A local cosmetic aisle
Product upon product, all the way down two full aisles, filled with models whose faces look flawless they scream to us, ordinary women, “BUY me if you want to look beautiful, Buy me and you will have it all – BUY ME!” The makeup industry is a billion dollar business. Why? Because the people who sell the makeup know how to make us feel like we must need it to be complete. They use the most well known gorgeous models making us believe if we purchase their product maybe we can look like they do.
I grew up in a household where my mom only wore lipstick and no other makeup. My dad said he liked what she looked like naturally. He did not want a painted face. He was in love with her not some mask. As a little girl he did not want me to wear nail polish. I remember using blackberries, off a bush in the overgrown field behind our house, as fingernail polish. I of course also stained my fingers. He sat me down that day and said “Lori, you don’t need extra stuff to be beautiful. You are beautiful.” As a teenager my parents allowed my sister and I to use makeup lightly. I wore lipstick and eye liner. My sister used it all. By the time I found my husband I rarely used lipstick and after we were married I retired the lipstick. I am me. Wrinkles, blemishes, flaws and all; I am me. God made me, my daddy loved me, my husband chose me, and my youngest calls me beautiful. I know and have since I was younger it’s not about my appearance on the outside it is what I radiate from the inside that forms that beauty.
Yes, makeup can enhance a woman’s features. No, it is not a sin or a bad thing to wear makeup. But as a woman you need to know that paint is not what makes you beautiful! What makes you beautiful is your spirit, your personality, your smile; every laugh line and every crow’s foot have earned you the position in the hearts of those who love you as beautiful. If you feel better wearing the makeup because it gives you a bit more confidence then use it but don’t build a mask and hide behind it. God only makes beauty. You are a natural beauty without all those creams, paints and brushes just the way you are.
