Burger without fries

Netnet Camomot

I USED to wear makeup way back in college many many years ago. Heels, red long nails, the works.

Then, a decade later, I went into a business that required no makeup, and that ended the habit of putting color on my face daily.

Lately, though, the eye luggage has been racking up excess baggage fees at the airport, thus, the need to cover them up with concealer. Now, concealer without makeup is like John Lloyd without Bea. Hmmm. OK. Burger without fries. Chicharon without vinegar. Bulad without garlic rice.

So, there’s the foundation. Sayang naman the foundation if there’s no eyeshadow. Sayang naman the eyeshadow if there’s no eyebrow. Sayang naman the eyeshadow and eyebrow if there’s no mascara. Sayang naman all those colors in the eye area if there’s no blush. Sayang naman all that color if there’s no lipstick.

So, there are days when I go out of the house looking like I’m going to a wedding, induction, or charter anniversary. Because before this eye luggage became heavier, I used to wear makeup only to special occasions. For regular days, lipstick was enough, without face powder, thank you. And there was that time before when face powder was enough, no lipstick, no nothing.

I hate putting makeup on and fixing my own hair. I’d rather sit there and let someone do all that for me. I could afford that–if I were Kris Aquino. Or Oprah. But since I’m not, the makeup and hair have to be done by, uh, me. There are days when the eyeshadow on the left eye doesn’t jive with that of the right eye, when the lipstick and eyebrows are all going beyond the lines, and the blush on the left cheek is darker than the right. And then, there’s the mascara for the ultra-short eyelashes I could hardly find.

I’m the type who blow dries the hair while texting or checking out Facebook, messenger and emails. By the time the hair is dry, it can already evoke the question, Mahangin sa labas?

I always feel that beautifying oneself with artificial masks is a waste of time–women are better off reading, or watching Boy Abunda interviewing John Lloyd and Papa P.

But there’s no excuse for looking like Einstein without the brain. If genius is the kind of aura you want to project, you should be able to write the equation E equals mc squared.

People notice you’re wearing makeup when they’re used to not seeing you with any. And the face not used anymore to wearing makeup also notices––the whole head area feels hotter in the wrong way with all that mask on the face. Thank God for the water––packaged as an expensive miracle worker––you spray on the face to smoothen the look and banish the caking and the wrinkling after you’re convinced the makeup is done, like, that’s it! I give up! I quit! That expensive water has one word for you: Chill.

Kim Daguman’s advice is to wear red lipstick. There was this photo shoot for a Rotary project, I had my usual pale lipstick on since I’m most comfortable with color that vanishes on my lips, and she said, Wear red lipstick. I said, I don’t have one. She pulled out a red lipstick from her tote bag and said, Use this.

So, I wore that red lipstick. And when the tarpaulin came out, even I was pleasantly surprised. I had only face powder on that face, and the red lipstick. But the photo looked, hmmm, good.

It was Oct. 17, 2015, the second day of the protein shake diet, I was hungry the whole time while attending the District Rotary Foundation Seminar in Iligan and adjusting to this new meal plan, and I barely slept after fighting insomnia as usual and waking up early for the trip to Iligan. But the photo came out OK.

Travel is one part of the Rotary experience. There are conferences, seminars and trainings that can be in Cebu, Manila, or even abroad. And looking good–complete with makeup for the ladies–is not exactly mandatory but who wants to resemble Einstein while in a hotel ballroom?

So, the first thing that the ladies look for after traveling for many hours is the rest room where they could put on makeup and at least try to control the hairdo.

There’s this certain group in our Rotary club who can joke and laugh during the whole duration of that travel. There are five of us in that group–Kim, Imy Baja, Mafel Gatchalian, Gina Anonuevo, and yours truly. That was the team that travelled to and from Valencia, Bukidnon last year for the Rotary’s District Membership Seminar. How many hours of travel was that? And that’s how long we laughed like crazy. But Mafel wasn’t with us in Iligan and we could all feel her absence.

Now that the Rotary-year-that-has-been report has been emailed and its hard copies will be snail-mailed soon to our district governor in Cotabato, my Rotary memories are churning in my heart as I look forward to more projects from March to June 2016. No, the projects don’t end once the report is done. They go on and on and on. After all, “Service Above Self” is still the Rotary’s motto.

Then, I remember my photo in that tarpaulin, with the red lips illuminating the bare face, and I wonder why I looked so happy there. Could be the Valencia team’s laughter making me grin like crazy. Imagine how that smile would have been if Mafel made it to Iligan, too.