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The Power of Invisible Red Lipstick.

People think I’m confident and happy 24/7. I’m here to tell you that my red lipstick is the key to my mojo. It’s my security blanket, right along with blouses that cover my hips and big earrings. It’s silly, don’t you think? I mean, lipstick is just a waxy cosmetic. Superficial. But without it, I feel as bland as an unbreaded, overcooked chicken nugget. Imagine the horror when I realized I lost my one and only lipstick on the first day of the craft convention! Not only that, it was right before my seminar in front of 150 people!

 Luckily I still had residue from my morning application and I made it through. But by the time I got back to the hotel after the convention show ended, I didn’t have any way to hit up a drug store. I tweeted (knowing I’d lose some followers) a distress call for someone to please bring me red lipstick the next day!
 
The next day came and every time I left my demo station, I’d come back to find lipstick that super nice people left for me. Brown, maroon, nude, sheer pink. They were lovely and I tried all of them, but none of worked. I then inspected the faces of each person in the crowd, I thought if I found someone with red lipstick, I could ask them to cut me off a smidge. Can you believe I couldn’t find ANYONE with red lipstick? Nada! Zilch!
I decided to let go of my dream of a crimson kisser. It was the craft convention and I was demoing glitter fabric paint and glitter iron-on sheets – two big reasons to be happy!
I channeled my nana and thought about what she would say. She would tell me to
act like I had it on anyway and be the life of the party.
That’s exactly what I did! And it was the perfect, magical shade of poppy red. Here I am wearing my fabulous invisible lipstick in some photos!
Suede from Project Runway (I have a video interview with him coming up!)
One of my crafty BFFs, Traci Bautista.
The talented and radiant Lisa Pavelka!
                                         
By the end of the day, my dear friend Norma Rapko Vargas came by to see me. RED LIPSTICK! This is what she told me:
“Kathy, Kathy, Kathy! Don’t you know we always have to have TWO tubes of red lipstick? It’s part of our daily lives. We wake up, we put on our red lipstick, we go paint and we move on!”
She totally gets me! I dabbed some on my finger for a touch up and promised her I’d never again leave home without two tubes of the stuff!

Here I am on Day 3. In our iLoveToCreate booth, we debuted this super cool new body art paint and had an artist there demoing. She painted a sacred heart on my cheek. As I admired it in the mirror, a bell went off in my head!

This is the chola stage of my lipstick application. You like?

I asked her to paint my lips! It’s body art paint, right? So she did! As she was working on me, about halfway through, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see all of the executive iLTC team with the CEO of Michaels.

“Kathy, we have someone we want you to meet!” I slowly turned around and watched as they all slightly flinched in surprise.

“Oh! As you can see, Kathy is trying out our new Tulip Body Art paint!” someone said. We all giggled.

Inside, I was thinking “The one time my face is painted like a True Blood groupie, I meet the CEO of Michaels!” Not only that – but later in the day I had an important lunch with some editors. What a day to get my face painted! It all went over well, it was the craft convention, after all!

My lesson learned is that you always have to be prepared to rock with or without our security blanket, whatever it may be. As far as make-up, clothes or jewelry, true beauty comes from within and sometimes we are put to the test to rely on that.

As a reminder, I’m giving all of you a tube of invisible red lipstick. It has the special power to transform into anything you need it to become in order to help you shine, shine, shine!

What is your security blanket? Please share!

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CHA: My showstopper low rider dress!

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11 thoughts on “The Power of Invisible Red Lipstick.”

  1. Ha! I love this post. If anything, this confirms to me that more Latinas need to get into the business because then my friend, you would have found many people with red lipstick. I may not wear it all the time, but there is always one in my bag for that extra sexiness that only a good red lipstick can do. Red lipstick = magical powers 🙂

    You looked fabulous without it, but I feed your pain! Besitos rojos from Chicago!

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  2. I loved your story! It so descriptive and powerful because we can all identify. Has it not happened to all to all of us at one time or another? I could imagine the panic that you felt.

    My security blanket are my contacts and my shoes. As long as I can see and my feet are comfortable, I can do anything. Since I am a teacher, I go from reading to looking to modeling to writing and back and forth all day long. My contacts are vital. Plus I they are way more comfortable than glasses. Additionally, I never sit down in my class. Since I am on my feet, I always need to have some comfortable, funky shoes on.

    I have never thought of these things in those ways. Thanks for adding to my snow day! XOXOXO
    Belinda

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  3. Awful to find oneself without lipstick, almost any color is better than none at all 🙂
    I have several shades of bright red and was wearing it regularly up until the last two months. About the time I moved out of a large city to a small town, maybe that’s why.

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  4. Wonder Woman. Mostly my plus-sized Wonder Woman chonies, but in a pinch my t-shirt will do. I bought my first pair of WW chonies after giving birth unmedicated for the second time in 18 months to a nine pound baby girl. Found the pair at Torrid, being a bit over nine pounds myself. I felt proud of my accomplishments and walked taller with them on–even if I was the only one who knew (sometimes my husband knew, but it scared him).

    I wore my WW chonies so regularly that they started falling apart, so I bought a second pair. I also held onto the first “emergency” pair. I also found the t-shirt at Torrid around the time of the second pair.

    About two years later both pairs were barely hanging on to the elastic, but Torrid stopped carrying them in their store. I would just wear them as they were. And I needed to wear them. When my oldest child became I’ll from a brain timor and near constant seizures I needed every bit of strength I ever had. During the six weeks my son was in the hospital I alternated between. My two tattered pairs of Wonder Woman chonies and the t-shirt. In my heart I knew that if i skipped a day my son would still be fine (or not), but not because of the underwear. I just wanted it as a reminder that I could be strong during this difficult time.

    Four years later, my son is so much better and I still have the barely hanging on chonies. I don’t wear them often, but they are there if I *need* them.

    I suppose In a pinch I could try invisible Wonder Woman chonies.

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  5. I too love red lipstick, it’s the only color I wear! I am always looking for the perfect shade of red, but I never thought of invisible red. lol! Next time I forget mine (not very often) I’ll be sure to remember you and your perfect shade. Thanks for a wonderful post.

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  6. You’re beautiful Kathy, with or without the lipstick… but I understand the security of it. With makeup I can go with lots or little. It doesn’t make much difference to me either way. But my face always feels naked without mascara.

    Once as a pimple covered teen, someone told me my eyes were pretty. From then on, I tried to draw attention away from my skin and to my eyes with mascara. I have grown and am far less self conscious as I was back then, but even now I do feel better when I put on a little mascara.

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  7. I wear red lipstick everyday too! As a teen it’s the only ‘right’ I fought for. I didn’t want eyeliner, mascara or slutty clothes, I just wanted my red lipstick! Mom said yes, and mine is actually pretty much my trademark because I custom blend myself with a mix of 3 different colors to get exactly the shade I want! I never really thought about it as a security blanket, to me it’s more like the American Express commercial, I don’t leave home without it!

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