A Touch of Spice

"You're wearing lipstick."

Breeze eyed me with suspicion. "You never wear lipstick. Unless you're going to a meeting. And only if it's important!"

So take note. If I met up with you and I was wearing lipstick, consider yourself extra important!

It's understandable though that Breeze would be so unused to seeing me made up. That is, if you consider face powder and lipstick "made up." The last time I bought any serious makeup, other than colored lip balm and face powder, was for my wedding ages and ages ago. While I like the idea of having an all-natural, flawless-looking face, I have neither the patience nor the skill to make it so.

A chance conversation with an old friend has led to this attempt to be a bit more put together. I was greeting her for her birthday, and for some reason, I mentioned that most days I just wash my face because I was just too lazy to get into that three-step facial care routine.

"Girl. You don't moisturize?" I could feel the reproach in her text. "It takes like 5 minutes to cleanse, tone and moisturize. You have to take care of your skin. And [use] eye cream, because we’re old." And we only have one face in this life, she said.

So I started taking the time to moisturize twice a day, every day. Or at least once a day. On most days.

And somehow, moisturizing built up an urge to sort up prettify myself. Since I had kids, I haven't really had the energy or inclination to fix up. And I realize I have become a frump. A lumpy frump. The lumpiness will take a lot of work, so I decided to work on the frumpiness. Therefore, I went shopping. Good thing Lazada was on sale, and The Hubby indulged me. I got three new lippies, a bottle of foundation, and a new face powder compact.

I am now the proud owner of RED-y Red, A Touch of Spice, and A Touch of Nude. I can't make up (see what I did there) my mind which shade I prefer--Spice or Nude. The RED-y Red is too orangey for my taste. I was hoping for a more fire engine red or something. Or maybe I'm just not  used to have my lips popping out like that. The Spice is pinkish, and the Nude is, well, barely there and I love its subtlety, hence the dilemma.

Not that it should be an issue. Given the fact that I rarely leave the house, I haven't had much opportunity to use my new loot. Which is why Breeze caught me with my lipstick on as I cooked lunch. Because you know. A little lipstick makes the food taste better.

But now that lipstick has led to a new challenge.  Apparently, I have been walking around with an incomplete face, because I don't do my eyebrows. So now I need to learn to do my eyebrows. As they say here, kilay is life. To paraphrase The Hubby, when I have my lipstick on, the top part of my face fades into obscurity. Possibly because that RED-y Red is so poppin'.

Anyway.

I guess what I'm grappling with is the fact that we moms need to take care of ourselves, even just a bit. Have some me time, me-only activities, do or get things that mostly benefit you. I've learned that when you're running on empty, things fall apart pretty quickly. So you need to recharge. The Hubby gets this, and he understands that what recharges me most is total solitude, even for a couple of hours. And gifts, even small ones. And sometimes, a little makeup.

I just don't know if I can get into all that kilay stuff.