Mostly Confused: The Red Lipstick Challenge

It's been a week since I began my Red Lipstick Challenge and I have to say, thus far, nothing happened the way I expected it too. As I described in my initial blog post on the challenge, I'm not someone who wears makeup on the regular. The idea of wearing makeup every day, red lipstick in particular, is not an idea that sits well with me. However, I found the first week of the challenge to be extremely easy. I didn't feel uncomfortable at all, in fact, apart from the dryness of my lips, I felt more comfortable in my skin than I've felt in a while. Weird huh?

I honestly can't explain this phenomenon. It was as if overnight I grew into the red lip. By Day 3 I felt it had become part of me. It was the last thing I thought about before I went to sleep and the first thing I thought of when I woke up. When I came home from a long day at work, or a particularly rough day of school, I would throw my backpack on the floor give a deep sigh and check the mirror where I'd see my down turned lips covered in unmistakably bright red lacquer. Instantly my mood improved. I'd give a couple funny faces, break out into a lighthearted laugh and grab the nearest red lipstick for a touch up.

Amazing right? It's absolutely nothing like I expected. I thought I would be shying away from people's glances, but instead I find myself making more eye contact than ever before. It's like the red lipstick has given me a daily confidence boost. Most importantly it's helped with something I've struggled with for a while which is viewing myself as an adult. I think my anxiety makes me think of myself as a helpless child who is incapable of being taken seriously, which is a huge fear of mine. However, the red lip, something which in my mind is linked with womanhood, made me take a step back and think, "I'm a twenty-one year old woman not an sixteen year old child who needs mother's support. I can do this..." (whatever this happens to be) "...on my own."

In all, my first week of this challenge has gone splendidly. I'll list a couple more things I've learned from this week:

I discovered that I find a smudged red lip extremely attractive. Something about the messiness of red around the lips is enticing in a way I can't describe.
Wearing a red lip makes an extremely terrifying speech a little less terrifying. (I gave a speech at a NACADA Conference as part of my job on Friday).
Wearing a red lip stain with no other makeup on is a look!!!

Well, that's all I have for now, I really hope my experiences continue to be this positive! Until next time.