How I prepared for Electric Eel...

I have always been fascinated with beauty products. How could I not? I was raised by a woman who sold AVON for years. I loved when her orders would come in. It was like Christmas every other week. I would sneak into the cabinets to look at and sample all the makeup. On special occasions she would make me so pretty with tinted lipgloss and blush. Ahhh, my first love; makeup!

I was pretty simple with makeup at first. I wanted all the new lipgloss scents; Cherry, Bubblegum, Grape, Strawberry, Chocolate. I loved it all. That's about as fancy as it got as an elementary girl. By the time I reached junior high, I wasn't allowed to wear makeup, but would sneak it on after I got on the bus, and made sure it was off when I returned back home. That was nothing though. Just some mood lipstick that turned an awful shade of pink.

But wait.....In high school, which at this time was about 1996, I got really fancy. I started wearing gold lipstick with brown lip liner. You couldn't tell me anything. I was foine!!! Such a disaster. I didn't have a clue. I knew I wanted to wear makeup, but I didn't know where to start. I had been programmed that Black women didn't wear bright colored eye shadows, and we looked better in neutral colors. So I kept my neutral colors until I graduated high school in 1999. That is when my eyes were opened to so much more.

As a graduation gift, my mother took me on a shopping spree. She let me pick out whatever I wanted and she bought it for me. I got shoes, purses, jewelry, clothes, but the best thing was my first trip to M.A.C.!!!! I had never seen so much makeup in so many BEAUTIFUL colors in my life. I was instantly excited. I had my face done by the woman who taught me so much, Little Rock. That is the only name I know her by, but I think she still works for MAC as a beauty trainer on the corporate level. When I met her she was wearing Electric Eel eyeshadow, the most lovely shade of turquoise blue. But hold up, I was sooooo not there yet! So, I started simple. I got Tanarama lipstick, Amber Lights eyeshadow (e/s), Goldmine e/s, carbon e/s, black mascara, cork lip liner, and Margin blush. I also learned that the key to good makeup application is a great brush. So I got a #40 large fluff brush, a #266 angle brush, and a #213 fluff brush. That's when my obsession started. I went back nearly every month and added something new to my collection, trying out different colors and looks, and techniques.

After a couple of years of purchasing nothing but MAC makeup, I had quite the collection of makeup and brushes. I started playing around on friends, not because I was a fantastic artist at this point, but because I had pretty much any color, and if I didn't have it, could blend to create it.

It wasn't long after graduating high school, maybe two years, that I was ready for Electric Eel, as well as other bright hot colors. So I thank Little Rock, my makeup artist mentor, for showing me my full potential. She took me from a plain girl who only wanted neutrals, to being outgoing in my makeup personality.

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