The Red Room

 

A fable in three photos.

 

Beauty: Make-Up Free Marie

Tired, make up free me looks OK (with help from cleavage).

I was surfing Twitter last week, and I noticed a story about celebrity women without make up that freaked me out. They're not new stories, and of course, the shots were by paparazzi in a quest to catch these particular celebs at their worst, (women famed for their beauty), either in poor lighting, or very early in the morning, or just leaving the gym, or when they weren't dieting for a role. Jesus. The "with" makeup and "without" shots were gruesomely different, with the exception of one or two woman, most notably Kim Kardashian, who looks great naturally. I've written about my public stance on cosmetics before: I'm not against them at all, I just don't want to get caught out looking like a circus clown in plain clothes, or a drag queen on her day off. I blame overzealous Photoshopping production artists pushed by ad execs as much as I do the photographers, though. You have to be complicit with sort of thing to airbrushwoman into all irrelevance with regards to her day to day life.

Me, the morning of this piece, minutes after waking up, make up free.

As it so often does, pop culture lead me back to myself, to take a good hard look. I know I look great at 43, I know I look great without make up, I know I'm photogenic, and I know I 'm an exception to most rules, but I'm also a woman, vulnerable to the same harshness of society's gaze as any other woman walking the streets, and I've heard it all: "She's plain" to "She has, like, these little bumps all over her face that you can see if you talk to her up close" overheard by me as a bridesmaid to my soon-to-be sister-in-law. Yay! She ignores me mostly or takes weird passive-aggressive snipes under her breath when she leaves the room. For the record, my skin DOES have bumps, and pores, and some fine lines, and sometimes blemishes, just like all human skin does. It doesn't not have the excessive skin damage of say, a sister-in-law who thinks that tanning cures all her ills. Sorry, girl. I'm pale and I know it. But by knowing who we are really well, it prevents other  people's insecurities from getting under are skin, and that's the most valuable advice I can give any girls out there struggling with the crap thrown at them when they dare to look through a fashion mag: to thine own self be true, and the rest are just haters.

Me in natural light, with pores, bumps, blemishes, and some fine lines.
I'm wearing cover up set with powder, mascara, cream blush, & lip balm. 

So, in the interest of honesty, I shot myself in different lighting conditions, with makeup and without, while still trying to get a nice looking pic with good color, clarity, good composition, etc. And it really is true, I honestly prefer myself without make up because my dark eyes pop out against my skin tone, which gives me what I think is a unique appearance, one that holds the key to my ethnicity and cultural make up. I also train fairly regularly in gyms or dojos, and if there's one thing I know for sure, it's this: if you have even a bit of oily skin, the quickest way to ugly break outs is sweating profusely in make up. It's just so gross, plus it gets on my gi, and that stresses me out more. I may leave cover up on a raging blemish out of deference to my sparring partner, but even that I dislike. I wash it ALL off before I train, and I wash my face again afterwards, going home with a clean face. 

Diffuse light gives a warm glow to the skin that's favorable.

 It's one of the times when I feel most like myself. In professional settings, I prefer to wear make up because it helps me either blend in or knock 'em dead (like war paint), depending upon whichever effect I need to perform for that day. I famously took the summer off from cosmetics at one publishing house early in my career; it gives my skin a chance to air out, plus I get freckles, a little color that I find appealing, and my hair lightens up in the sun. Instead of saying kudos, the art director looked at me and noted I looked "surprisingly well". He's not exactly my biggest fan, but like I wrote, because I actually like myself, I can withstand just about any barb someone throws my way. Wanna-be photogs be warned: not only can I shoot better pics than you armed with just my iPhone (and ruthlessly critique said shots like an art historian in print), I fight, too. Let that sink in, and don't let me catch you behind a bush. When the lights go dim at the end of the day, who are you? Do you like what you see? Do you wake up looking at a stranger in the mirror, or simply like yourself?

Overexposed (highlights are blown out, losing some detail), though still showing some fine lines on the skin that make it realistic as a portrait.

Curly-haired, and you've accepted it? Same: http://www.pinterest.com/mariedoucette/curls/.

I-I-IKEA!

Red Hook Ikea

Yesterday was the day for shopping. The sun was out, it was warm, and the time had come for me to finally replace a small bedside lamp that I had discarded a year prior. I think it dated back 10+ years. So I set out on a field trip to Red Hooks' Ikea on the waterfront, a short bus ride away from da 'hood.

It was a glorious time, because 1) it was a weekday and a lot of people were sitting at a desk somewhere in Manhattan and 2) it was right after the store opened. I'm not sure how I can describe the joy of roaming freely through an empty store while not rubbing elbows and navigating the craziest, busiest obstacle course there is—a New York City crowd scoring cheap households items. It is a brutal sport, like walking through Times Square on any given day or night. Think of Calcutta in India's' airport with no one in it. It feels something like this:

"...the hills are alive, with the sound of no one..."

Freedom, wonderful sweet freedom! But I was on a mission, a lighting mission, and this massive store does not disappoint. They have a plethora of affordable and stylish items. I saw a designer-type guy
(see also: Asian Hipster) sporting the requisite black-framed glasses one must get from his art school with a diploma, sorting through throw pillows and loading his cart in a serious manner. Aha! An interior designer on a gig. Gotcha, dude. I was focused, too.

Ikea baby lamps

First up, shorty lamps. Cool for college kid dorm rooms, but would they throw off enough light to read by? Probably not. Still...awww, baby lamps. So cute!

The wall of groovy mood lamps

OK, now I was getting warmer. Groovy, small-scale lights that would fit nicely on my nightstand, except they kinda look like mood rings. Mod, stylish, and hip, though not the simple, clean and classic style I was looking for. Plus, they're kinda low on the emitted light scale. "Shagadelic" for a make-out pad, but not for me.

Cabbage patch lamp heads

Next up, the land of bulbous, cabbage-patch head Star Trek lamps. Haha! Funny, but no. The search continues.

A turn through the wall of Asia lamps

WOW! What a view. You can see the waterfront sculpture park from this picture window. I love Asian-style paper lamps, but they are too definitive a look for the old lines of my apartment. Still, I love the store design and the scene outside. Gorgeous.

East meets West

The styles and selection can't be beat for the price: wall units, ceiling lights, floor models, bedside lamps, shades and bulbs of many shapes and sizes. But where is the classic, clean, and contemporary? Aha! I think I found my section.

Classic lines, clean & contemporary styling

This store is massive. It's really a world unto itself with a drop-off daycare section for harried and hurried parents, a cafeteria style, sit-down food court, a fast-food section after check-out that's next to the another little shopping area of cold cases and sundry items with a variety of imported Swiss foods. For the hoarders and pack rats out there, this must be a Shoppers Paradise of overwhelming stimulation, but for me, it was time to go. I had my stuff and I got things to do. Always. So, what did I finally get? See for yourself.

My new reading lamp.

Perfect, no? Home sweet home for my new reading lamp.

May your adventures be grand, whether near or far.