make my face

today i was searching for my little electric flosser, and ran into a whole bunch of things in my make-up bag that i don't use anymore but can't get rid of. i was sitting there and looking through my make-up and reminiscing and then wondering if any other women do the same thing. make-up is a weird thing, we buy it for aesthetic reasons (mostly) but after you use them they become strange emotional talismans. here's what i hold on to and why.
this is a ridiculous eyeshadow; it was completely overpriced, it's a crazy color, and the packaging is fantastic. i admit sometimes i buy certain things because i like the way they look. it's usually a box of tea, or a shampoo at the grocery store with a cool bottle, or a beer because of the label. this, however, was sent to me by my sister for a birthday one year. it actually looks better on than you might think, although i don't wear it often. in fact, i do believe it's been over a year since i last put it on. (that might change tomorrow, though.) my sister is a lot more adventurous when it comes to make-up, and as much as i know she loves me, she's always trying to get me to wear more make-up, take more time doing my hair in the morning, and shaping my eyebrows. this was one of her attempts at girly-ing me up, and i was touched by the amount she spent on this eyeshadow. that's why i keep it.
this little quad of creme eye shadows was a staple in my make-up routine for a whole year in college. i like me in purples, and because it was creamy i could just smudge a little around my eyes and go. i don't wear these at all anymore, but when i see the little case i think about the apartment i lived in, my little walk to school every day, and i can smell the building where i had all of my classes. it was arntzen hall, and it smelled like old chalk, drywall, and wet jackets.
a device that is supposed to help me make herringbone braids in my hair. as much as i try, i cannot do anything but regular old Pocahontas braids down the sides of my face. i can't french braid, i can't herringbone, i can't even do one big braid down the back! this thing did not work, but i can't get rid of it because it holds the possibility of being able to braid my hair in a fancy manner. i keep thinking i'm getting it wrong, that if i can just figure out how to use this then i will always have good hair. i have all this hair, hair i won't cut anymore, but i don't do anything with it. i may as well buy myself a huge pair of breasts then wear only XXL sweatshirts.
this is some solid perfume from the gap, from about 7 years ago. it's not the same color it was when i bought it, it isn't very strong anymore, and i don't wear it. when i bought it i loved that it was a solid, and i carried it with me for touch-ups throughout the day. when i smell it now i remember one of my favorite years on bellingham, when i was living with my best friend from high school downtown, within walking distance of all the bars. we had a huge trampoline where we made out with many boys, i ate a lot of frozen pot stickers that year, and every single morning for breakfast i had a bagel. that year i got my first tattoo and my septum pierced. i always smelled pretty.
i bought this lipgloss in a sephora under the louvre. it's kind of sticky, and i don't wear it often, but dude. i bought it in france, under the museum that's home to the mona lisa. i might never throw this away.
before i went back to glasses for good as a graduate student i wore a lot of eye make-up. well, i wore a lot more than i do now. i favored bright eye pencils that i could smudge around my eyes (i only use shadows i can smudge because my look is, at best, haphazard, and at some point i will rub my eyes and smudge it anyway), and i loved the blue one because it was just so dumb. the green was cute, and the yellow is more gold when it goes on. honestly though, even though i don't wear these very often anymore, they accurately reflect my entire attitude toward fashion and make-up: the funnier, the better. semi-retarded and sort-of out of date? then i'll take two, please.