The Joys Of Being A Woman

All her life she couldn't wait to be a real woman. And by real woman she mean makeup - and especially lipstick. Mrs Stone had one in a long gold case and when you twisted it, a red, round tip rose up to caress her lips. Mrs Stone was a real woman.

She wasn't sure where she would find a lipstick just like Mrs Stone's. She looked in the supermarket but they only had ones in plastic tubes. The colors were tempting - everything from various pinks and purples through to shades of coral and brown. The names were even more tempting: chocolate mousse, melted caramel, romance, French burgundy. All of them brought to her images of summer and sunshine and illicit kisses on moonlit nights. But that was what girls go - and she wanted to be a real woman.

Even if she couldn't find the same gold case as Mrs Stone, she knew she would never settle for anything less than a red bud rising up to touch her lips.

She paid special attention during Health Class when the sports teacher showed them how to apply foundation, eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara, and coloring to her cheeks. She felt like she stopped breathing when she discovered there was a lipstick pencil with which she could plump or thin the shape of her own lips. The teacher asked the students which one piece of makeup should they never be without, that could be worn alone. Apparently the correct answer was mascara but she knew it was lipstick.

A trip into town some months later gave her the opportunity to seek out the department store, with its abundance of makeup and perfume counters. She gazed carefully at them all. She couldn't see the gold tube but she did discover that there is no such thing as "red" - there is brown- red, blue-red, purple-red, orange-red and a million other reds. And then there is gloss and matte, fuller lip or longer lasting.

She already knew that lipsticks were made of wax, oil, alcohol and pigment but the variations of all of these were limitless. And then there were the additional ingredients that added texture or feel or taste. You wouldn't readily eat any of it but ultimately she knew that she would - each time she licked her luscious red lips.

That would be one of may prices she would pay to be a real woman.

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