What makeup means to me

Makeup
It started out with a liner black, a long long time back.
When I was just a teenager, a fledgling but all too eager.
This bottle is all I need, I said.
It lines my eyes and even adorns my forehead.

When I was a twenty something, a working girl with air beneath her wing.
There was paint on my nail’s tips and a bit of colour on my lips.
I ventured out into the corporate world, 
My views were ready to be heard.

Soon I was a blushing bride, my prince standing by my side.
The vanity was bursting at its seams, with tubes and pots and bottles and creams.
I played with shadows, bronzers and bases,
And ended up with some funny faces.
Makeup
It was then I realized that, it is a science and also an art.
The science and art of cosmetics, is actually a bunch of magic tricks.
I learnt to contour, I learnt to highlight,
I began to appreciate makeup in all its might.

I used more colour, made my eyes pop. I knew I made his heart hop.
Words took on meanings newish, smokey eyes, nude lips and cheeks dewish.
I looked great I knew,
There wasn’t a day I felt in the blue.

And then I turned mother from wife, and upside down went my life.
My body became something else, I began to lose my sense of self.
I knew to find the confidence that there ‘aint, 
I needed some serious warpaint.

When my self pride began to breakup, what came to my rescue was makeup.
The foundations and concealers did their magic then,
Those bottles became my best friends.

To me different things makeup has meant, as my life turned and bent.
I love how it can enhance a smile, am glad it hides a mark visible from a mile.
It brings out the artist in me,
Putting out a better face for the world to see.

It doesn’t make me what I am not, it helps achieve perfection that is so often sought.
The dressing table is my favourite place, I love it when I paint my face. 
It is my recreation,
Every face a new creation.

4 thoughts on “What makeup means to me”

  1. I agree, it is art. Science? Can you explain? I didn’t understand. May be you are trying to say that choosing the right product with correct ingredients involves science?

    I loved the poem that you wrote about how you transitioned and experimented with makeup.

Hope you enjoyed reading this post. Let me know your thoughts :)