Look Good, Feel Great

Tonight I went shopping with one of the girls from my small group. She needed some new makeup and badly - the stuff she had didn't match her face, and because she's so self-conscious about her blemishes, she tends to pile a lot of makeup on. This weekend, she understood how off her makeup was after the pictures were posted - she looked ashy, poor girl - almost like a corpse. I saw that it was a little thick and ashy prior to the party but I had no idea that it would look the way it did in the pictures. It was really bad. So once she saw the pictures and commented about her face, I offered to take her shopping and help her pick out some better makeup. I had hoped she would accept because sometimes she doesn't listen to me - I feel like some of the things I say go in one ear and out the other, and she doesn't always take the time to understand why I may suggest some things. I don't expect her to do what I say, but it's nice to know if your comments are taken seriously and not ignored wholesale. So tonight I trucked myself out to Tysons Corner again and we hit up Sephora. We spent a good bit of time trying stuff out, which is a very nice thing about Sephora. You can test everything before buying, which was really helpful tonight. She's mixed and has a yellowish undertone like me. So I got her to try out the brand of foundation and powder that I use. I picked out a color that looked like it would suit her, and we tried it out. It looked pretty good and my first choice was actually the best choice (I tried another for comparison). We asked a salesperson for help, in case there was another brand out there that might have a color that was closer to her skintone. Nope - this was as close as it would come. Everything else was too red, too ashy, too dark. So I got her to make an investment in this makeup, even though she typically doesn't use foundation. She was more excited to pick up some of that Jessica Simpson edible perfume. Understandable - I was making her change her routine quite a bit to help clean up her skin and have better looking makeup. She didn't really know how good she'd look but she knew she'd love the smell/taste of the Jessica Simpson stuff. So we gave this stuff a test run. I went back to her house with her and we tried the stuff out. Wow. She looked so good, and it looked like her own skin. I showed her how to put the makeup on and she could see it evening out her skin and looking fabulous. I dabbed a little extra foundation on problem areas to cover her blemishes, dusted a little powder to set it, and wow... it was her, only so much better. Pores looked smaller, skin looked more even... and as she lit up with happiness, she just looked awesome. And she was so surprised because her makeup was light, and not thick and cakey like she expected it to feel (remember, she's not used to using foundation). She showed her mom, and her mom said to tell me "thank you." She's so excited and it's great! She's a beautiful girl to begin with, and I understand her struggles with her skin - I still go through it and I pay a boatload of money to try to keep it presentable. It's a shame, she had resigned herself to slathering on makeup that didn't match and knowing that it was jacked up. Not anymore, though! This weekend, there is another party for some of the guys we've been hanging out with. A big birthday bash for 3 of them, should be fun. No ashy, jacked up makeup for this girl this weekend - this weekend she's going to look natural and fabulous. I hope people compliment her on how good it looks. It's going to be great. I'm so proud of the way her look turned out. :)