When I posted the other day about being sure to use sunscreen no matter what climate you live in and I made the comment about the cosmetics industry being out of luck if they depended on me, I didn’t intend that in anyway to be a slam against the industry. My not wearing make-up (or coloring my hair for that matter) has nothing to do with thinking that one shouldn’t do such things. While I do have very strong opinions about parents who consider cosmetic surgery for adolescents and young teens, what a woman over 21 wants to do in this arena is her business. Now, in the realm of every day life, I did wear make-up all through high school and college and when I first went into the Army. In fact, that was during the days when the Army gave cosmetic and grooming classes as part of training. One of the reasons for that was because I came in at the very end of the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) timeframe as they were transitioning to the regular Army. That was when women were still predominantly placed into administrative positions and therefore, make-up was expected.

Fast forward to my second assignment where I was in more of an operational unit and outside a lot, plus the morning started with Physical Training (running) three days a week. By the time you combined all of that, trying to do make-up and then having it smudged/sweated off made it fairly impractical to bother with. I slapped on moisturizer instead and I became accustomed to that habit. When I was back in an administrative job, I just decided to stick with the no make-up routine. Do I look better with make-up? Sure, most women do when it’s correctly applied. I simply don’t like to bother with it and so I don’t. I do concede that when I have a photo shoot (doesn’t occur very often), make-up is a requirement or else the photo is terribly washed out, and I dutifully go in for a professional session. As a note, I do use concealer and sometimes mascara, but that’s about it. I’m always a disappointment to Mary Kay consultant that I meet, but that really can’t be helped.