Having never worn eyeliner nor applied eyeshadow, I decided to abandon my makeup-free life for a day. A pile of makeup I borrowed from a friend lay before me –– brushes of varying sizes, tubes with black and pink shiny liquids and shiny blocks of powder were displayed before me, and the impending task was to match the brushes with the makeup items. The only makeup products I know how to use are mascara and lipstick, since their application is simple enough that I use them often for special events and day-to-day activities. The rest –– the piles of translucent “matte” powders and “highlighter” (which happened to be pink and not blindingly yellow), however, were foreign.

I settled on attempting to apply pencil eyeliner, which looked straightforward enough; after all, I thought, it must be just like writing, except… on your face. I was wrong; to my surprise, the eyeliner didn’t show up at all (when I asked a friend why later on, she told me I hadn’t sharpened it). I asked a friend to put the eyeliner on for me: first she applied pencil eyeliner, and then gel. When I looked in the mirror to see the final result, my eyes seemed more defined from afar, but the thick line of black above my eyelids seemed excessive. My friend also tight lined my waterline. I had always thought that tight lining was going to hurt since it constitutes literally putting a pencil to the waterline (the section of your eyelid that almost touches your eye); however, because I did not feel any pain, I almost did not notice she was tightlining until she told me she was doing so. I also realized the precarious nature of eyeliner –– I tend to blink a lot, making the process difficult.

There are, equally, the problems of rain and heat. I have never felt the need to protect my face from either, but after some eyeliner eventually transferred from my eyelid to the bottom of my eye, I realized the risks of melting and smudging makeup, and, in turn, the importance of touching up!

My friends who wear makeup on a regular basis tell me that makeup is like an art – only my canvas is my face! Just like any kind of art, successful makeup application requires precision and practice. Few are talented enough to get their eyeliner “on fleek” on just the first try.

I am not a morning person, and I am often tardy. I cannot imagine waking up half an hour earlier than I normally do for the sole purpose of wearing makeup when I can barely roll out of bed in the first place. My inability to do so makes me admire those who wake up earlier to straighten their hair, put on makeup, and perfect their art.

While I do not wear makeup often, I enjoy tinkering with fashion, exploring different color schemes, and experimenting with new designs and fits. Makeup, too, is not static: different color eyeliners, eyeshadow combinations, trends, and techniques make it fun because there are always new things to try.