MAC Lipstick

MAC lipsticks that survived the blaze.

The fire melted the bathroom walls - but my lipsticks are fine. How can that be? The caps are coated in a permanent layer of ash, but inside the sticks of colors are perfect. MAC has excellent packaging.

Morange is blindingly bright; Plastique shimmers like a penny; Snob goes on pretty in pink. Lady Danger was with me, tucked inside Fafi's MAC Ltd Ed cosmetic case.

I'm grateful that some tiny comforts survived, yet I can't help but wish a bartering program existed. Lord, I'll trade five MAC lipsticks, all my de-potted Urban Decay shadows, & Benefit's Bene-tint that smells more of smoke than of roses for ______. The brass Christmas ornaments and loads of crafting supplies under my bead. My heady perfume collection. The antique sword chair. My Chrome backpack & bicycle. Skirts & dresses. Vinyls. The cassette tape project. ...and then could I upgrade for at least one of my cats?

It probably isn't good to have such a big reminder of such a tragedy around, but I cling to each & every morsel lovingly dragged out from under the ashes by my husband. My make-up was one of the things I dumped into a sack the morning after the fire when they allowed me up (just once, never again because of the pregnancy). I felt like I was looting my own home. I figured that as long as I was stuck in one outfit for the unforeseeable future at least I could doll myself up a little. I even saved the eyeliners. Yikes. That's desperate.