Toddlers and Tiaras...no, no. High Fashion!

When I was little, maybe eight years old, one of my most prized possessions was a strawberry-shaped container of lip gloss.  Unfortunately, I can't remember who gave it to me or why it wasn't immediately confiscated.  (On a scale of 1 to 10, my parents rated around a 7 when it came to "rules.")  I also vaguely recall someone giving me some lipstick samples and my mamaw taking the brightly colored ones because those were "her style."  Hey, no fair.

I didn't actually begin to wear make-up until the 7th grade and even then, it wasn't much at all.  I remember one of my friends giving me an eyeliner for my birthday and Grammy's displeasure with the gift.  There were definitely some struggles and growing pains.  At some point in my life, I made a point to note all of these struggles because I wanted to remember exactly what it felt like when I had a daughter of my own.

And now I'm there.

The girls received gift cards to Claire's from a classmate for their birthday.  Up to this point, I've been successful in my mission to shelter them from stores such as Claire's and Justice.  Not that there's anything wrong with these stores but I didn't see the need for them to shop there at 5 years old.  (I'm trying to save some of my sanity here.)  Rich was home with the girls on Monday.  The day before, Emily had asked if they could go to Claire's to use their gift cards and Rich agreed.  I wanted to ask Rich if he felt up to that kind of outing.  Did he know what he was getting himself into? Had he ever set foot inside Claire's?

When I arrived home from work that evening, all three of them greeted me at the door.  With make-up.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

I get it.  They're girly girls who very much want to be like Mommy even though Mommy really only wears make-up to work.  They were introduced to make-up when they were required to wear it at their dance recital last year.  Occasionally, they harass me enough that I give them their "stage" make-up and let 'em go to town.  It's usually satisfies their need to experiment and they forget about it for awhile.

So I tried to apply their new eyeshadow and they flipped out saying that I wasn't doing it right because really how would I know the correct way to apply eyeshadow?!?  (They have gorgeous almond-shaped eyes with eyelids that are a dream to apply make-up to.)   I was watching Allie smear blue eyeshadow above her eyelids and suddenly she looked like a fashion model to me.  You know... the ones with the crazy make-up.   (The term high fashion came to mind and I could be making up that term here but that's what I thought.)  So anyway, I tried to fire off some pictures but we were on our way out the door and I wanted to use only natural light but there wasn't enough of it for a fast shutter speed and my hands had a bad case of the shakes so a lot of the pictures were out of focus.  And yes, I allowed them to wear make-up to the petting zoo and the playground.  This was Day #2 of Make-up in the House so it was all fresh and exciting.  Don't judge me.  (I'm trying to save some of my sanity here.)  I did lay down some rules though, like absolutely no make-up at school.







Emily prefers orange, which accentuates her blue eyes.



(Note - the only edit I made to the above photo was to lighten it.  I didn't edit the eyes at all.)



(Waiting in the van for Rich to run an errand.)









(Anna's not featured here because shortly after the make-up goes on, she washes it off.  Thank God.  She prefers a pale purple eyeshadow.)

Weekend update - Make-up didn't make an appearance this weekend.  One of the girls' latest creative play sessions is Beauty Spa, which cracks us up.  I have no idea where they come up with half of the things they come up with.  The best line out of Beauty Spa thus far has been from Allie. "This is a beauty spa.  Not a working spa."  It's like a Club Med for Kids around here.  I'm sure they'll pull out the eye shadow the next time our dining room is transformed into a beauty spa.

Never a dull moment...