Saturday, October 24, 2009

Tonight I Wore Red Lipstick

Tonight I wore red lipstick.

Tonight I was a different, more mysterious version of myself.

I always wanted to be the kind of girl who wore red lipstick, the girl who stood out in the crowd. Instead I was the girl who stood in the back wearing lip balm. If I was feeling particularly daring, I would wear a tinted lip balm or lip gloss. For business purposes I would wear my tried and true MAC Twig, a shade described as a soft, muted brownish-pink. It really fit me to a T, I am soft, muted and brownish-pink.

Sometimes I would experiment. I would try bolder, more adventurous colors. Trying to make myself more bold, more adventurous. Sometimes I succeeded. Sometimes I failed. In fact, I have a drawer full of my failures.

Red scared me. Red was too vivacious, too daring. Red was too red.

But one day, I crossed that imaginary line in the sand. I bought a red lipstick. I don't know if it was the right shade for me but I bought it. Carrying it home in my bag, it felt like I was carrying an ancient treasure. I was carrying something that would connect me with famous femme fatales throughout history.

I got home. I ran in the bathroom. I closed the door. I tried on the lipstick. And I hated it. I thought it looked good but I didn't look like me. I looked like someone else, someone who was trying too hard. So I hid it away in the medicine cabinet. Occasionally, I would try it on before I went out. But I would always chicken out, I would cover it with a gloss or another color. I would change it.

But not tonight. Tonight I wore red lipstick.

I was different.

I was the same.

I wore the same shirt and jeans I had run errands in earlier in the day. I traded out my converse for some high heeled boots (because a 5'10" woman can always stand to have an extra 2 inches). I wore perfume. I wore red lipstick.

I was me and I was confident.




For those of you who made it to the end, here are the football picks:

Minnesota @ Pittsburgh
San Francisco @ Houston
San Diego @ Kansas City
Green Bay @ Cleveland
Indianapolis @ St. Louis
New England @ Tampa Bay
Buffalo @ Carolina
NY Jets @ Oakland
Atlanta @ Dallas
Chicago @ Cincinnati
New Orleans @ Miami
Arizona @ NY Giants

Monday Night
Philadelphia @ Washington
Combined Score 35

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very nice....I haven't seen you in a while but holy cheek bones girl. I am jealous of those!!! I have some in these chubs of mine somewhere but would love if they came out for a visit like yours!! amazing!!

rachel... said...

I love it! I don't think I've ever worn red lipstick in my life. :(

AmazingGreis said...

Good luck this week!

Michelle said...

I like the red....Looks good on you with the dark hair...

Anonymous said...

You look great in red! I say keep wearing it!

Christy said...

You look awesome in red lipstick - and I say you should wear it more often!

~Laura said...

You look great! Good for you for trying something different and daring...

Kate Coveny Hood said...

You look gorgeous! Red compliments your killer cheekbones.

And TWIG brings me back! It's been a while since I've worn MAC, but that was my shade too.

I love the look of a bright lipstick - but my skinny lips look kind of crazy in darker shades. Unless it's for formal - then it seems to work. Either way - I must be a lip biter because anything I put on disappears in minutes.

Jill said...

I'm a lipstick lover myself... in fact, I'll go without doing myself up in any capacity - except for my lips.

And twig? It was the first lipstick I ever bought from Mac!

Heather said...

LOVE this. I bought cheapie red lipstick to go with my costume and then while we were away on a 3 mile island with the costume contest looming just mere hours away I realize I forgot cheapie read lipstick. I am forced on a quest to find red lipstick and I end up finding some at the day spa on the island...where at 50% off still cost me over $11, but I thought to myself that I will wear it, but as I unpacked and set it on my dresser, its sat there for days. Mocking me. I will wear my red lipstick and thing of you being that mysterious stranger.

anymommy said...

Love it. I never wear it. You are so brave!

Ann Imig said...

I love sports and lipstick in the same post--

I'm holding back from a Sarah Palin joke here.

Yeay RED!

p.s. I wore Twig but it looked awful on me. Over my dark lips it looked orangey.

Oh, and my first grey hair was at 34, so you should feel very happy indeed!