I love makeup. You’d never know it, because even when I wear what I consider a lot of makeup, people ask me, “why don’t you ever wear makeup?” (This is the moment I always think to myself: wow, imagine what they’d think if I didn’t have any makeup on?). I am a painter - I love color, and brushstroke, and depth, and beauty, so on the rare occasions that call for me to spruce up and dress up, I am all about glamour eyes and angelina lips. And by the way, for the truly festive event, I believe a little faux beauty mark is Absolutely Okay, even Necessary. We all need to embellish from time to time.

By now some of you have visited our little slice of blog heaven over here at 2nd Street Beauty enough times to know that I am still the newest girl in beauty town. As one of a few bloggers, and I think because people here feel sorry for me and my pitiful arsenal of beauty products, I am given hoards of advice on must-haves, as well as the chance to try out some of the fabulous hair and skin care lines 2nd Street Beauty carries. It is a delicious perk!  - like a little birthday gift arriving late every once in a while.

My latest adventure came a week or two ago when I visited the Los Altos Store (5518 Britton Drive) to have my makeup done. I had met one of 2nd Street Beauty’s makeup artists, Marco, at our office just that morning. I wanted to see what he would do that I wouldn’t, couldn’t, or didn’t know how to. And because the last time someone did my makeup I was 19 years old and modeling to pay for college. Trust me, nineteen was a very long time ago.

I sat in a tall chair, closed my eyes and relaxed. There is a lot of natural light in the store and Marco was going for a natural look, so I just let him do his thing. I have green eyes and he picked a beautiful palette to kick up my color without going overboard. Browns and oranges and a bit of soft pink on my lids and cheeks. He sassed up my existing mascara and eyeliner, used a bit of shadow to highlight my cheekbones, and did a lipliner and lipstick in a neutral pinky-brown that worked beautifully with the soft pastels of the shadow and blush. Marco chose from an array of rich eyeshadows from Smashbox - I loved all of them! - and used a Jane Iredale mineral-based foundation that gave me a bit of color (like a light suntan) and stayed with me until I washed all that glamour off later that night.

When I left, I could have traded out my jeans for something pretty and gone anywhere, and going from casual to club-ready took only twenty minutes! Marco was adorable and attentive and actually listened when I told him the things I know don’t work on me, like red lipstick, which, instead of giving me a fair-skinned, dark-haired Snow White sort of feel, makes me look old and tired. Quite the contrary, I left 2nd Street Beauty looking and feeling lovely, ready for a summer evening out. Too bad it was a Tuesday night, and the only thing on my calendar was a quick dinner with my sister and a load or two of  laundry.

Hi-ho, hi-ho. All dressed up with nowhere to go.