Eyebrows are Sisters, not Twins

Mondays are good days.  I know!  I know!  For many people, Mondays are the worst way to start a week!  There have been many a Monday I have felt the same way.  With treatment being on Tuesday, by the time I get back around to Monday I’ve got pretty decent energy making Mondays good days.

Wouldn’t you know it?  The American Cancer Society® Look Good Feel Better® workshop was held on a MONDAY!  The timing was perfect.  Having good energy to do something fun is always a treat.  On top of that, the workshop was a cornucopia of blessings.

Are you familiar with the tradition that some families have of getting new pajamas on Christmas Eve?  Everyone knows they are getting pajamas, well the seven and under crowd may not have it figured out, but otherwise everyone knows they are about to open “The Pajama Present.”  Perfectly wrapped boxes containing the perfect new pair of Christmas Eve pajamas for every member of the family.

As each woman walked into the conference room, we were given a beautiful orchid colored makeup bag.  It had the same feeling as the Christmas Eve jammies present!  The anticipation of looking to see what was inside was almost too much to bear!

If little makeup fairy creatures were real, I would have been certain they were hiding inside my bag!  The moment arrived to snip off the security tag and have a look inside.  As I pulled the zipper back, shimmers, sparkles, beautiful diffused light poured out of the opening.  For a moment I thought I heard laughter and tiny giggles coming from deep inside my bag.

Luxury brands like Estée Lauder™ and IT COSMETICS™ generously donated most of the items in my bag.  It was a lavish blessing to receive luxury items I would have never purchased for myself.  Other brands including Dial®, MARY KAY®, Clarins, Olay®, Neutrogena®, Revlon®, Banana Boat® and Dior rounded out my over the top bag of goodies.

Each bag was jam packed with makeup items.  Although there were the same types of items in each bag, the individual items varied from bag to bag.  Everyone received a face wash and moisturizer, foundation, eyebrow pencil, mascara, eyeshadow, blush, makeup brushes and lip color.

Some bags contained extra treats like nail polish.  I found body lotion and sunscreen tucked away in the bottom of my bag.  Looking at the different products we each had was half the fun.  We “oohed” and “aahed” over it all!  Each bag just “happened” to have the perfect makeup items for the different women.

A makeup artist that has also been trained and certified through American Cancer Society volunteered her time to walk us through makeup application as well as some tips and tricks.  Ashleigh helped each of us in creating a perfect eyebrow.  She would do one for us and then we would try our hand at doing the other.  As some of us were struggling to make the perfect matching brow, Ashleigh said, “Eyebrows are sisters, not twins.”  AHHH!  So that is the trick to making them look natural!

Ashleigh encouraged us to give the products a try even if we didn’t think they were the right color for us or that we would like it.  Boy, am I glad I listened to her advice!  Mary Kay provided a beautiful lipstick that I normally would have passed over thinking it wasn’t a good color for me.  Everyone that knows me will tell you that I’m a lip gal.  I have more lip colors and products than I should admit.  Any time I am in a makeup store or pass lip displays, I’m drawn to them.  Ladies!  I’m here to tell you that when I put on that lipstick, I became a new woman!  Well, in the lipstick arena anyway.  It was that good! Red/Rouge 022850 is now my power lipstick!

This workshop (nor my new favorite power lipstick) would have not been possible without the generous donations from many companies.  These weren’t sample sizes or even deluxe samples sizes.  Nope!  Each item was a generous full size product!  Now we have all new makeup to take us through this journey and beyond.  Thank you to all the companies that make donations.

Special note of thanks to IT Cosmetics for their program of donating a Brow Power™ Brown Pencil and a Love Beauty Fully™ Brush to Look Good Feel Better for each one purchased.  That alone has made me an IT Girl.  If you are in the market for a new brow pencil or brushes, I encourage you to check out IT Cosmetics.  The brow pencil is phenomenal!

To the entire cast of behind the scenes volunteers and the makeup class trainers, thank you for giving of your precious time.  It is a blessing to have someone that doesn’t know you personally to care about you in a very tangible way.

If you or someone you know would like more information on the workshops, please contact American Cancer Society by calling  1-800-395-LOOK (5665) or visiting the Look Good Feel Better website:  http://lookgoodfeelbetter.org/.

Next time you are in the grocery store or mall and spot someone rockin’ a purple beanie wearing a fierce red lipstick, it might be me.

Thrive Through It!