Yesterday afternoon Brent and I were going to run some errands and then grab dinner out before coming home to watch the Women's Final Four. Before we left I briefly considered putting on some makeup and then decided to just run a brush through my hair, and out the door we went.
I had to laugh a little about how often that happens now versus how often it would have happened 15 or 20 years ago. The not wearing any makeup out in public part. Not the brushing my hair, I do that daily.
Then this morning I was thinking about it again. I used to have acrylic nails that I had filled every two weeks. I got a pedicure once a month. I always wore makeup. Even if we were going to be home I would at least put on a little bit of powder and mascara. I wore perfume almost daily. Trésor or Miracle by Lancôme, if you were wondering. I did not leave the house in yoga pants. Are you kidding me? Jeans were as casual (and I did do casual) as I considered proper for public viewing.
Then I went to massage therapy school. The nails had to go. Not only no acrylics but no nails past the nail bed. If there was any white at the tips that was too long. No perfume, not even strongly perfumed soaps or deodorants. Everything was scent free. Yoga pants became a daily uniform. I still didn't go out without makeup but I did pare it back to almost always having that casual face on. Some powder or tinted moisturizer (I don't wear foundation normally, even in my most made-up days I don't care for the way it feels on my face) and mascara.
A lot of you know about how 10 years ago or so I realized I didn't own a single lipstick so went all in on finding one of those. I now own a few more than one and I love a bright red lip or a berry lip. And if I do my makeup I almost always add a lip now to the powder and mascara. I like eyeshadow but I don't have a real talent for applying it so I do it sometimes and sometimes I don't. And like I said when I started this post, a lot of times now I just don't do any of it at all.
Now the part that made me laugh (like I mentioned above) is that I was wearing makeup daily when I was in my 20s, 30s, and 40s. Now that I'm in my mid 50s I don't. I wore it before to look young and fresh and pretty and now that I could use the help looking young and fresh and pretty I just... don't care. I like how I look with makeup on. I think it looks pretty. And I don't mind how I look with it off. The big change is that I don't care what other people think about if I am made up or not.
Part of that is age. Part of that is where I live. It's really common here for women not to be overly made-up. I can remember traveling to Texas or other Southern states for work and how underdone I felt while I was there. Even in my most made-up face it wasn't anywhere close to what they were doing. So much work.
But a big part is just comfort. I am comfortable. I'm comfortable aging (though I'd like to do it a little more pain-free than I've been doing lately). I don't view age as something to hide. I am 55, I'll be 56 at the end of the summer. Hopefully someday I'll be 100. I'm just going to get older. And some days I don't feel like bothering with makeup and I'm okay with that.
I'm not saying that I don't want to look good, I just think my definition of good has changed. Like this picture.
How cute is that shower cap? I mean I look adorable, right?
I don't wash my hair every day and it's gotten too long to just do a top pony and still stay out of the water. I needed a little assistance so I bought this. And it makes me happy. It reminds me of when I was little and I'd wear sponge curlers to bed on Saturday night so I would have curls for church on Sunday. Roll the hair, put on the sleeping bonnet. Try to sleep with rollers in your hair and don't let the word sponge make you think they were soft and comfortable, they weren't.
But that's another beauty standard I left behind. I thought for years and years that unless my hair was curled it wasn't cute. I did everything I could to make it look curly. Sponge curlers, hot rollers, curling irons, perms, all of it. For about 10 minutes of curl if I didn't shellac it all in place. Then I finally gave up and just let it hang straight. But it took years YEARS of wearing it straight for me to decide that I really did like it that way. That it could look good straight. And now...truth be told, I still curl the ends at times. Just a little bend. I just think it looks a touch better that way.
Like I look a touch better with powder, mascara and a bright red lip. And most of the time if we are going out I will still do at least that much. Sometimes even a bit more if I want to be all fancy.
But I still look pretty cute bare faced with a polka dotted shower cap on my head.
Especially if my glasses are off.
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