I checked this book out of the library.
It would be a great book to buy to have on hand.
The guide gives inspiration via checklists and interviews with other women.
The author lives in Brooklyn. She has two kids.
I think natural Black hair is beautiful.
In a coming blog entry I will talk about my own natural hair.
For further words of beauty you can read the LaTonya Yvette blog
This selfie I took without foundation. Only wearing black eyeliner and Rose Flair lipstick.
As the pandemic enters the second year this is my indoor outfit:
Black-and-white striped tee shirt, black sweater jacket, and black Athleta City pants. With silver globe earrings.
The point is it’s going on the second year of the coronavirus pandemic.
I’m grateful to be alive and breathe air on a sunny day.
This is the difference–time moves on. You either move with it or you wither.
How is it that this selfie is okay? It lies in how we see ourselves. I see myself in a different light after surviving the last year.
Without altering your photo into a strange unrecognizable You I say it comes down to the super-effect of rosy lighting.
Our Zoom selves should be adored not send us running for cosmetic surgery.
At 55 I accept that I don’t have Karlie Kloss’s creamy skin. Nor will I go under the scalpel. Only 5 feet tall I won’t grace a runway either.
The day has come when I can stare at my face in the mirror and be okay with it.
For a lot of us anger is the natural reaction when we realize we wasted so much time viewing our perceived flaws under a microscope.
Today is the day to change this tune. Our time on earth is getting shorter.
The coronavirus pandemic has taught us that tomorrow isn’t guaranteed.
What I’ve learned:
To love myself better than anyone else could ever love me.
This should be the goal for all of us:
To see ourselves in a beautiful light.
Everyone living on earth is beautiful.
Finding beauty in a broken world can be a tonic for the hard time you’re going through.
Smearing on a new shade of lipstick won’t bring about world peace.
Yet I find myself wearing lipstick on Zoom meetings. This makes all the difference in how I feel.
Now that 3 bags of clothes are gone (I can see my bedroom rug again!) I feel like my load has been lightened.
Fashion is where you find it. I take inspiration from books.
My latest haul from a trip to Barnes & Noble were two books: Anatomy
of Style and How To Not Wear Black.
The first book features famous models and actresses and talks about their
style preferences. With photos of the women in their standard outfits.
My favorite models featured were Kate Moss and Liya Kebede.
I find this book to be like taffy: sweet candy yet hard to chew. Your
confidence could nosedive seeing the photos of these attractive women.
Too for inspiration I recommend the first book by Scott Schuman The
Sartorialist. In the book he features photos taken on the street of often
ordinary people dressed in distinctive digs.
This book was published circa 12 years ago. It stands up to the test of time.
I own easily over 15 clothes and style and makeup books. You need to have a
hobby to cheer you up when your city has gone into lockdown. Reading the books gives me joy.
Being able to find beauty in this broken world is nothing to be ashamed of.
Everyone living on earth is beautiful.
Define beauty.
I’m happiest wearing my world indigo hoodie black trainer pants and sneakers
to make a run to the deli.
“You look adorable” the woman behind the counter tells me.
I’ll take adorable over sexy.
I’ll take blogging to the beat of a different drum.
We can’t all have Liya Kebede’s cheekbones.
Yet we can take inspiration from how she dresses and from her humanitarian business ethic.
The third week in March is National Clean Out Your Closet Week.
Every year I write about this theme in the blog. The Salvation Army truck driver took off my hands 3 bursting donation bags full of belts, clothes, and pocketbooks.
It is strange to be in the position of having size 2 Petite summer pants become so loose that they no longer fit.
When other size 2 Petite pants are so tight not even a snake could fit into them.
Oh–the perils of the sizing system in the U.S.
That’s why a lot of American women run out of a department store dressing room in tears.
It’s not unusual to have pants and jeans of four different sizes in your wadrobe.
2, 4, 6, 8–no one appreciates the guessing game as to which item will fit when you order online and the box arrives at your door.
On the other hand it is not odd to suddenly fall out of love with the clothes you used to wear.
Goodbye, khakis. Hello, black jeans.
To stay young at heart you should refresh your wardrobe every so often.
The older I get the more obsessed with clothes and dressing up that I’ve gotten.
As a Generation X girl I don’t want to fade into the woodwork.
Millennials can have their avocado toast as they’re so famously accused of coveting.
I’ll take a good coat and boots in this NYC chill that doesn’t warm up until early June.
Fashion is where you find it–and you can find joy in the clothes hanging in your closet.
Donate the items that no longer suit you. Get rid of the pants that no longer fit. Say farewell to the colors that make you look ill.
The spring is here in one week. Having hope is called for.
Editing the contents of our closets can spark joy.
Who wants to spend the morning agonizing because your closet is bursting with items you don’t wear?
Keep the items you love.
Call the Salvation Army truck to take away good-condition clothes that could bring joy to a person in need.
This is a win-win.
Not only is my hair turning gray it’s gotten dry. I’m treating myself to a haircut at a better hair salon in March.
Since I feel my current hairdresser screwed up my last haircut. It seems like my hair color has changed overnight.
My hair might turn totally gray within the next 2 years. Keeping my hair its natural color is my way of making a political statement.
Why would a woman be happy to have gray hair? This hair to me is the dawn of freedom from traditional feminine conformity.
From the rule that says you must remain thin attractive and young for the rest of your life or you’re toast in other people’s eyes.
