Motion to Slay

This pandemic has been a financial blessing and a financial curse. On the one hand, we’ve saved an embarrassing amount of money by not going out. On the other hand, now we have a bunch of money burning holes in our pockets. Selling our house for more than $100k more than what we bought it for didn’t help. So, we bought a new house with it and had plenty left over to *fully* furnish the new house. You probably don’t understand the gravity of what I just said because you’ve probably owned or rented a place that you were able to fully furnish. 

But not me. 

This will be the first time I have lived anywhere that is not my parents’ house where every room has furniture. Like, guys I’ve made it. I’m a real adult now. And it’s wwwweeeeiiiirrrrd. I can’t quite grasp the fact that I own a grown-up house with grown-up furniture and have a grown-up job. My emotional age is still 16 when we had séances, ate Doritos, and wrote fan fiction for Gundam Wing all night. 

I mean. 

I still do that, but that’s not the point. The point is while we’ve saved a lot of money and recently came into possession of a lot of money (like when that check for our old house hit, I took a screen shot of my bank account, printed it and framed it because it is the most money my eyes will ever see on that computer screen), we’ve also spent more money than I ever have in my entire life. And it’s terrifyingly easy once you start. I bought not only furniture, but a new fancy purse, new fancy makeup, and fancy Christmas gifts for everyone I knew. It’s so easy to say, “this is the most money I’ve ever had, why not treat yo-self.” So I was ready to drop some dough on new eye shadow palettes. 

But because there’s something wrong with me, I spent five hours on YouTube looking up tutorials for the specific palette(s) I was looking at. And while I was wasting my life because of what I am certain is a psychological disorder, I came across a makeup artist doing tutorials for the Juvia’s Place Zulu and Masquerade palettes—two of my first palettes EVAR. 

When people talk about inspiration, what I experienced must be precisely what they mean. 

I dropped my plan to buy yet another new palette faster than a cardboard box full of palmetto bugs (unless you have experienced palmetto bugs, you won’t get this reference). So instead of buying more makeup, I spent $12 on two new brushes, went home, sat in front of my mirror and spent hours playing with my two oldest palettes and came up with two looks that I was SO proud of. 

When you think about it—when you buy a palette, especially a bigger one, you really only use a few of the shades. That’s why whenever you watch makeup gurus show you their palettes, there are only 3-4 pans where you can see the bottom. Most of the other colors are left untouched. I can’t blame them. The pull of shiny new colorful palettes with that ONE amazing color you just NEED is strong. Like the dark side strong. Like just-one-more-mimosa-strong. Like I’ll-go-to-the-gym-tomorrow strong. But it is **empowering** to challenge yourself to use colors you’ve never used before to create beautiful looks. It is also empowering to exercise discipline. Now. I am in no way advocating denying yourself. But when you set a goal, or set a limit ad actually achieve it or follow it? That shit’s addictive. It’s an accomplishment! Even if it’s tiny. Like, not having that 5^th mimosa; or saying, “no. We reject your offer”instead of, “I’ll take that to my client and get back to  you.” Or like smiling at someone you pass instead of looking at the ground.

This is getting a bit deep for a makeup post. 

But I guess it was kind of a “moment” for me. I hadn’t challenged myself creatively in a minute, and this was SO refreshing and a bonus serotonin in not having spent more money. So if you’re one of those people who has 12 different palettes, I challenge you to create looks with shades you haven’t touched yet. If you only own one big palette, I challenge you to use ALL the shades. Escape your comfort zone, because here’s the thing: only YOU are going to see it. It’s not like there’s some weirdo in your room watching you do your makeup. 

If there is…IDK what to tell you. That shit’s spooky. 

On a related note, Juvia’s Place will forever hold a place in my heart. Not only because they crank out AMAZING products. But because they are inclusive. They are fun. They are affordable. I encourage you to check out their line. I would offer a discount code, but I don’t have any. But if you hype my Insta up enough, maybe that could happen (wink wink)