Confessions of a Clinique free gift junkie

It's that time again... every couple of months the posters appear along the tube escalators...time for a trip to the local Clinique counter to buy my two items and pick up my little bag of freebies. As a very late bloomer when it comes to make up (didn't own my own till I was 22) and skin care products in general, the world of cleanse tone moisturise is still a little puzzling. My mum never wore make up, and as a fifteen year old who read Real Gorgeous I always saw the beauty industry as an evil manifestation of the patriarchy designed to oppress women by undermining their selfesteem etc... So I never really bothered with it. Then about a year ago my mum said to me "You know, you'll end up with a crepey neck like me if you don't moisturise!" And in order to narrow down the ridiculously large range of products I have total brand loyalty, purely because my first venture into cosmetics, triggered by Mum's comment also coincided with her showing off a cute little zippered bag of free gifts of which I was acutely jealous, and so I rushed out and got my own. And a world of smelly delights opened up! But that was a year ago and I'm still not exactly sure where the T-zone is... Also, I don't see why if I always burn in the sun I am definitely a type I skin type. All my other answers were type 2 and 3! How does that work? Just because I'm pale and never tan and always burn bubble freckle and peel then go back to being deathly pale (Anne Shirley would say my skin was alabaster) I'm pidgeonholed as a type I for life?

So anyway, last free gift time included a lipstick, Fresh Watermelon. It was way too pinky-red for me and I never really wore it. This time there was also a lippy, Pink Bamboo, a much subtler, more natural shade. So I slapped on the Pink Bamboo and then, feeling edgy, added a light layer of Fresh Watermelon and smacked my lips together so they blended together... and this made me think of Kissing Jessica Stein -
there's this scene where Jessica and her girlfriend are in the back of a cab going somewhere and Jessica compliments Helen's shade of lipstick, and asks what it is. To which Helen replies that it isn't just one, but a blend of three. Jessica sighs that she is always searching for the perfect shade, and Helen says "Oh you'll never find it. Trust me, you have to blend." And it's like this really profound statement on relationships and the futility of looking for "the one" and accepting people for what they are and not being co-dependent and having different sources of happiness and...stuff. I just tried to find the exact quote on IMDB but it's not there. Hmph. It totally summed up the film and no one bothered to put it up there? These people call themselves fans?

So anyway, that's my Clinique obsession. And a bit about a movie I really like. Goodnight!

Cooke, Kaz (1995) Real Gorgeous: The truth about Body and Beauty, Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

***Music currently playing in club below: Crazy in love by Beyonce ... my favourite part is when she goes "Uh oh uh oh uh oh uh oh..."