memories and a lipstick...

do you ever stop and think back on your childhood and your first experiences with make-up or fashion?

for me, my first memories of make-up came from watching my mother "put on her face" each morning. it was like an event to me! i never wanted to miss it. i would get up in the morning, eat breakfast while my mother drank her coffee, and then go get dressed. as soon as i was dressed, i would go sit in the bathroom to watch her.

it was fascinating to me the way each "step " followed by the next: moisturizer followed by foundation (back then, two formulas, in two different colors, by Clinique were mixed to be her perfect shade), then set with a loose powder. eyeshadow colors of her choice were applied, and the effortless application of her liquid eyeliner soon came after. i don't remember whether or not she filled in her eyebrows, but i do remember the Cherries In the Snow lipstick that was applied after her mascara.

that Revlon lipcolor is probably just as big a part of my childhood as the other things, and people, that were in it. in the tube, it looks like a true red, but it was a bright cherry-red color on my mother's medium skin tone, and the stain remained on her lips even after "removing" it. she loved that lipstick, and always wore it. i would get to school, and my friends would point out the lipstick on my face (ugh..) left exactly where she had kissed me. i always had a reddish cheek for awhile because i insisted on rubbing it off. as i got older, i would have to remind my mom that her lipstick stained my skin, and it was so embarassing (!) to have a "kiss" stain on my cheek. she would kiss me anyway...

how funny that a lipstick stands out so prominantely in my memory. when it was discontinued, it felt as though a part of my childhood had gone missing. not that i had any plans of ever wearing that color -- too fushia on me-- but it was a comfort knowing it was there, but then it was gone. my mom was upset about it as well. thankfully, the demand from the public forced Revlon to bring it back. my mom has since discovered many other shades of lipsticks and glosses, but every so often that cherry-red lip is there-- and she now kisses my children with them. :)

i saw the tubes of Cherries in the Snow the other day in my favorite drugstore, and of course, it made me think of my mother, her morning make-up routine and the kiss stains on my cheek...

and i smile, because they are good memories...

xo