Can I Interest You in Direct Sales (Also titled, Hey You, Wouldn't You Like to Help Me Earn a Trip to Maui or a Pink Cadillac?)

Direct sales companies ( Pampered Chef, Mary Kay, Avon, Tupperware, et al.) account for about $30 billion of the USA's retail dollars. That is pretty impressive.

About 90% of the people involved in direct sales are women. So while it may be fun and easy to mock Mary Kay (oh, and it is!) it could be posited that she is/was (is she still alive??) an empowerer of women and a force for good in the universe. All I know for sure, is one of her pink minions can be blamed for my interest in make up. When I turned 13 my mom's friend, a Mary Kay lady, gave me a skin care set and a make over.

I understand that right about here anyone with a Y chromosome is just about done. If so, skip to the end. 'Course, if you happen to have a woman in your life, especially a future makeup wearer, you may want to sludge through.

The science of make up is more interesting to me than the dictates of fashion. I find it fascinating that with a little lightener here and a contrast there, voila, your nose looks smaller, your eyes appear even, and you can even make those dark rings under your eyes disappear.

As an extrodinarily pale person the realities of typical teenage skin problems are somewhat magnified. When your skin tone is only three shades off college ruled school paper and a bright red zit erupts just above your eyebrow, in addition to the always gorgeous third eye effect, you also have the added bonus of it contrasting like a bull's eye on a stark white wall. Make up can be a wonderful thing.

Now, I am not a Mary Kay user myself, but really, I don't think brand matters that much. There are going to be some obvious differences in make up, Wet N' Wild is probably not going to rival NARS in quality but as long as you have sanded and primed a mid-grade paint will suffice.

The important thing, as any painter will confirm, is you MUST not use cheap brushes!

I decided to wash my make up brushes out the other day and I realized a have a fair few of them.

That is my whole collection lying flat to dry. Technically, brushes should be stored flat to help them retain their shape, but whatever...

As I was washing them I was trying to decide if I really needed all of them, and I decided I really did.

These are the eye shadow brushes. I could probably get away with three, but it's handy to have a fourth one for blending, so I decided to keep them all.

This is a lipstick brush, essential for getting the last of that perfect shade of lipstick of the last remains of a chunk of Chapstick out of the tube.

That other one, oh may the angels sing of the day I was introduced to the angled eyeliner brush. This is GENIUS!

These are for applying creme based make up. Now I know some people may claim finger blending works just fine for them, which is, of course, their right. The sad reality for those of us without perfectly smooth skin is that finger application tends to leave too little over ridges and too much elsewhere. Brushes don't do that.

This is our "Why bother?" catagory. These brushes are all in the trash now. I mean seriously, if you can't even HOLD the brush? What is the point?

Now, this is a rabbit trail, but speaking of the importance of application? Sharp pencils are SOOOOO much better. OK, now back to the point.

This brush (cue the cheesy background music and lower the lights), how I adore this brush. It is a combination of synthetic and natural fibers. It is one of the few make up brushes that would not be available cheaper at a craft or paint store.

So there is the whole shebang, clean and ready to go again.

AND NOW...

Here is a shelf Mr. Logo made for my bathroom wall. Remember this? Well, he is hoping this is going to advance the realization of his orderly vision of the world.

Wish him luck!

He built the shelf and I painted it. With this, a Purdy 2 inch.

Good brushes are important!