As You Age, You Do Not Become a Lesser Version of Who You Used to Be

When I talk of my experiences working at the makeup counter, when women would come to me, desperate for some relief from the pain of feeling like they were losing their value, as though I were their last hope to have any chance at happiness - well, I am sometimes met with blank stares, as though the person wants to say "uh, isn't it just lipstick you were selling?"

So many women found themselves coming to my counter with concerns about how much they were losing value.  Every time they looked in the mirror, they thought, "who am I?"  They were bombarded with images of youth as power and of aging as the enemy.  It was no wonder that they came searching for an answer found only in anti-wrinkle cream.

The truth is, you DO change as you get older.  But - you do not become a lesser version of who you used to be.  

The power of lipstick is in the attitude of the person who wears it.  A woman would approach my counter, concerned with lines, with wrinkles, with "the fact that he won't touch me anymore and why would he because I'm no longer who he married" and would start looking at all of the different colors of lipstick at the counter.  Aubergine, tawny, mauve, rose, scarlet would temporarily cause her to forget her crusade against crows feet.  Then she'd dare to try one on.  "What do you think of this?" she'd ask gingerly, partially afraid to hear that I'd tell her it looked terrible and that it enhanced her wrinkles even further.

Nonetheless, the magic had begun.  I would lead her back to the mirror and watch her cautiously admire herself.  I'd dust a little blush on her cheeks, maybe stroke a bit of brow pencil on her brows.  She'd take a deep breath, slowly easing in to the notion of acknowledging her beauty, here, now.  Watching her see herself again in the mirror, for the first time, and how she IS beautiful and how she DOES deserve it, and she DOES matter, and how it's NOT all over was breathtaking.  

I believe that a woman, as a butterfly, continually evolves into greater and greater versions of herself, stopping nothing short of pure goddess.

The reason why I began coaching is because after a woman left the counter, I seldom got to know how the lipstick actually transformed her life, and I knew that there are so many women who never dare to approach the counter, much less to try on the lipstick.  Today, I dare you to forget your lines, your wrinkles, your acne, your flaws for just long enough to enjoy the delight of playing with color.