This series is called 'a good way' because it's about sharing the little good ways to walk in. We’re all in a forest – fortunately, in a metaphorical sense. Someone has a tree in their way, another is napping in the sun, and one kid is trying to figure out which way is North. This series is me leaning over and whispering 'this shortcut will take us to a pretty view,' and hopefully you coming along with a picnic and an acoustic playlist (that includes a lot of John Mayer thanks).
Eyeliner.
Jet black, bright blue,
drippy, stiff, or with sparkles, it comes in many different recipes, and yields
exactly 88,400,000 results in a Google search. It’s been a consistent ingredient
of my makeup bag, and if I had both hands tied behind my back, questioned as to
what beauty products I would take with me to the island of Barbuda, it
would cut to the next scene: me walking smugly across the hot sand with a bag
full of L’oreal Superliners. I’d shout all the neighbouring pirates a glass of
Just Juice, and beg them to let me do their makeup, confidently demonstrating
the life-changing and emancipating power of a pair of delicately lined eyes.
Despite my strong negotiating skills, I doubt the pirates would stand
convinced. Some people don’t get it, and I’ve come to accept this, gently
remembering that my enthusiasm would make up for a whole crowd of un-believers.
I’ve been drawing short lines above my eyes since I was 14, when I unwrapped a
brown Revlon crayon from my stocking, and thanked Santa for the gift I didn’t
expect, want, or need, but quickly grew an appreciation for. Brown eyeliner was
my safety, my cornerstone, and my gentle invitation into amateur makeup
artistry. The next phase is slightly regrettable, but one of those experiences
that are necessary for personal growth – no, really – I acquired a $12 purple
crayon liner from an unknown source (factory makeup sale?) and immediately
adopted it into my small and (cheap) collection.
I sometimes wish I had had second thoughts, because there were none. I
went to school everyday looking like I was ready for a dance show, or some
unexplained kind of dress up. This only lasted until the crayon ran out, and someone unsurprisingly gifted me another brown eyeliner, preventing
the indigo spectacular from being repurchased.
Things get slightly more serious as you get older (coffee becomes
needed, not feared) and you decide it’s important to look and feel more responsible. So at 17 I bought my
first L’oreal Superliner (the same one I’m wearing today, only thicker) and
searched YouTube for ‘winged eyeliner tutorials’ with the same grim
determination I had when learning to ride a bike. My helmet was fastened oppressively (shout out to my dad), as I fiercely paused then played, then paused, then played each video. Success didn’t come that day, it
came many days later, when a friend commented on how angelic my eyes looked,
and the evolution of my liner life* came flooding back to me (not in the form
of tears, lest I have to start buying waterproof too).
I love wearing eyeliner and however scandalous this may sound, applying
it has to be one of the most excellent moments of the day. The exponential
curves predicting our economic failure seem less harmful when I’ve drawn that
familiar black line on my eyes, and I could probably make eye contact with any former president of the U.S. as long as I’ve flung the tip as far along my lash as socially
appropriate. You can always vary your look, and if so compelled, you can always
add glitter, a feature that adds undeniable value to the proposition.
So expect me at your door, at the beach, by the shore - sometimes convinced, sometimes confused, but always with liner, and nothing to lose.
So expect me at your door, at the beach, by the shore - sometimes convinced, sometimes confused, but always with liner, and nothing to lose.
Do you wear eyeliner? What
type + style??
Mads xx
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