Why I Stopped Wearing Mascara

I am the mother of two young children under age four. I also work full time at a regular office job and have a part time Internet business. Fashion and make-up are important to me. Even when I work from home or just run out to drop off my son at school, I make sure to wear clothes in which I would wear out to meet a friend or to go shopping. I also wear make-up every day.

Being the bargain hunter that I am, I clip grocery coupons, shop for clothing at stores like T.J. Maxx and Macy's (I only buy during Macy's sales) and read Dollar Stretcher each week. For years I have used an inexpensive brand of make-up and it worked out fine. But mascara was always a problem for me.

My eyes occasionally tear and I wear contact lenses. This is why I can only wear waterproof mascara. The brand I used didn't run but it would become clumpy and flake off after only a few hours. When I looked in the mirror the mascara had either rubbed off or there were tiny specks of dark blue around my eyes. I would then have to use a creamy eye-make up remover and essentially would take off all of my eye make-up. This became very time consuming, not to mention very costly.

One day I was given a gift card to Macy's. I thought I would splurge on a fancy brand of mascara only sold at department stores. I hoped that I could find a brand of waterproof mascara which didn't flake or rub off. I was curious what quality I would get for spending $20 on one cosmetic item. My reasoning was that I would never spend this much on make-up but I was using a gift card. If this brand of cosmetics was worth it, I would be so happy and wouldn't mind splurging. Maybe the old saying "You Get What You Pay For" would apply here. Unfortunately, I was disappointed to discover that the brand I purchased was much worse than the inexpensive brand I had been using for years. It ran under my eyes almost immediately after applying it. The consistency was thinner than the cheap brand but the packaging was beautiful.

I returned it to Macy's and in exchange purchased another expensive brand of waterproof mascara. This brand was just as useless as the first brand I tried. I promptly returned this brand to the store and received a full refund. It was at this point that I decided it was easier to wear no eye make-up at all than to keep searching for good mascara. Even if I searched for an inexpensive brand ($7 or less) I would still be spending money and time on this quest.

Now my morning routine is a little bit shorter and easier without the extra step of eye make-up application. I don't have to use mascara, eyeliner, shadow or eye make-up remover. I still feel 'made up' when I go out and I don't worry about dark smudges under my eyes. This decision has actually made me feel more confident about my appearance.