Would you believe me if I told you that I wear lipstick every day?
Yes — every day.
Well, okay, I may take advantage of Sunday being the day of rest, but you will not catch me without painted lips during the week. I believe in wearing lipstick — not only because it provides me with ultimate confidence, but because it makes me work harder. I find that, whenever I smear a touch of color onto my lips, I stand up straighter and walk a tad taller with my head held high. I find that I smile a little wider and that my penmanship is a smidge neater. So do my lipsticks hold some sort of majestic power once I apply them each morning?
I’d love to think so — and in a perfect world, they would.
The summer before my sophomore year of college, I dedicated a lot of time to learning how to fall in love with myself. It was difficult, and it took time and patience, but once I had fallen, it felt effortless and wonderful. Still to this day, I wonder why it was so laborious in the first place. With each passing day, I took more pride in my appearance and more pride within myself. I nourished and loved my insides, which reflected on my outsides just as much as it did on my insides. When I moved back to campus that late August, I had blossomed. I found that with the more love I put into my appearance, the more effort I put into my studies and priorities. I presented myself the way that I felt I deserved to be represented; my mother, a very intelligent and assembled woman, was right.
As I nurtured myself more and more, I started to attempt bold and daring lip hues, such as bright reds, deep reds, an array of pinks, and even burgundy. As many of my friends and family know, I am primarily an understated person. I usually prefer to be simplistic, so some minimal tasks can mean a great deal to me, even as minimalistic as an audacious shade of lipstick. Don’t get me wrong, I like to believe that I’m pretty trendy — but in my case, donning lipstick is not just a trend, it’s a whirlwind of feelings. The first few times I was modeling burgundy lips, I would step out of my dorm room with hesitance; my mind would flash from, ‘It’s 65 degrees today, is it too warm to be sporting this monumental amount of burgundy?’ to thoughts such as, ‘Who cares? You shouldn’t.’ And I wouldn’t. I could not deny the fact that I felt magnificent in my burgundy lipstick, and I made it a daily habit to swipe on a color of my choice. I was contributing more in my classes, I began each new day with the confidence that I could talk to anyone about anything, and I developed a love for my colorful lips. When I wear lipstick, I feel like a leader.
I guess the main point of me preaching my habitual lipstick use is to say this: I hope everyone has found or finds their “lipstick.” Never give up searching for that simple something, whatever it may be, that assists you in becoming the most optimal version of yourself. In my case, it is the painless practice of a cosmetically enhanced feature, but it isn’t about how big the practice is, it’s about the impact that the daily practice has on your ability to refine and interlock who you are and who you strive to be.
