Tuesday, July 17, 2007

transformation

First of all, if you haven't seen the new Transformers movie, go and see it. This was the most fun I've had at the movies in a long time. Not since Mr. & Mrs. Smith have I so thoroughly enjoyed a flick. It had everything -- a cheesy love story complete with a throwback 80s soundtrack, decent suspense, interesting camera work and he-llo ROBOTS! A good time was had by all [ even if the crowd we saw it with weren't quite smart enough to catch that early "I knew there was more to you, more than meets the eye" reference. Philistines. That's what you get for catching a movie at Metrotown -- the mall crowd. Yikes. ]

Earlier in the day I had indulged in a little transformation of my own by way of a long overdue cut & colour. On the way back from the salon we stopped by the Benefit Cosmetics counter at the Bay to see what was new. While getting made-up I inadvertently managed to shock the Benefit girl. "This is our new eye cream blah blah....Which eye cream are you using now?" she asked.
"Oh, I don't" I replied.
And she stopped, literally brush in midair. "You don't use eye cream?" she asked, using the same tone of voice I'm sure she would use if I just told her I didn't believe in brushing my teeth.
"Nope"
"Why? Don't you know that the skin around your eyes is the second most delicate on your body? Don't you know that it ages at twice the rate of the rest of your face? You really don't use eye cream?"

No I didn't know. (And to be honest at this point I was much more interested in which type of skin edged out the eyes for the win. But this didn't seem to be the time to ask.) I didn't know. She was shocked. And yet, amazingly I have survived 31 years without this knowledge. Earth shattering indeed.

I was a little intrigued and so a few days later I stopped by Wal-Mart and checked out the selection of creams. Did you know that there is an entire aisle in Wal-Mart that is all creams & lotions that do fundamentally the same thing - moisturize? If you believe the hype you need a totally different product for every nook and cranny of the female form, plus another if you don't want to age and two really because your supposed to moisturize day & night and there's a difference. Unbelievable. And we're buying it, literally, by the millions.

It reminded me of that part in Genesis where Adam and Eve are hiding and God asks, "Who told you that you were naked?" I think implied in that is the additional question "who told you that it was shameful?" Who told us that we absolutely cannot age, that wrinkles are the enemy? Who told us that we need to use eye cream and night cream? Who told us to scrutinize ourselves with magnifying mirrors and to try to scrub the memories off of our faces? Why is it a bad thing to resemble your Mom?

There is a line in Romeo and Juliet where Juliet is admonished "God gave you one face and yet you paint for yourself another." And I have to admit that I do think of that as I add a little colour in the morning in one place and try to take a little colour away somewhere else. I don't think that make-up is evil or that trying to look your best is wrong but why so much pressure? Why has the whole thing been so intentionally complicated. And why, why did I walk out of Wal-Mart with just a little tub of eye cream?

Oh. Maybe that's why.

4 comments:

Mom Colvin said...

Yes! I love the cut and colour. You have such lovely hair - sigh. Mine will always be thin (and thinner) but at least I still have some to fuss with.

So funny that you had the whole eye cream experience - so did I on Monday.

I went to the Clinique counter in Sears because I needed foundation makeup and I have the worst time choosing the right colour on my own. I waited a couple of minutes for the saleslady to return from "the back" and waived the other customer ahead of me since she had 2 little kids with her and was just picking up her order.

The savvy saleslady asked me if I would take the time for her to "type" my skin before she helped me find my colour. How long? I asked. Oh about 15 mins - OK.

So she then showed me the Clinique 3-step wash, cleanse (or is it astringent?) moisturize. It felt nice. She did a good job of matching the foundation to my skin tone, trying 3 colours at a time and conferring with me for my opinion. Finally we settled on one.

"Let me just finish off your face for you" she smiled. Out came the moisturizer with SPF 25, the "visible difference" skin renewer, the night cream and yes the eye cream.

I have to admit that I did buy the 3-step skin care stuff as well as the foundation and she threw in a free a sample of the visible difference stuff (must of thought I needed it) and a nice bronzer. My skin is softer - honest it is, Dad agrees. I furtled thru the drawer in the bathroom until I finally found EYE CREAM which the Avon lady gifted to me last year. So I'm all set and looking radiant I'm sure.

The reason I chose Clinique is that my Mum and sister have been using the stuff for years and they seem to have done alright with it. I can't get into putting a dozen products on my skin twice a day though.

The foundation? She gave me one that will stay on even if you work out - I had told her I didn't wear make up to work because I perspired a lot there. Its good, and the colour is just right. At my age I expect to have wrinkles and age spots but a good foundation goes a long way to hide them. I enjoy being a woman.

By the way, if anyone out there knows that Clinique is tested on animals, or bad for the environment or banned in certain countries - I DON'T WANT TO KNOW! I've bought it now and I intend using it up - so there!

Love, Mom XX

Anonymous said...

svelte! love the new look!

kelly ens said...

hair looks great!
bah eye cream. i figure God made us to age, so why not go with it. they're CHARACTER lines, in my opinion :)

Unknown said...

Doesn't it feel great? The hair, I mean. Never tried eye cream, and would probably get some IN my eye if I tried. You should read today's (July 20) "Rose is Rose" comic (find it on Comics.com), I thought of you when I read it.