(This is one of my online notes for my daughters Gaby and Mishka which I keep under gabandmish.multiply.com ....)
If there were words I could use to describe myself, the way I know me- that would be close along the lines of ‘custom built, predictable, safe, moderate risk taker, transparent’. I’m sure you girls would have a different impression of mommy, to my comic relief.
It took over 30 years for me to find myself beguiled by the fact that I could learn to be spontaneous and unlearn the tempo I’ve grown so accustomed to. Daring that decision to pursue artistic make up after all these years of interest and hesitancy, I feel this to be one step I will look back on with self discovery, happiness and not one ounce of regret. Not only have I found myself and my creative whims incrementally advancing, I found ‘a place’ for me.
I enjoy showing and rediscovering the beauty in people. And in discovering them, it was a surprise to discover what there is still of me to give. Makeup after all should not be kept superficial. It should be a means to show, if not to re-illuminate, the real beauty that we are born with. The only limitation would be the limits you set to your definition of what is beautiful. I realize now that beauty is an equation. It embraces what’s inside and what’s on the outside, preferably in equal proportion. It’s not just about what I, or any other artist would decide to do with a blank palette of a face. It banks on what is inside the person that will be drawn out. Most makeup artists say they can only do so much when confronted by an atypical beauty. I suppose that accounts to facial features, proportions, marks, contours and imperfections, all of which impose a challenge or a bonus. I suppose that’s part truth especially when you are confined to creating a look. Thats where skill, models and photoshop all merge into the picture.
As for the rest and the majority? What I’ve personally discovered in both the short and long of it, is that over and beyond the physical side of the equation, not even the greatest primer or foundation can conceal what is inside a person or mask what they truly feel. We can make people look close to pretty but not make them glow. At the end of a day or a look, the real challenge is half about what the makeup artist is capable of achieving. The rest relies on that inner glow. And that my mijas, can only thrive on goodness, kindness and a clean heart, among many other positively illuminating features.
I’ve had years where I literally banked on my make up to make or break my mood for the day, to carry me through the day and mask my fear, my insecurity, my inhibition, my self doubt. I totally missed out on the part where I learned I cant give what I don’t have.... I missed out on the part of the equation that accounts for that glow that defies the superficial look. This time, I know a little bit better.
My love affair with makeup began so long ago, I remember one aunt from the US who composed a nice tune about meeting a 5 year old me all donned with Mamita’s make up and heels. To retell you that story would be nice one day. Let me give you a glimpse not so much of the journey or ending, but the beginning in advance. The beginning which started pretty much thirty years after...
