Base

I've always been a girl with a myriad
of issues.                               I was a teased a ton when I was a kid, and               when I reached adolescence I decided                      to take the matter of looks                            into my own hands. The waif look was in,
so that took care of body type issues...                                                 and I knew that Julia Roberts had lip injections so I could make something good out of my                       "puffy lips"
                                                                                          (as the school boys loved to mock).

So came the makeup,                                   and lots of it.             Anything that I could find to cover up what was
 obviously                               so grotesque,                                       I applied at least five times a day--in between classes, during class, at my lunch break.
As I grew up and started to realize that there was more to me and to life than how I looked, I eased off that                       obsession                             a bit                           (leaving room for all the others).                       Through college I would actually go a whole day (occasionally)                    without wearing makeup.

Then came the spring of 2003.
I was leading a discipleship group for high schoolers and we were discussing Lent.
 I usually gave up               sweets or something                                non-issue-related.                                 Then my little over-acheiving high schooler, Liz, had an epiphany.
                                                      "Let's give up MAKEUP!"
         Fear bounced off my foundation, concealer, eyeshadow, blush, and mascara all at the same time.

The initial reactions
from the upper-class
suburban mothers at work were commical.
                         "Are you ok? Are you sure?" they said, concerned, perplexed, stunned.
         The shock wore off eventually and I got used to my dark circles, large pores and splotchy skin.
                                                        I even came to embrace it.

We spend                                                                                                 so much time                      covering ourselves up that we forget the beauty we have. Those 40 days gave me a new kind of confidence--I became less    apologetic and confined.                                         I found myself screaming silently "Take it or leave it; this is the real me."
Now I can feel free to wear bright teal eyeshadow which screams
                             "This is the real me today.                                   Tomorrow I might be sophisticated."