damselfish | The art of war paint

Yesterday was my first attempt at make-up in about six years. I have a knack for putting it on, apparently, and even my horrible try at eyeliner didn't look bad, according to witnesses whose opinions I trust. I did learn that my bathroom has poor lighting and I look either jaundiced or pale as a sheet. Still, it was heartening because my plan was to wear make-up for school since, yeah yeah it's just school, but in Miami everyone gets dressed up (you look like beach-going trash because that's what we do here, but you're still dressed up) and sometimes it's nice to, well, look nice.

Then I came across a major problem trying to remove it. I have sensitive skin, which only exacerbates my problems... or causes them, really.. First I used Lush's Ultrabland, but wiping it off irritated my face like a fundie atheist at Christmas. Then my grandmother hit me up with some of her Clarins cold cream. It worked okay, until I toned and there was still foundation coming off on the wipe (another wipe, who needs microdermabrasion when you've got cotton wool scrubbing at you several times a day?) I felt so unclean going to bed, knowing there was still stuff on my face.

This throws off my whole routine. If I use a make-up remover it means I have no cleanser at all, because washing off the remover and then using a cleanser and then a toner is asking for trouble. Isn't it? I figure that's what most people do, but now I'm all confused and whatnot since I already use the gentlest angel tears derived cleansers and the thought of throwing any more abuse into the mix makes me pre-emptively break out. Okay, not really. I looked at the vast array of make-up things on my counter and thought, like hell I'm doing this every day until it becomes necessary, even if I am good at it.

Being a grown-up is hard.