Ahhh it seems like it has been forever since I blogged. Christmas prep, parties and focusing on my heath to get back in shape have drawn me far away. Now if I could find a way to blog while playing my latest wii fit game I would be golden.
Since my eldest was 11 years old she has been begging to wear makeup. I never really wore makeup I think my dear sister has something to do with it. I associate makeup with having to pee and standing outside the bathroom saying "Are you done yet!! I really need to use the bathroom." Also at some point I discovered the type of boy I liked didn't like make up. So I have been the unmade up fresh and clean, who cares about the dark circles under my eyes kinda girl.
Needless to say I don't get the point of make up. I feel true beauty is in the heart. Luke 6:45 has been my touchstone of this. "A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of." For me this also means your beauty comes from your heart not from what you put on your face… I Feel totally fine if you wear makeup this is my journey here… I don't expect others to feel the way I do. But think of how much more money I've had to spend over the years on chocolate…
So ages ago Hubby decided to decree no makeup till your 16, which I am totally fine with. Sweet Potato has been very very unhappy about this. The minute she became a teenager (in her eyes) at 12 she has been dying to wear makeup can't you just hear the "because that is what teenagers do MOM! Duh!" So after finding Sweet Potato attempting to make her lips shiny with strips of bacon… think what a brilliant flavor for lip balm! her using things like coconut oil as eye shadow - we decided to feed the need in hopes that it will take away the mystery.
Dad laid out the ground rules:
Makeup only in the house, you may "learn" to use it before you actually officially wear it.
You have to pay for makeup yourself.
It must be hypoallergenic, because you are allergic to everything.
You have to find someone to teach you to wear it, because Mom is clueless.
So this Saturday off we went to spend Grandma's Christmas Cash on presents "From the MALL Mom I need MALL things." She begged we use it for makeup… No problem the first store a Beauty Store outside the actual mall was quite willing to sell her anything, but they were very expensive and the foundation alone was more than we had in Christmas Cash. Now before we got into what to wear the aesthetician explained she needed to take care of her skin and tried to sell us a 100$ exfoliation package. She also told her not to wear eye shadow, as she is too young. We did manage to get a basic blush and lip gloss.
Off we went to Macy's where the lady behind the counter sat her down and said "How old are you?" "14! that is too young to be wearing makeup! Darling you need to take care of your acne, how often do you wash your face. etc. etc." She totally discouraged my daughter from wearing makeup. Much to Mom's delight! She also tried to sell us a complete kit of acne care. She then went on to tell my daughter that she would sell her makeup in 2 years. (I was dying inside I had to turn my head so she couldn't see me laugh with my eyes).
We did a bunch of shopping and Sweet Potato wanted us badly to try one more store so into Dillards we went to see if they had a foundation that would match her creamy cafe-o-lait skintone. Here the sweetest 20 something took my dd by the hand and asked her tons of questions. Told her if she had blush and lip gloss she was all set, and that foundation would just add to her acne problems. Instead Sweet Potato need's a clean and smooth canvas to start with. She taught her how to clean her face and only wanted to sell me 2 reasonable and basic products. Sweet Potato got so excited to clean her face this way… I caved in… and bought them. The sales person was also happy not to sell me the moisturizer since were all ready using coconut oil. Way to go Dillards! Now that is customer service.
Sweet Potato is happily washing her face like it's the best thing in the world and has had numerous people tell her she is way to pretty to need makeup. Things I have been saying for years. I am really grateful to the sweet aesthetician's that reinforced the messages;
A. You don't need makeup to look beautiful,
B. You are already beautiful, and
C. You need to wash that pretty face.
For me this was God helping me parent. We caved on the makeup partway, because we thought our little girls heart was hardening towards us on the makeup issue. Yet God took care of the messaging, she heard from many people on how pretty she looks without makeup. She walked away from stores without buying makeup because they didn't want to sell to a child. How better to show her that her mom has good advice than to get the exact same advice from complete strangers? So thank you God! I appreciate it.
*disclaimer* I get no money from amazon links and I have never used or bought bacon flavored lip balm.
