brooklyn gal for a while

make-up

I remember sitting on my parents bed watching my mom lean over the bathroom sink, rubbing her face with foundation, brushing her cheeks with blush and then slowly opening her mouth really wide. I always thought she would put on lipstick at this point, but no, it was the paradoxical open mouth for wider eyes with mascara application. I remember watching her get ready to go out, usually on Friday nights for meeting up with friends, a gentle waft of Jean Nate then a blast of Shalimar. Replacing all her bottles and brushes in a tan Woodies bag that sat on the back of the toilet, she would then pick through her dozens of Clinique free sample lipsticks, for her casual color, Berry Frost.
***
When she died, I inherited her makeup. Since I do not have the "throw crap out" gene of my father, I kept it all, a shoebox size bag with a separage bag just for lipsticks. When moving my things to New York, I went through the bag and smelled all the lipsticks, if the had an odd-scent I tossed them, leaving me with only 23 tubes.*
Last night, for no reason other than I had no plans, I brought out the bags, and went through all the colors, the powders and creams, tossing out 90% of the stuff, including everything that had been Mom's. It was hard. Sounds silly, doesnt it? I mean its just dusty compacts and bottles, but they were artifacts of what a mom passes to her daughter, how to cover up the negative and accentuate the positive.
When I said I tossed all her stuff, well, I did keep one thing. For the last few years of her life, I think it was her prized cosmetic, as she had searched for a non-pencil method forever, her eyebrow-enhancing chocolate brown powder and special brush.

*Did you know I usually just wear Pepperment chapstick?

posted by gordian knot @ Saturday, September 23, 2006