Tuesday, August 3, 2010

ode to eyeliner










Ever since my mom first gave me the OK to purchase makeup in the 8th grade, I've been obsessed with eyeliner. I don't wear foundation or powder or lipstick or gloss but you'll never catch me walking out of the house without eyeliner. In fact, you'll never catch me walking around my house without eyeliner. It's part of my daily routine -- brush hair, brush teeth, wash face, apply eyeliner.

I love it in all of its many forms. The thin outline, the thick cat-eye, the oft-derided raccoon-eye and the kohl-rimmed goth look. I love it in colors, black and brown. I love liquid liner, pencil liner and crayon liner. I love it, I love it, I love it.

My family has gotten used to this obsession. They make nothing of seeing me at breakfast with a little black line running along my top lid, then seeing me at dinner with a thick black outline circling my entire eyeball. When my cat jumps up on the countertop in my powder room for a drink of water, I just can't help myself.. while I'm waiting, I play around with eyeliner.

And I don't care if it looks "unnatural". In my opinion, that's not what makeup is for. Some people might use it to just add subtle accents to what's already there, but I look at my eyes as just another canvas to paint on. I've gotten so used to adding a thick black line to my upper lid that I don't feel like "me" unless it's there. I'm even thinking of getting it tattooed on permanently one of these days... but then that would take away the fun of painting myself every morning :)

I don't know about most girls, but the only reason I apply eyeliner is because I like the way it looks. I don't do it because society has taught me to wear makeup or because I want to snatch a man (there are better ways of doing that, I'm sure.) I do it because it makes me feel more confident, more snazzy, more unique and more like myself.

I think of eyeliner as clothes for the eyes. Would you walk out of the house without a shirt on? No? Well, I wouldn't walk out of the house without eyeliner.

Well, I wouldn't walk out of the house without a shirt either, but I think that was understood.