Thanks for the recs Jilli & Plei. Will def look into them. Is there any way to get samples?

This older couple is kicking all kinds of ass on CC.

One of the doctor's waiting room magazines I was reading yesterday had a small piece on Dita Von Teese, and showed an adult picture of her without makeup. She pretty much just looked different. Not awful, and almost not worse (well, she can be quite breathtaking all dolled up, so it's an unfair comparison), but mostly just like a different woman.

I'd love to be able to do SHAZAM! makeup. Without the lightning, natch. And not even just makeup. Just the ability to do a head to toe look. But in the end everything just wobbles and loses steam when it reaches near to my hair, because it just is what it is and can't be played with to any useful extent. So when I do my 50s day dresses with lace panels I'm still the kinda tall black chick with no hair dressed like Doris Day.

Kate Moss is really lovely.

I should look into a concealer too. My usual make up route (thanks to Plei's rec) is powder foundation with an illuminating powder over it. And just the illuminating powder if I'm not teaching. I didn't wear make up all that often until I hit my late 30s. But now I have to say I greatly appreciate the powder's ability to throw my face into slightly softer focus.

So when I do my 50s day dresses with lace panels I'm still the kinda tall black chick with no hair dressed like Doris Day.

Which is, if I may say, an awesome thing to be.

I think I quit using undereye concealer about the time I probably actually started needing it... One recent visit to my parents, my mom actually asked me (after I'd washed any makeup off my face) if I'd been rubbing my eyes because my eyeliner/mascara was under my eyes. No, mom, that's just the genetic gift you gave me plus some ancient sun damage. (She didn't mean it rudely, and part of it was the lighting in the room. )

She's pretty clueless about makeup. She's figured out eyebrow powder as hers are fading, and wants to try eyeliner like one of her sisters (who has some kind of wet/dry powder she gets in Egypt) , but can't manage to wield it like she wants. Other than that, just lipstick. She's never really worn makeup, and I'll catch her watching me apply mine, fascinated by the strange ritual. And I really don't wear that much: foundation on any stupid red spots, a light powder, eyeliner, mascara and maybe a hint of eyeshadow that really is pointless, cause it doesn't really show. And lipstick.

Maybe one of these days, I will post a photo of what I look like before concealer, eyeliner, and lipstick. Pete says he doesn't think I look that different, but I disagree.

Maybe you need a few good wigs, ita. Just to play dress up.

I never thought I'd want to wear a wig, but now that I have a little girl I see wigs in a whole new light. I walk by a wig shop and think, "pink! I want one in pink!"

Gah! How can anyone not know about the red Swingline stapler in Office Space?

So when I do my 50s day dresses with lace panels I'm still the kinda tall black chick with no hair dressed like Doris Day.

Which is, if I may say, an awesome thing to be.

YES. I love the way you look, especially in the 50s day dresses. It makes me grin.

So when I do my 50s day dresses with lace panels I'm still the kinda tall black chick with no hair dressed like Doris Day.

Pillbox hat? Or maybe I just like a woman who can kill with a pinky finger and wears a veil made of netting.