You’ll never succeed if you don’t try. And, hopefully, you’ll succeed if you do. But, of course, that’s not always the case, and really, who would want it to be. The failures make the successes all the sweeter. And they give us something to talk about. Either as the failure or as a bystander.
For years, I’ve had these very dark circles not just under but also around my eyes. Fairly recently, hanging out with my daughter and my sister-in-law at a family dinner, we got onto the topic of makeup application and the pointless endeavor of trying to cover the dark circles, mine in particular, under the eyes.
My sister-in-law told me what product she uses, same as me. Her application is quite successful. I mentioned that, and then I brought up the unfortunate dark area that encircles my eyes, to which she responded, “I thought that was eye shadow.” Hmm…no.
My daughter, in her most honest and helpful way, told me to consider applying the concealer to my eyelid, followed by, “I see what you’ve been trying to do, but it’s just not working, Mom.” Basically, I’ve been failing all this time and no one felt the need to tell me. In my sister-in-law’s defense, she thought the odd eye shadow look was intentional.
I think I’ve gotten better, though I’m not sure. There are days when I do my best to brighten up, but often I just fall back into the weird.
Years ago, at a Halloween costume party, Steve and I dressed as an old couple, both covering our hair grey (ironic now), wearing what we thought at the time were old people clothes, big patterns and jeans pulled up too high (the current style oddly enough). We got to the party, and I sat next to an older woman (the Mom of a good friend and the hostess of the party). This older woman looked at me and asked who I was supposed to be. A little hurt, I told her I was dressed as an old woman, to which she responded, “The costume…it isn’t working.” Oh. Ok. Thanks. I wonder if I’ve now achieved the look naturally?
Nancy Wiley writes. 