it was a big deal to me when i became willing to leave the house without mascara.  i have a friend who swore for years i would get up in the middle of the night & put on my makeup so that i when i woke up in the morning, it was all there.  actually, i just never took it off, i think!

  so mascara.  here is what a typical packing can look like.  this was for a 5 day trip to my sister's.  btw, she made the quilt that they are sitting on- she is very talented.  this was made for my

niece to take with her when she left for college- my sister incorporated pieces of dresses that were favorites from when caitlin was a little girl.  what a beautiful gift to give to her.  

here is another quilt that she made.  i love the colors & the design.  since we're on quilts, i'll brag a bit more on the talents of my sister.  below are two quilts she did.  one is the quilt we gave our parents for their 50th wedding anniversary.  it's called a memory quilt.  photographs are worked into the quilt.  you copy the photos onto muslin & then sew it on.  mom & dad still had the receipt from the hotel in philadelphia where they spent their wedding night- a copy of that is on the quilt.  she did a great job on it.  

                                                                                                  

and this is what she presented to me for my birthday this past year.  on the back of it, she put a photo of us.  i was rendered speechless by this present.  

                                                            

okay- now back to mascara (i am easily distracted by shiny things).  i usually start my packing & say i'm only going to bring 4 or 5 mascaras this time.  but then i look through them & each of them does something different.  i don't use them all at the same time, but i need the properties of one to take care of a problem. 

so i end up with this.....

                                                                          

one thing i have to own up to is that i don't object to "spider" lashes.  some folks don't like them; i'm okay with them.  so, here are some typical problems & the mascaras that can provide potential solutions.

lack of curl-  clinique lash curling mascara, dior show black out, fresh supernova, lancome virtuose

lengthening- fresh firebird, chanel inimitable, too faced lash injection thickening & lengthening

defining- givenchy phenomen'eyes, lancome definicil, fiberwig

volume- MAC plush lash, sephora lash plumper, diorshow iconic, lancome hypnose, benefit bad gal lash,   YSL volume effect cils 

to get at those lower lashes- keven aucoin the mascara

finishing & defining- bobbi brown lash glamour, clinique high definition lashes

best all-around- these are the ones that are staples in my mascara pantry- fresh supernova, bobbi brown lash glamour, diorshow black out, lancome lash primer

there are only two eyelash curlers worth their salt- kevin aucoin & shu umera.  if you want to add length, lash primers are great.  generally, if you use a primer & want curly lashes, you'll need to curl your lashes before you apply the primer.  a primer i like is lancome. i also have used make up forever lash fibers primer- it's a good one, also.   i just got today a chanel primer to try- we'll have to see how it does. primers help with providing length & some volume.  

i was saks today to replenish some makeup- my foundation was down to seeds & stems & saks is the only store that carries it.  i spent way too much money & my guess is it won't change my life.  i always have the secret hope that it will.  the reality is it doesn't even make me look that different.   & yet i do love cosmetics- always have.

so what is really amusing to me is that i am writing this as though people will read it & as though people who care about mascara might read it...   i have a rich inner life.