Getting Started

The first time I got makeup of my own, I was five or six.

It was Valentine’s Day, and along with my heart-shaped chocolates, my mother gave me a Tinkerbell Cosmetics set.  My oldest sister had already started wearing makeup by then, and my mom must have noticed all the envious looks I was giving her fruity lip glosses and dark black liners. The little set was a way to appease me – and keep my sister’s stash safe from my grubby little fingers.

Now, if you weren’t a kid in the ‘80s, you may not be familiar with the Tinkerbell brand, but it was a fun, little line targeted at kids, with lots of pink packaging covered in hearts and flowers and a pretty little fairy to serve as the brand’s namesake. There are some great photos of the brand’s offerings here.

My set came with an obnoxiously bright pink lipstick and a red nail polish. The cool thing about Tinkerbell nail polishes was that they were super easy to remove – you could peel all of it off your nail in one big piece. To say I was obsessed with my new makeup is an understatement. I would polish my nails each morning, peel it off each night, and start all over again the next day.  My mom wouldn’t let me wear the lipstick to school, but as soon as I got home, I’d be in front of the bathroom mirror, going to town with all that pink.

I never looked back after that first Tinkerbell set – my obsession with makeup had been well and fully cultivated. A half dozen more Tinkerbell sets followed before I started stealing my sister’s makeup, and begging my mom for the lipsticks that came with her gifts with purchase. Once I was old enough to babysit, I had money of my own to buy makeup – and I’m pretty sure that’s where every penny of my earnings went.

I love makeup.  It makes me happy.

I’m hoping that this blog will be all about sharing that happiness. I work as a freelance writer, and while I do focus mainly on beauty and style topics, I don’t always get to write about the things that I want. I don’t usually get to chat with other makeup junkies about the things that they love, hate, or covet. I hope that you’ll share your thoughts on the topics posted here when the mood strikes – I welcome comments, emails, tweets, any way that you want to get in touch. In particular, feel free to let me know what types of topics/posts you’d like to see on the blog. Pretty much anything makeup, skincare, and beauty-related interests me, so I’m up for anything.