Makeup … er … artist?
by Rebecca on 2011-06-07
Emily has long been an explorer of my bathroom cupboards and is pretty well acquainted with my various hair and skin creams. She especially likes to put Oil of Olay moisturizer on her cheeks and suck on a piece of floss. But the more dangerous things like nail polish remover and medicines, along with my makeup box, have been safely tucked away on the bathroom counters out of her reach. (Is this the part where I mention that we havenʼt really child-proofed our house so Emily pretty much comes and goes as she pleases?)
However. Emily yesterday discovered that she can climb onto the bathroom stool, which then takes her up to the magical playland that is my bathroom counter. I was trying to get ready yesterday morning and spending way too much time trying to keep her from grabbing my hair dryer and brush. It was slightly exasperating.
I tried a diversionary tactic. “Looky, have you ever tried eye shadow?” You shouldʼve seen just how round her eyes got when I opened up Clinique Colour Surge Eye Shadow Super Shimmer in Blue Lagoon. First, a tentative stroke on the cheek and then a peek in the mirror. Obviously pleased with the way it looked, she carefully applied a few more streaks.
I could tell that she was having fun, so I offered up “a different color,” just as bright as the first. (After all, what fun is wearing makeup for the first time if you canʼt see what you are doing? As evidenced by some of my class photos from middle school. Sigh.) From there, she put a few more streaks on her cheek, always admiring the effect. And then Emily started getting demanding. “I need a different color!” as I scrambled to find another color that I wasnʼt horribly attached to. (She is never EVER getting her little hands on my Stila Kitten or any of my Smashbox eye shadows. Thank you.)
And so we went for a few more minutes, until I busted out the eye liner, which was a much bolder tool at her disposal. A creamy eye shadow stick from MaryKay went just above her eyebrow. Finally, we finished off with some very pale lip gloss which made her lips unbelievably shiny, at least until she licked the gloss off. We looked in the mirror one last time and I saw one glammed out one-year old and one proud mama.
