Lipstick and Mascara

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Just recently I read an article where a celebrity said the best beauty advice that she was given from her Mom(and grandmother) was to never leave home without lipstick.  I have heard this before and each time that I've heard it in the past I dismissed it as a 'nice to have'.  Until I became pregnant with my daughter who was born in May 2010 I considered makeup optional and definitely an item that created an unnecessary time burden.  During my pregnancy, for some reason unbeknownst to this day, I became obsessed with makeup!?  So much so I wanted to make my baby shower a beauty shower where the guests received makeovers and left their favorite beauty tips in a keepsake journal for my little bundle of joy - now known as the make up terrorist(how's that for irony). Part of that was driven from the guilt of not really wanting to burden others so my compromise was to create an event that focused on the guests and the baby at the same time.  My Mom nixed the idea and so I never saw that vision come to life.  If anyone has done anything similar I'd love to hear stories about the event.  I think it's a great twist to the traditional shower. 

Well, the makeup obsession lived beyond my pregnancy and ultimately led to my new found commitment to self care.  A friend of a friend once expressed her die hard habit of never leaving home without lipstick and mascara.  Again, I thought this was the most high maintenance idea at that time, but it stuck with me because I always admired her appearance of effortless beauty.  My grandmother reserved Saturday afternoons as a day for weekly beauty routine - nails and hair primarily.  I remember being so frustrated by this when there were events that conflicted with her scheduled beauty activities.  Today I use her scheduling as a model.  In the 33 years that I had with my grandmother I can honestly say that I never saw her without perfectly manicured nails and she never a bad hair day.  She had flawless skin and only wore lipstick(and a smile).  I attribute a great deal of this to her weekly habit of scheduling time for self care and personal maintenance. 

Above and beyond the superficialities of the beauty routine, I think routine self care has deeper benefits.  Taking time - even if it's 10 minutes in the morning - to do that one feel good thing creates a boost and that boost can be the catalyst to a day.  When I asked a really close friend - who seems to be one of those girls that always looks great and manages to keep regular beauty appointments on the calendar - how she prioritizes waxing, nail, hair and facials into her super busy work and social schedule, she responded 'if I don't take care of myself, I'm no good to anyone else'. Thinking of the return to others really helped me put it in perspective and compels me each day to make time for self care.