Not Always High Maintenance

Sometimes my wonderful husband refers to me as "high maintenance" and while I occasionally agree, there is definitely one area where I am NOT.

However, that is beginning to change, ever so slightly now.

A month ago I visited my hairdresser for my annual appointment (okay, so that's a real hint that I don't spend a lot of time on my hair) and told her that we were going to do something a little different. I usually go with a basic haircut (just leave it long enough so I can put it in a ponytail) and a perm.

Well this year, I stepped out of my comfort zone a little. I told Tia that I didn't want a perm. WOW, talk about a bold step! Then I told her that I was afraid that my every-few-months Clairol rinse was no longer taking care of the gray around my temples. I was wondering if it was time for me to graduate to the permanent hair color.

** Ted had been suggesting this for a while and told me that it would probably make me look younger, and since I'm still in denial on the last birthday, that might be a good thing.

Tia told me that if I did that, I would be making a commitment to visit a salon every 6 weeks or so. I realized that. And since during the summer I have very few things on the calendar, it sounded like a good idea. HOWEVER, my hair grows sort of fast, and it's only been 4 1/2 weeks and my roots have been showing for about a week. I have an appointment next week. Tia also cut my hair with some layers so if I spend about 5 minutes with it in the morning, it doesn't look too bad.

What a change for a woman who LIVED in a ponytail!

Okay, let's step into the powder room and open the middle drawer on the left side.

Make-up.

Lots of make-up.

Lots of old make-up.

Old to the point that a few of the foam brushes in the eye shadow disintegrate when they meet air.

Before I had children and we bought a house, I would visit the Merle Norman Studio (about 40 minutes away) a couple of times a year and get all kinds of new things. Those things are still in the drawer. To get an idea how old this stuff is, we bought our first house in 1983. That makes a lot of this make-up at least 25 years old.

Now before you go "EWWWWW" let me say that once in a while over the years I would purchase new mascara, or an occasional eye shadow and I even got foundation. Once.

The time has now come for me to DUMP all this make-up and get new stuff. I don't have the time or desire to go to the Merle Norman Studio and spend 2 hours getting dolled up along with a sales pitch.

So what do I do?

I really think that I would like to wear some make-up again. (That "getting older" thing is rearing its ugly face again.) However I have no idea what to get, nor how to apply it properly. It's one thing to read about it all online, but I need real people tips.

What color eye shadow? The days of bright blue (to match my eyes) are probably long gone. So what color DO I use? What about mascara? Do I stick with the black to supposedly make my lashes look longer and thicker? How about foundation? This is an area where I really suffer. I would like my skin to look smooth and be close to one color, not the fifty blotches that it normally is. Then there's blush...I had no idea there were so many different shades of blush! Do I really need eye liner? I'm not coordinated to get that on so that it looks okay.

What about eyebrow pencil? Is that really necessary? And then, there's lip color! Do the cosmetic companies really think that we need 875 choices when it comes to coloring our lips??

Once I get all that straightened around, how do I make sure that the make-up will stay looking half-way decent all day while I'm working. Heck, I barely have time to go to the bathroom, let alone reapply any make-up!

This might just not be worth all the stress...but I'd like to at least consider it.

Any tips out there?