Let’s Go Back to the Wedding…
… and talk about what I did about makeup! As a refresher- I don’t wear makeup. I never have! Here I am on my own wedding day: However, something interesting happens when you get into your late 50s. At least, for me. I look, um, well how should I put this… I guess the word is “older.” What a surprise! Leading up to the wedding, I was fretting about what to do. I knew there would be a lot of formal photos taken that we would be looking at for the rest of our lives. I put it out there on the blog, and got lots of great advice. The best advice was, do NOT wear a full face of makeup, because I wouldn’t look or feel like myself. The week before, I asked Jennifer (mother of the bride) if there would be anyone to help us with hair and makeup. Here was her reply: You guys, at this point I was actually frightened. What are all these things??? Am I supposed to own these? When I got to Indiana and could talk to her in person, I told her that I don’t wear makeup and didn’t want too much- I just wanted to look like myself but a LITTLE BETTER. She assured me that I wouldn’t look overdone, then went on to explain all the makeup that I could be wearing if I wanted her to do it, and I knew we weren’t on the same page. I can’t blame her- most people haven’t encountered a 60-year-old woman who has NEVER worn makeup! As late as the night before, I still hadn’t decided what I was going to do. And then, my husband’s sister Claudia came to the rescue. She said “you don’t want all that. Here’s what you want. You’re going to get a little face cream, put a DAB of foundation in it, and apply that all over your face, including around your eyes. You’ll look like yourself but it will even out your skin tone. And lip gloss.” AND THEN SHE WENT OUT AND BOUGHT ME ALL THE SUPPLIES I WOULD NEED. Important side note: I hadn’t been planning to use any kind of foundation, but my rosacea picked that week to flare up. So…. I thought maybe a dab of foundation wouldn’t be a bad idea. The day of the wedding, we had photos at 1 pm. My sister and BIL stayed with us at our Airbnb, and my sister helped me. Another side note- I wouldn’t recommend learning how to apply makeup ON THE DAY OF THE BIG EVENT. My sister kept looking up Youtube makeup videos, and saying things like “Here’s one from AARP that I think might help you!” Between my sister, Youtube, and facetiming with Claudia, I got the cream/foundation on my face, thought it looked okay, applied the lip gloss, and then it was time to go. Who knows what I actually looked like. My sister and Claudia assured me that I looked like myself, only a little better. When I saw Paul he said “Mom, you look beautiful!” But that really says more about the kind of person he is rather than what I looked like. Here’s the thing though- once I was all ready, I didn’t think about what I looked like FOR THE REST OF THE DAY. I was so caught up in what was happening, I forgot. I remember using the bathroom at the church shortly before the ceremony, and I definitely looked in the mirror while I was washing my hands, but I was in a hurry and just barely glanced to make sure I didn’t have a big smear of dirt on my forehead or anything. It was definitely a day of experiencing, rather than looking a certain way… and that’s the way life should be. In retrospect, I kind of wish I had had the confidence to say “I don’t wear makeup” and stick to that. OR… maybe knowing (thinking) that the foundation covered my rosacea was what helped me to not worry about how I looked??? Either way- nobody cared. No one cared that I wore makeup, and no one would have cared if I didn’t. I feel like there were important lessons learned here, but I’m going to hold off on the final learning until I see the professional photos, ha ha. Are you a confidant makeup wearer? Is there anyone else out there that doesn’t wear it? Top photo by Ben Rosett on Unsplash