Makeup Manifesto

You would never know it from looking at all the stuff I schelpp around on a regular basis, but one question I always ask myself is: How can I be doing LESS? Now, if my boss is reading this, I don't mean on the effort front. What I mean is, how can I achieve the look I am striving for in as little time and as few products as possible? Even people who love to have their makeup professionally done don't particularly appreciate the underlying idea that it takes them an hour in the makeup chair to be "done". (And certainly from a film/TV perspective, no producer prefers having their actor sitting in a makeup chair for 45 minutes when they could be done just as well in 25.) Who wants to put on lip liner, lipstick and lip gloss for pouty perfection when there might be the perfect lipstick out there that does all three? More on this later in my Double Duty postings.

Another question I am frequently asked by friends and strangers everywhere is "What makeup do I NEEEEEEEED?" To this, my answer is always the same: You don't NEED anything. You are beautiful just the way your mommy made you. No, that is not bull. You will not die if you leave the house without mascara. That being said, does it feel nice to look polished and put together? Yes. Does buying a $20 lip gloss sometimes act as the perfect pick-me-up? Yes, that's why Sephora does well even in fiscally troubled times. But people! You don't NEED it. So going forward, any information is to be taken with the grain of salt that this is all FUN. Makeup is not something to be intimidated or stressed out by. OK?

I might be locked up by certain makeup artists for making this little manifesto, but so be it.