Kiss and makeup

Those of you who know me well know that I am far from a "girly girl." Growing up, I didn't wear much makeup, if any, and was way happier in sweats and a tshirt than just about anything else. In high school, I wore my hair in a ponytail nearly everyday.

Then, when I finished grad school, my mom gave me the gift that keeps on giving, and quite possibly the best gift I've ever received - a gift certificate to The Difference. The Difference is like TLC's "What Not To Wear," but where WNTW is a one night stand, The Difference is a lasting, committed relationship. In fact, we've been together just over 5 years now! Not only do they help you figure out what colors, shapes and styles work best for your personality, body type and comfort zone, they will help with arranging outfits within the clothes you already own, do makeup, help with hair style choice and will even help pick out glasses if you want! They sell clothing, jewelry, handbags, all kinds of wonderful and unique things in their shop.

But enough about my love affair with The Difference. This post is supposed to be how I went from being un-girly to being more girly.

When I went to The Difference and got the clothing thing sorted out, that helped change me. I became much more interested in fashion because I had a better sense of what worked for me and why. The scope of my shopping eye narrowed a lot and shopping wasn't nearly so overwhelming as it once was. But even though I got the fashion thing somewhat under control, I still didn't do makeup.

It wasn't that I couldn't do the makeup or didn't feel comfortable with it. There were two major reasons I hated to wear makeup - one, I felt like it exaggerated the problems with my horrible skin and two, (and if I'm honest, this is the main reason), I was lazy.

Two things have happened recently to change my outlook. First, I started seeing an aesthetician who rocks my world and has gotten my crazy awful skin under control. It is no longer red, dry and flaky all the time, which is amazing.

But the second reason, the bigger reason, is much simpler than all that. I wore makeup out one day recently and got a million comments on how nice I looked. I couldn't figure it out at first - I was wearing the same ol' jeans and cotton tee that I wear on a regular basis. Why was this scrubby look suddenly garnering compliments? And then I realized - the makeup.

I've worn makeup everyday since then, and everyday I've gotten comments on how nice I look. Again, the clothing I'm wearing is nothing out of the ordinary, it's the same stuff I've been wearing for ages. It has to be the make up.

The compliments feel good, and when one feels good about oneself one does better in everything - interviews, weight loss endeavors, making friends, everything. So I guess I'll keep wearing the makeup. It's so funny how a ten minute process can attract so much attention and make me look and feel so much happier.