DORÉ

Two things you need to know for context.

1) I live above a beer garden which I frequent often with my dog.
2) I wear some form of make-up every day, even if it’s just tinted moisturizer and clear eyebrow gel.

So you can imagine my surprise when I wore some bright lipstick the other day down to said beer garden and one of the regular bar tenders (who has known me for the past three years) exclaimed, “Oh my god. I’ve never seen you with make-up on. You look so good.”

He’s seen me with make-up on every time he’s smoked a cigarette on the sidewalk and I’ve walked by with my dog. Call it every third day or so. He’s a heavy smoker and my dog has to pee a lot. So there have been a lot of “hellos” between us.

He noticed my shocked face in reaction to his comment and tried to back peddle. “I mean, I commend you for not wearing make-up, I love that. But you also look great in make-up, like right now.” I let him off the hook by ordering a beer so he could turn his back to me and gather himself.

What I didn’t tell him was my shocked reaction was not due to him kind-of calling me prettier when I wore lipstick. It was because 1) I didn’t know if I should give away my secret that I do wear make-up every day and 2) why the hell am I wearing make-up everyday if no one thinks I’m wearing make-up?

My approach to make-up in recent years has been, “I want to look like I’m not wearing make-up but I also don’t want to look like what I looked like this morning when I caught my reflection in my coffee pot.” I had no idea I was achieving this goal so well, and was simultaneously a little sad about it when I realized I was passing the no-make-up make-up test with flying colors.

In the following weeks I found myself craving more color in my make-up and on my face. I noticed myself layering on some blush instead of my usual light swipe of bronzer. I started rotating through some brighter lipsticks instead of my lip balm. I even rooted through our beauty closet to find an eyeshadow palette I might want to play around with.

And that’s when I stopped myself. What. Is. Happening. I haven’t worn eyeshadow since high school, and probably for good reason as I’ve never figured it out and my “smokey eye” always veers into black-eye territory. Not cute.

And then the Oscars happened. And Glossier debuted their new Lidstar on the eye lids of all celebrities near and far.

Lidstar is basically a form of glittery eye shadow.

Yes. Celebrities were sauntering down the red carpet wearing a version of glittery eyeshadow.

When’s the last time that happened?

The early 2000s me thinks.

You know what also happened then? Low slung, belly bearing, boot cut jeans paired with pointy heels.

I haven’t seen anything as extreme as Paris Hilton in 2002 but I have started to see some pointy heels under wide leg pants click-clacking down the sidewalks of New York.

In recent years I’ve been using the 90s as my style and make-up inspiration (less is more) but now I’m craving more, more, more, in every part of my fashion and beauty life. And I keep asking myself, when one’s style evolves a bit to keep up with the times, which industry — beauty or fashion — drives these trends forward? Or do they work in tandem like a slinky flip-flopping down a staircase — each taking turns being the one to push forward and simultaneously pull the other with it.

What do you think?

In the meantime you can find me debating if I call pull off the wide-leg-pointy-toe-heel-look. Very TBD.