Colour, a Vibrant World

I read in Eat To Live that primates, that includes us humans, are the only animals that can taste sweet foods and see in colour. I am so sorry for the other creatures, how drab their world must be, I know some birds see colours very differently to us, as they have whole colour spectrums they cannot see ( as do we) This fact I discovered when studying botany some time ago.
Luckily for me, my colour vision is excellent and the glorious array of colours makes such a huge difference in my life. Here in Perth we have wonderful blue skies, while in Singapore their skies have a dull heat haze. Although I guess that varies at different times of the year and whether it is a monsoon season or not. Somehow the bright blue hue makes me fell more alive.
Yesterday Aly and I revisited our wonderful colour consultants, where we had a free make-up session the day before. I finally decided to throw caution to the wind and buy a full kit in my "season's colours of Winter". the kit cost $345 dollars for all the make-up I need. It does not include any skin care products though. I think that this kit will last me several years, perhaps as many as 10 years.
For my money I got a plastic shell with 10 eye shadows, 2 powders, 6 blushes, 3 lipsticks, 1 mascara, 1 concealer, 1 lip liner, 1 eye liner and a set of 5 good quality brushes and one bottle of foundation liguid make-up. The only itenm that was not incuded was a brow pencil. What a bargain!
Our consultant, Lyn was less than happy to see us as I failed to make an appointment. That woman expects everything to be scheduled. I know she is a really nice person, it's just that she like to be organised, very organised and I am a more spur of the moment person. Aly of course takes up a lot of room in her wheelchair. Unfortunately the shop is very small, so you can see the problem. Yesterday there was the pair of us and 4 customers all crammed into a very small space, plus staff.
Anyway I bought my kit and now I am very happy. I learnt a lot about how to apply the products the day before and asked for a face chart to take home. Imagine getting to the magic age og sixty six and never having had a make up lesson before. Gosh I am really breaking new ground.
I first met the wonderful crew at Your Colours, in Perth back about 20 years ago. One day I woke up feeling fat and looking dreadful. My clothes were all the latest fashion colours, expensive, but they did nothing for me. When I looked in the mirror, a fat frumpy lady looked back at me. Later that day I saw an advertisement for a colour consultant that had just opened a shop in Bon Marche Arcade in the city. So I decided to make an appointment and went off to see what it was all about. I think it cost me $120 then, which was a lot of mony. But I was desperate and I willing to try anything. Well, what a great decision that was. I went and found the colours I had been buying were not what I should have been wearing. I found I needed to turn my back on fashion and buy what suited me and only what suits me. I learnt that If I bought classic styles, I could wear them year after year and better still, all my colours would mix and match perfectly.
I was made to feel so special and once the colour decision was made, based on skin undertones, I was made up in my season's colours and shown how to combine the palette. I was given a beautiful little leather wallet full of my own seasons swatches that I could take shopping. That small leather wallet still resides in my purse all these years later. Thank goodness it was not in my handbag that was stolen a few years ago. For some reason I had taken it out the day before and put it on my bedside table.
I have never made a fashion colour mistake since that day and I love all of my clothes. I look so good in the strong vibrant winter colours. Even more so as my hair is greying. Who would have thought that I would discover that my favourite colour is hot pink? Most women my age wear drab colours, because they think bright ones are not for them. That is so sad.
It is strange how just the colour of our clothes can make one more confident person. I was so chuffed that both my daughters have had their colours "done" and now I want to send my grandaughter Lori off to have hers done too. Aly is hoping she is a different season to her (Winter) so she can claim her make-up kit back from her. My kit is bound to last a lot loger than hers, because my daughter has one of her own.
To all those lovely ladies out there who need a confidence boost. Consider checking in with a local colour consultant. Although it is expensive. Your season remains constant your whole life long and pays for itself when you don't make mistakes. It saves time when shopping too as I can see at a glance if anything in my colour is on the racks. I make a beeline for the colours that I wear. Yesterday I bought 3 item on sale for just $39, yippee.
Colour plays an important part in my healthy lifestyle. Who says It's all just about food?

A fun Day Out and a Frank Oz Film

I want to stress that there is more to life than living to eat, even eating to live. Nothing compares to having fun with a much loved family member. My daughter Aly decided to have a free make-up at our wonderful colour consultant's office in Perth. Not to be outdone, I said I wanted one too (of course) Aly and I have similar tastes and we love what each other gets, or does. So much so that I tell her just to buy two whenever she gets some new toy. So off we went to our make-up session. I had my hair cut the other day and felt wonderful. I decided that I could look good at sixty six after a bit of work and that I should apply the essential products whenever I go out.
Next Aly went off for an eye test for her driving assessment the next day, so I wandered around and found some great clothing bargains that I want to get today.
After that was over we ended up at one of the local cinema complexes and saw what turned out to be one of the funniest films I have seen in ages; the Frank Oz film, Death at a Funeral. This was a roll-around-on-the floor-laughing-my-arse-off black comedy. At one stage I was shrieking with laughter. I tried to stop, but noticed that everyone else was howling with laughter too, so I stopped worrying. My whole body was on overdrive with mirth and what a lovely experience that was. Life here has been pretty tough for the last five or so years for the pair of us. What a lovely way to release tension. Well done Frank Oz!
There was also a funny side that only the two of us got. The film was about how a bottle of 'pills' was to blame for the whole debacle at the funeral. Aly has the debillitating pain condition, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome and takes various medications in an effort to control the pain. This include largish quantities of ketamine, a powerful veterinary drug also sold on the streets as Special K. In the film, the pills in question contained, among other things, this drug. A little later Aly got something out of her purse and popped it in her mouth and I put my hand out thinking it was a breath mint. Instead she whispered to me that it was methadone! I got the giggles and saw the funny side. Thankfully she does not react the same way as the characters in the flick.
To end a great day, her taxi driver Russell picked us up and deposited me at my doorstep and I was home by 9pm.
Thanks Aly, thanks Russell and thanks to Qantas Frequent Flyer promotion, for the free preview tickets. It was Oztastic in every sense of the word.