Making Up Isn’t Hard To Do

I committed the Cardinal Sin the other day.  It was Sunday morning, and I opened my mineral powder makeup, shook that little bottle to call up some of the fine powder, and none came forth.  Empty!

When I was a kid on the beaches of Miami, my skin was a smooth, even rosy gold from the sun.  But the older I got, the redder my skin undertone became, until now as an adult, I have to cover it with mineral powder to even the tone.  I looked at the clock and discovered there simply wasn’t time to rush down to the drug store for makeup. (We don’t have department stores or Clinique in Bville.)

My career has been interior design for more than 35 years, and personal chefing for the last 10 years, so I think like a designer and engineer.  Studying the way things are put together and the way they work, for me, is relaxation – sort of like your sitting down and putting together a jigsaw puzzle.  I can almost look at something – anything – and figure out the basics of how it’s made and put together, and short-cut it in some way.  Your complicated recipe with 30 ingredients, becomes my simplified recipe with 3 ingredients – with the same result.  So here I am taxed with the challenge of coming up with makeup.  No problem!

I rushed into the kitchen and began pulling things from shelves and cabinets:  cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, powdered sugar, canola oil.   You'd think I was going to make Apple Pie! (NEVER use Turmeric or Saffron, or Curry Powder which contains these two ingredients --- unless you actually like a skin tone of screaming electric yellow that won't wash off!)

I began to mix a little of this and a little of that until I had what looked pretty close to the few grains left in the brand bottle, and voila – makeup!  After sifting to remove lumps, I ran my finger through it and tested the mixture on the back of my hand, then added a little more ginger.  Pretty good so far.

I continued sifting into a bowl, added a drop of Canola oil, mixed a little with a spoon (no need to mix until it’s thoroughly even – as you swirl it on, it will even out), used my little brush, swirled and tapped just like with the real stuff, and not even I would have known the difference ---  except this home-concocted makeup smells and tastes good, lol, and is all natural without all those chemicals we support by buying the brand names.  Truthfully, it was better coverage than my store-bought variety, and lasted longer before touching up. It also occurred to me that I could adjust homemade makeup as the seasons changed, and my skin tone changed with them -- I could go lighter or darker or pinker or yellower whenever I needed.  Hmmmmm…..

I still need to go to the drug store, though – to buy mineral oil for the next batch I make.  Who knew? ~Jo