I confess to staring in my bathroom mirror and eyeing the silver hair that is taking over my head. I’m grateful that my hair is turning silver not dishwater gray.
Dare I say I’m excited to be getting silver hair?
This heralds a new chapter in my life–I’m glad to be turning the pages away from history and writing new scenes.
This is why I’m happy to have silver hair.
When I get a haircut at the new hair salon I’ll post a photo of my shining head of hair.
p.s. – I’m too broke to get the upkeep of a dye job : )
No makeup has become a thing for me.
Under the mask I’ve stopped wearing foundation.
Not only that I and others don’t want to hear stories that elected leaders Makeup about what’s going on in society.
Nor do I at least want to be told what to think.
On the cusp of 56 I’ve come to realize that only I can decide what’s right for me.
What I’ve learned:
Love and freedom go hand-in-hand. You can’t have one without the other. Liking yourself without limits is the first step to becoming free.
This birthday year I gave myself permission to be an Artist.
I’m compelled to write in here again about the beauty of individuality.
Wearing No Makeup involves letting the real you show through. Even when you are wearing makeup.
Living an authentic life makes sense to me right now.
The world doesn’t need you and me to be copycats imitating what everyone else does and how they dress and live.
In the coming blog entry I’ll talk about the number-one self-help book I’ve ever read.
It’s a book of help for your Self when you live for likes and are afraid to take a stand.
Are you like me tired of the lies and misinformation being spread like wildfire?
No Makeup. It’s something to think about: telling the truth by being yourself.
I cracked open this message inside a fortune cookie on New Year’s Eve:
2021 is here.
I firmly believe that change for the better can happen this year.
God didn’t create life on this glorious green earth for human beings to hate each other.
We cannot go back to the way things were in 2020.
Everyone living on earth is beautiful.
Open your eyes I would tell those who cannot see this beauty.
To quote a Nordstrom print advertisement:
An Open Mind is the Best Look.
Alas this book is out of print and that’s sad. I would buy a used copy in good condition. Or you can try to check it out of the library.
Mally Roncal’s life story is inspirational.
Her a.m. and p.m. beauty ritual gave me a shot in the arm of confidence to try what she recommended.
Proof that inspiration can be found in a book or a bottle of foundation.
The pandemic has been going on for almost 9 months. The length of time to birth a baby an idea a plan a new You.
After reading Love, Lashes, and Lipstick I set off to set a new goal or two.
In the coming blog entry I’ll talk about one book that made all the difference to me in achieving my goals.
It can be debilitating sheltering indoors. The outbreak is rising in a second wave. More ammunition for taking joy in simple things.
Like washing your face at night. Moisturizing your face in the morning.
Being grateful for what you have instead of being envious of others who have what you don’t have.
Serve up an extra helping of gratitude to yourself this Thanksgiving.
The colonists plundered the nation from indigenous people. We should not be celebrating the myth that Thanksgiving was a harmonious lovefest between pilgrims and Native Americans.
Only I say why not reclaim the truth that we are all here because of a benevolent Creator who wanted us to be here?
The spirit of counting your blessings on Thanksgiving might just be the remedy for total despair while living through the pandemic.
I’m grateful for every ray of sunshine that comes into my life:
The sun through the mini-blinds and the sunny personality of Mally Roncal lighting up the pages of her memoir.
I checked this memoir out of the library. It’s sadly out of print so I bought a copy listed as being in new condition for $17.
Though it can seem Mally Roncal has had a dream life I was impressed and inspired while reading this book.
Roncal is barely 5 feet 2. She rocks big hair platform boots and false eyelashes.
She recounts early in her makeup artist career when she was told to tone down her own makeup and ebullient mood.
Instead she realized that she had to be true to herself.
According to Roncal who I’ll quote because this book should be required reading:
“Own who you are. Forget the haters. Don’t let them dull your shine. What may not be right for them could be right for you.
Be you, and you win every time.”
I’ve started to follow Roncal’s a.m. and p.m. skincare routine.
She was the makeup artist for the women featured in the Isaac Mizrahi book How to Have Style. I bought this book years ago in great condition when it was out of print too.
Jealousy serves no purpose except to keep a person stuck. Mally Roncal’s success only motivates me to reach for the stars.
In the book she also features different makeup techniques you can replicate with your own products or use the Mally Beauty makeup for.
This is going to be my Christmas gift to myself. I recommend readers consider buying this buoyant book too.
A Merry Season to You!
Like Alicia Keys I’ve been on an odyssey to cancel out the outside noise. To draw strength from within as well as drawing a line with eyeliner.
If you ask me the path to freedom starts when you get loud and proud about who you are and what you stand for.
As tempting as it might be to try to conform so that others will like you:
I think repressing your soul will only lead to illness.
I take inspiration from Alicia Keys and her passion to make a difference not just sing a song.
Unlike Keys freedom for me has come in wearing makeup after years of not wearing makeup.
Applying eyeshadow and eyeliner has been an instant thought-lift as well as face-lift
If this sounds frivolous think again: even a public library is hosting a workshop on beauty for its patrons.
I tip my True Religion striped cap to Alicia Keys for telling her story and revealing herself on the page.
Everyone is beautiful with or without makeup.
Expressing ourselves without fear is exactly the positive prescription needed.
Think for yourself. Dress for yourself. Dare to be yourself.
This is what I plan to do in the coming year.
Left of the Dial 