MAC Cosmetics. Salon East 316. A girl’s dream day.

I have a confession to make. I’ve pretty much been using the same makeup brands for as long as … well, for as long as I’ve been wearing makeup.

I was hanging out with Amy one day and she commented that every time she smells Cover Girl powder she thinks of me since that’s what I wear. “That’s not what I wear anymore,” I thought, “I just wore that mostly when I was 16.” I went home and assessed my makeup collection … uhm, yeah. About 3/4 of it was Cover Girl brand.

I tried Clinique once or twice and liked it okay, but I never really saw why I needed it over whatever I could just buy at the grocery store or Target.

But for some reason, for the past few weeks I’ve had this desire to try “big girl” makeup. It is probably because, since I’ve been doing the online shopping at the grocery store, I’ve found it nearly impossible to buy my makeup online. I can’t even look at it in the package. I order what I think I’ll like, get it home and try it, and hate it. Money down the drain. I knew I needed to try something that would allow me to try it on at the counter.

But I didn’t know what brand to try. So of course, I turned to Twitter. Asked people what their favorite makeup was. Got some Clinique recommendations. And then, the recommendation I was looking for from an unlikely source – a man. Ashley told me his wife likes MAC Cosmetics. That was the light bulb I’d been looking for. I knew nothing about the brand other than I was always drawn to the marketing, and I was pretty sure I’d heard people talk about how great it was.

Then I was at the mall with Sarah a few days ago, picking out a lip gloss from Victoria’s Secret (one of my few deviations from grocery store brands), and she mentioned how great MAC is. “I keep hearing that,” I told her.

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And then, I got pink hair. And I knew that if I was ever gonna do it, now was the time. I actually intended to go to Sephora, knowing they had fun colors,, and the one or two things I’d bought from there were really good quality.  But as Jeff and I walked through South Park mall, he pointed out the MAC store. I was like a bug attracted to the light …

Walked in and met Kathey. And she was awesome. “How do you normally wear your makeup?” she asked after I told her I’d just had my hair dyed and now needed makeup help.

“You’re looking at it,” I responded.

She studied me for a moment, said, “Girl, you are really natural. We’re gonna pump it up.”

She wouldn’t let me look at the colors until she was done with me. She told me she was going to make my makeup match my hair, but it wasn’t going to be too wild. I had no idea what to expect. Would I look like I was ready to go nightclubbing? Would I look like a clown? How would she match pink hair without being too wild?

And then, she let me look. And it was perfect. I never knew that pink hair with pink and purple eyeshadow would make my eyes look so … green. She gave me pink cheeks and bright pink lips.

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I liked my new hair before. But after Kathey, I loved my new hair.

I bought half of what she put on me, and now that I’m thinking about it some more, I really need to go get the rest. It seems pricey, but if you look at how expensive makeup is in general, and how much I wasted over the years buying the wrong stuff, I don’t think it’s unreasonable at all.

In fact, I’m loving my new hair so much that I can’t wait to keep experimenting with crazy styles. I have a feeling Kathey and I are going to continue being very good friends in this venture …

Goodbye, Cover Girl. It’s been fun, but Kathey is my new friend now.