A week without makeup

...is like a week without sunshine. No, soft toilet paper. Wait, even worse - a week without chocolate - for me, anyway.

But I survived. A whole week without a full face of makeup. When I traveled down south to Myrtle Beach, I accidentally left my entire makeup bag in Ohio. I was completely distraught about leaving my cat, drove away from my apartment in tears, and left my coveted makeup bag behind.
I knew that I wouldn't "need" makeup for the morning/early afternoon hours at the beach, because I would be laying out, all slimed up in sunscreen. However, I had no face to put on after showering up to go out in the evenings. It just felt weird, and threw me completely off kilter the entire week of vacation.
I know what you're probably thinking - It's the beach, who cares?

The thing about makeup and I is that it makes me feel awake. It makes me feel "complete" - it's been a part of my daily routine for over 15 years. And going a whole week without it made me feel like I was forgetting something every single day! I felt kind of lost... and not like myself. It took me half an hour to get ready instead of 50 minutes. I looked strange. I looked sleepy and lifeless. I found an old, dried out tube of Revlon Colorstay Lipstick in Fabulous Fig,in my suitcase - which worn alone without the rest of my mask looked a little vampire-ish. It really looked stupid with a slightly sunburned nose! I trashed it after the first day and went Au-naturale the rest of the week.

For the most part, my makeup routine is simple. I use a tinted moisturizer for the face, just a little concealer here and there, lightly fill in my sorry excuse for eyebrows, apply coffee colored lipstick and eyeshadow, some liner, mascara, and bam - I'm set. However, if i neglect to wear any of the above on any given day, co-workers ask me if I'm sick. "Are you feeling ok today?" "You don't look like you feel well". "Are you sick?" "Didn't get enough sleep last night?" So you see, most of the problem clearly lies in what I think about what others think of me, not so much myself - I'm comfortable looking at myself in the mirror, completely makeupless. My husband can't tell a difference (at least that's what he says!)I just don't like being asked if i feel well four hundred times per day, and additionally, I feel super strange changing any part of my "getting ready" routine.

This past weekend, on our short trip to Pittsburgh, I forgot my favorite hair brush. Remembered the hair dryer... forgot my prized Paul Mitchell hair brush. The only brush that can smooth my thick, miserably nasty frizzy hair. So... i frustratingly finger styled wet hair as i blew it dry, which led me to this conclusion: I NEED DOUBLE EVERYTHING. I need to build a "travel beauty bag" and not have to pack things each and every time I head out on an adventure. The thing is... this is going to get mighty expensive. I hate travel size crap, it runs out too quickly and i have to remember to re-stock. I'm looking for full sizes of every single thing I use on a daily basis, including an additional Paul Mitchell hair brush and hair dryer. and hair straightener. I think I'm going to be on drugstore.com for a really long time! Anyone have any $$$ they can donate to this super important cause? (of course, I'm completely kidding.  But i look forward to sharing my Drugstore shopping cart with you when it's all said and done.)

One more thing: whatever happened to Caboodles? Can you still buy them?