Once upon a time I used to use department store cosmetics, Lancôme to be specific. But I eventually noticed that years of using it didn’t make me look any more like Isabella Rossellini or Penelope Cruz. I discovered that drugstore brand, L’Oreal, is made by the same manufacturer and I started using that or any brand that is suitable.

High price for me is not always the definitive measure of whether a product is excellent or not.  I just go for trusted names that have been in the market long enough for any questionable content findings to have surfaced.

Sometimes people are so kind to compliment me on appearance and I reply that it’s my makeup. 🙂 For those who were interested to know what I use:(I also use Mac Lip Glass and Maybelline Eye Makeup Studio shadow). I have an easy-to-assemble kit and just have one set for all occasions instead of getting an array of lipstick or blush palettes to match what I’m wearing. For evening, I put on a heavier application of the same thing and apply mascara if I have time. If one item gets discontinued, I look for a similar alternative.  I’ve stuck to this formula for years and it hasn’t hurt. Me nor my wallet.  Magazines will want several sets of looks but I just want to try to look un-tired.  I have thrived doing this.

A seminar our teacher, Beth Sanders, arranged over a decade ago, Color Me Beautiful, by Miss Jackee (I wish I could remember her last name), helped to point out that it’s good to know your color season so that you will know what is most flattering for your skin tone (whether peaches, pinks, reds, earth tones). You can go to a professional, or for free, google it, or you can also ask someone whose makeup application you appreciate for what color might be suitable for you.  When you’re by a fabric store or a shawl section, you can drape different colors (one at a time) around your face and check in the mirror if you notice which ones make you look alive and which ones make you look ill. 🙂

Once you know your color season, it’s good to stick with it when purchasing makeup, clothing, to avoid unnecessary expense.  Those products not in your color season will tend to not get used much because you will most probably sense when it’s not becoming for you or you will get comments like, “Are you well?/ You look tired,” because the colors that are not in your season tend to make you look (and sometimes feel) drained.

When you have set the parameters of what’s in your color season, you will avoid getting pressured by salespersons to spend more than you intended or buy stuff that will end up as expensive clutter.  If you already own things which you discover are not in your color season, they can still be used for things that do not frame your face.  For those that make you really look sallow or sad, you can give those away or put them up for a garage sale.

To stretch your budget, the store that has it all periodically conducts 50 per cent off sales on cosmetics so you can take a look at what’s available.  Sometimes I have no time to go to the store. It came in handy that I discovered my sister-in-law’s niece, Daisy Lu, and her sister-in-law, Rica Lu, started a new business supplying makeup. Daisy loves to try different kinds of makeup so she has tested so many brands and carries the products she likes to personally recommend. Rica is a trained professional makeup artist and is knowledgeable on application of the different products. Together, they set up a business called Makeup Travellers (click for contact info). I told her that I was running out of blush and was looking for something in the pink neutrals family; she was the one who found a product for me—a relatively inexpensive contouring blush set that I’ve been enjoying. She also recommended a great lipstick with emollients which served me well specially when I went to Japan where it was so cold and drying. Chapped lips are no fun.

From Daisy, I discovered this K-Pop product which is inexpensive but lasts long and comes in a range of colors.  Maybe I will try that out when I run out.  You can try them out as they know a wide range of good products, even those that are not easily available locally, at a good price.

On a previous post on beauty (10 Beauty Secrets That Won’t Hurt Your Pocket), I mentioned that specially for wives, in letting God and letting go, appearance is one of the things you shouldn’t let go because your husband may not necessarily look at the things God looks at but he looks at appearance.

The Lord does not look at the outward appearance but at the heart. Our heart issues, we need to settle with Him continually as we seek to improve in what He finds important.

But people look at the outward appearance. When you’re heading for a job interview or attending a meeting or special occasion, within the means God gives, without making it the end-all-and be-all of who you are,  it’s good to attempt to look your best (#paintingthetemple) because before the world will appreciate Jesus in your heart, they may tend to evaluate if they should listen to you by looking at your appearance first.