It Hurts Us

I grew up as something of a tomboy. Having grown up with 4 brothers, I've been known to play with GI Joes and cars, go for bike rides with my boys, as well as throw a ball around a bit. (I may or may not have thrown a punch or two in my younger years as well, but I'll never tell.)

Having said that, I'm still very much a girl; I own my fair share of Barbie dolls (all in storage in my parents' attic, of course), I loved playing with my Cabbage Patch Kids, and my mother taught me to cook and sew (although I never really took to sewing). I believe very strongly in personal hygiene, and I have a favorite item of makeup.

It's mascara.

See? A little goes a long way...

I don't usually wear a lot of makeup anyway, but if I'm in a mad rush, I'm sure to throw on a little bit of mascara before I leave the house.

Up until a few weeks ago, at least...

I have developed, it seems, an allergy to mascara.

AN ALLERGY TO MASCARA, people!

The truth is sometimes ugly...

(I told you it was ugly)

When I woke up with swollen eyes (especially that left one), I was very much distressed. I wash my face every night, so I was trying to figure out what the devil had happened--was it a spider bite? Am I allergic to my face wash?

I called my mom to whine a little bit and receive sympathy.

Done and done.

Mom told me that it was probably an allergy to mascara.

I was dumbfounded--and I didn't want to believe her. (Read above: mascara is my favorite!) But what she said made sense...kind of. For, you see, the same thing happened to her years ago, when I was a young lass still living with my folks.

I hoped against hope to avoid that awful fate...but I tried her suggestion: to go without mascara for a week, and then try a whole new kind (preferably a different brand) to see how things went.

To make an-already-too-long story a bit less long, I'll sum up: I've tried three different kinds (each a different brand), and my stupid eyes have rejected them all! (I didn't really mean that my eyes are stupid; I love my eyes, especially since they work really well without glasses. Really, I blame the mascaras of the world. All of them.)

I've heard that Avon's mascara is hypoallergenic...so I'm going to give that a try.

And I'm hopeful that Avon will work for me. And that they'll make my eyelashes full and luscious...

Sans-mascara...

Here's hoping for the best, eh?

I'm just realizing how ridiculous this post is. First I started this post talking about being a tomboy. Tomboys don't talk about mascara. Especially to the length and degree of this very long-winded post. And then there's the fact that I am genuinely bummed about my mascara-free life these days. Yep, I'm a girl...