Warpaint

Stop and think about make-up for a moment; the act of drawing and colouring-in your face. It's a rather odd thing really isn't it? But it's something I do every day without fail. Women tend to fall into two categories; those who don't bother with make-up and those who can't leave the house without it. I certainly fall into the latter. With me it's the eyes. I've been applying eyeliner since I was a teenager. In fact, I can distinctly remember switching from black to brown eyeliner in 1994, when I saw a friend at Art College using brown to great effect. I still wear brown eyeliner now. The same make up routine for seventeen years; now I'm sure that is 'out of fashion'. The thing is, I don't care. I think I will keep on wearing my brown eyeliner forever more - it's part of me. Without it I don't look like me. 

I guess I picked up my love of make-up from my mum. I remember as a child, watching her morning make-up routine. My mum would apply her make-up at the breakfast table as my dad would sometimes sleep in as he did shift work. One thing you need for a successfully applied face is good light after all, a half lit bedroom just won't do. My mum would use a duo eyeshadow, usually green and brown and mascara. She'd also pluck her eyebrows which is another 'must' of mine these days.

I have a morning routine that goes something like this. Get out of bed / put in contact lenses / shower / clean teeth / apply makeup / dress / dry & style hair. On a few occasions I have switched the make-up and hair drying. If Lily comes into the bedroom and sees me 'all done' but without my eyeliner she will question me informing me firmly but nicely that I ought to colour-in my eyes before I come down the stairs. I apply my eyeliner and her face noticeably relaxes. I wonder if she'll be a make-up woman when she's grown up. My money is on that she will be.