Almost two months since I posted last. Thanks to Nadi who commented, asking me to write a new post. It never ceases to surprise me that people actually read what I write and is gratifying and overwhelming. 🙂 The reason I have not put pen to paper, to use an old term, is that I am very occupied with a project that requires a 110% of my attention. It concludes mid-June and I will not know the outcome for sometime after but that can potentially change a lot of things. For me.

My new year’s resolution for 2011 was all about me. Not to make more money, not work more but beauty stuff me. Maybe more facials and pedicures-that was sort of the idea.

But I did not know where to begin. It is not like I am ‘un-vain’. Of course not. I am a girl who likes bling, a little bit of make up, gorgeous shoes, nice clothes, shiny hair. I do visit salons and beauty parlours; I have the serums and the night creams and under eye gels; all the anti-ageing potions and lotions that keep me from running a magnifying lens over my crow’s feet and other wrinkles. It still does not stop my girlfriends from declaring that I ‘dress like a maid’ or turning up a nose at my op-shop second hand clothes. It is just that I am not obsessed with the beauty thing and fashion for me is a medium. A form of expression. It was time to explore that this year.

The first thing my semi-noob, geeky brain figured out was that I needed an education. I had be able to use the knowledge of beauty and fashion to adapt to my person and consequently enhance it. Now I am not one of those try-the-testers-spray-the-perfumes types just for the sake of it. I feel awkward at beauty counters asking for information. Instead my comfort zone is the computer. I started browsing Youtube. Really I had no idea! There are zillions of videos on how to apply eyeliner  (or for that matter how to brush your teeth and wash your hair). Cat’s eyes? Eyeliner for big eyes, small eyes, (East) Asian eyes, Middle Eastern eyes…. I have used liquid eyeliner for years but did not know eyeliner came in cream/gel and pencil form too. The effort put into these videos made me wonder at the time spent into ‘looking good’.  And the money. The money! How much money do women spend on make up? Do you really have to bin the mascara after a year? Even if you have used it just five times?

As I my cerebrum was absorbing and storing this wisdom I read that Bobbi Brown and M.A.C had released concealer and foundation for brown women. i.e. South Asian women. (I must confess here I did not know Bobbi Brown was a woman. Somehow the name is like that of a man. Wait, wasn’t Whitney Houston’s ex-husband Bobby Brown? D-uh!) Anyway, concealer and foundation for South Asian women. Us South Asian women have a different pigment in the skin making it incompatible to use make up made for white/Caucasian women. Or African women. Our underlying skin tone is yellow which is why concealers and foundations incorporate that and help us look flawless. East Asian women have a slightly orange tone and African women have a purple/blue skin tone. (I cannot corroborate from any specific online article but have collated this from various articles. Please correct me if I am wrong.)

Okay so I could go to the Bobbi Brown counter and buy myself a concealer. Or so I thought. Did I have the guts to ask one of those fabulously made up dolls at such places to give it to me while she crushed me with her once-over and while I cringed at the price as well as my bluster/ignorance? A friend visiting from India and well integrated in the world of the Hindi film industry accompanied me. For moral support. And I was pleasantly surprised. The girl at the Bobbi Brown counter took one look at my face, whooped with delight at the idea of a blank canvas and got painting. Then held the mirror for me to see how gorgeous I had become. I did not have the heart to tell her that it was not me at all. It was someone with lots of goo on her face; someone who would wonder if people are staring at her because she was ‘gorgeous’ or looked like a clown. The lovely lady then wrote down the matching shades for me to buy later. One day I will. When I have money to spare. Because concealer does not come by itself. There is a primer, there are brushes, there is a corrector, foundation and powder. No I do not have to consume it all but that is the general idea-that it goes together.

Meanwhile my education continues. I’ve learnt that this scary looking thing is an eyelash curler and not a surgical instrument; that there are many websites and blogs dedicated to women wearing make up; that these women want to share their experiences and experiments just as I want to on my blog; that there is a fine line between preoccupation with looking good and doing it for the sake of decent appearances. I believe in dressing, looking and feeling pleasant so when others interact with you they get the vibes, feel happy and smile. One goes with the other.

I now have three blushers-peach, light pink and maroon/crimson. I bought myself two new lipsticks last months. I still think fashion is a medium and so want to design Asian inspired streetwear for women one day. Meanwhile I have to now get back to my project and get it done with. Cheers.