This is a habit that is taking me a really long time to establish. I can see that I have been taught since childhood not to spend time on myself. This puritan self-denial has not been good for my mental health.

I edited the products I use daily and put away the extras in labeled boxes. If I ever need them before the items are too old I’ll have plenty of eye shadows and everything. I’m still sticking with a natural look. I am using a few lipsticks in different formulas: gloss, balm, pencil and actual lipstick. The colors are similar.

I cleared off the dressing table with three part mirror I inherited from my mother. She used it for a desk and had taken the mirrors off. When I sat down in front of the mirrors, a few decorative items on the table top and utilitarian stuff in the drawers, I realized I had rarely seen myself reflected in that pretty glass. The piece probably dates from the 20’s or 30’s but is not art deco, it is colonial revival with pineapples on the side.

Every day before going out I try to put sunblock on my face and neck and lipstick (on my lips).