After an unusually snowy winter, spring is finally here! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the air smells like hope and grass clippings. And also . . . it's still kind of chilly. At least it is here in New Jersey, where spring doesn't so much arrive as make a guest appearance and clear out for the diva that is summer. But I'm not complaining. Because it gives me an excuse to flaunt my faux furs (summer's not the only diva), a luxury I'll enjoy until that menacing March lion retreats for good.
Fur or no fur, I am springing forward with one fresh new something: makeup! I know I've mentioned this before, but back in high school, I collected cosmetics. I had Caboodles full of lipsticks and eyeshadows in every color. But like so many women, as I grew older and wiser, I narrowed my stash down to what worked -- Revlon Cherries in the Snow lipstick and Cover Girl Champagne eyeshadow. And save for the occasional rogue impulse purchase, I never looked back. The only way I'd ever wear gold lipstick again was if it was Halloween and I was going as C-3PO. But then not too long ago, I crossed paths with some dangerously dark blue Revlon eyeshadow, followed by prettily packaged Sephora lipsticks and bright L'Oreal eyeshadow quads (buy two get one free at Walgreens!) that I just couldn't resist. Entranced by their sleek newness and alluring shades, I uttered a silent apology to my tried-and-trues and thought, why not?
Here I am trying out my new red lipstick and turquoise eyeshadow:
The eyeshadow is more intense than I expected, like the taste of birthday cake ice cream. And I am committing the twin cardinal cosmetics sins of 1) matching my eyeshadow to my outfit and 2) rocking a bold lip and eye instead of just one or the other. But I don't care; I love it! (Cue the Icona Pop, people.) It's fun to have an alternative to my go-to palette. It makes me feel like the possibilities are endless. Like I have a technicolor time machine and am sixteen again, browsing the beauty aisle at Thrift Drug. That was a time when a new pot of lip gloss -- like lots of '90s girls, I was into the fruit flavors from Naturistics --could change your life. Or at least make you think it could.
But then, I guess that's the magic of makeup. And of youth and rejuvenation.
So, in other words, spring.