The magical lip color

 Deep maroon or Chocolate brown? Certainly, chocolate brown!

My mind quizzed me as my fingertips tapped on the shades of lip colors I own. Not many, I possess merely 2-3 lip shades. Make-up or skin care essentials are my pet peeves, but this particular chocolate brown shade is my favorite. Whenever I have an important meeting or a presentation, I wear it to work. The color applied to my melanized lips adds a spark to my attitude. Somehow, I feel I can win over the world, overcome my shortcomings, and come home with a trophy in hand.

The lip color is like a trophy to my mind. It is a dangling carrot which when shown makes me believe I can conquer the uncharted islets of my abilities. I find it amusing, sometimes, why such a trifling thing is so crucial to my self-confidence. Why it strengthens my drooped shoulders? No logical explanation found to date. 

On the days when I have to seal a deal for my business venture or simply when stepping out of the house for work seems a Herculean task, I sit in front of my mirror for a good self-talk. I keep reminding myself that it is you who has to fight. No lip color or for that matter no human is going to be your sail. Yet, when the color paints my lip, I hear it whispering into my ears, 'Go. You can do it.'  I see that Lips are going to give a good talk today. They are going to say some brilliant, intelligent things and my deal will be sealed. With the lip color on, my lips have a mind of their own and I stop minding their business.  With this realization in my kitty, a new me smiles back into the mirror.

There are so many insignificant things in our life that otherwise are lying neglected in a drawer. But when the time comes, they pump adrenaline into our veins. Trivia rules us. 

Spiraling down the slides of memory, I remember my mother using a single lip color for about twenty-five years of her career as a banker. A mother with turmeric stained apron and shabby hair, suddenly metamorphosed into a banker as she wore her sarees and religiously applied her lipstick. I fondly recollect how she allowed herself the liberty of applying her lipstick in peace. Nothing could deter the sharp lines she drew and then filled the outlined space with color. Not even an earthquake had the nerve to break her lines. She then pressed her lips to one another and for half a second looked at her changed self. 

With a peck on my cheeks, as if sharing a part of her colored confidence, she would leave for work.

What a magical therapy! 

I think I have inherited this way of deriving confidence from lipstick. I don't know why that chocolate brown shade is so important to me. Maybe, my best presentations have come with that color on. Maybe, I counseled a friend in distress with that color highlighting my speaking lips.

I need to concentrate on other shades as well. Tell me what are the unusual things in your life that boost your confidence.


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