I mentioned it before, but within 24 hours of arriving home from the hospital, all my eyelashes and eyebrows had fallen out. Seriously? Somehow it never bothered me to go in public without a wig or even a hat, but it killed me to even go around my house sans lashes and brows. Thankfully, I already had a set of false lashes I’d bought in the fall (pre-cancer) to play with. They’re not easy to put on, but I got quicker with practice. Eyeliner became super important—lining first with a good dark liner (I used a liquid water proof liner by L’Oreal that I found at Target. Like this but waterproof) gave me a little room for error so that I didn’t have to be quite so perfect in my application. And that same eyeliner did a good job defining my eyes so that I could skip lashes on days when I just didn’t care enough to put in the time. The Anastasia brow gel that I loved to darken my super blonde brows didn’t quite do the trick once the blonde hairs were gone. So I headed back to Nordstrom and asked for their help. They pointed me to a different Anastasia product (brow express) that does a fabulous job of faking brows. It takes a while to do my brows since they don’t exist—using a stencil and several other products. But to me, it’s so worth it. And I can already see some little lashes and brows starting to grow back in, so hopefully the long process won’t be necessary soon.

With chemo all wrapped up, I feel like I’ve finally got some time to do things I’ve neglected.  I had a Christmas exchange at Nordstrom that I’ve been needing to get to, so Sally and I met up there this week.  Thankfully, I ended up with a $25 credit, so we obviously headed right over to the cosmetic counters.  There was a MAC lipstick I’d read about that I wanted to check out.  Unfortunately, it was a pretty dull color, so I appealed to the women working there to help me find a new lipstick color.  My only criteria was that I wanted something that was bold—I’ve found that’s they key to looking happy and healthy while out and about with my bald head wrapped in a scarf.  I’ve always loved a good lipstick, but these past few months, my lipstick choice has been so much more important to me.  The last thing I want is to look sick and pitiful.  The first color she suggested would look “just perfect” on me.  Yep, I agree.  Dubonnet is one of my favorites.  She grabbed another, more neutral tone.  Just like another fave, Cosmo.  She asked about a bright red—I’ve got a couple of those that I really like.  Then she picked out a crazy bright pink.  I pulled out my lipstick pouch to confirm, it was pretty much the same as my Smashbox Fuchsia Flash.  She got distracted by another customer and gave up on us.  Finally after about thirty minutes Sally and I strolled over to the Nars counter and I picked one that I’d never choose, at least I don’t already have that one.  I doubted I’d like it—too fuchsia.  Of course, when the Nars representative told me that she didn’t have any in stock, I knew I’d probably like it after all.  Sure enough, I loved it.  It’s in the mail.  Can’t wait until my new Funny Face arrives.