Making up.

I have always followed a simple cosmetics regimen that works well for me.

1. Plan a particularly special date night with spouse
2. Think — Gosh, maybe I’ll actually wear a little makeup or something
3. Realize at the last minute that everything I have expired months ago. Throw it all away.  Go out looking like I usually do.  (Note to self — spouse does not seem to mind)
4. Next time I’m out, buy one lipstick, one eye pencil, one mascara, one bottle of the beige stuff
5. Zip it all up in the free little bag and put it on the shelf in my closet
6. Repeat

Nevertheless, I enjoyed this brief interview in the Star Tribune with Paula Begoun, author of Don’t Go To The Cosmetics Counter Without Me.   Apparently it’s her mission to let people know when the stuff they’re buying is overpriced, crappy, or dangerous.   People like that are a force for good.

Check out the sidebar article, Paula Begoun’s Five Rules for Skin Care.  "Never buy anything packaged in a jar."  Speaking as someone who just this year began to need a facial moisturizer in the Minnesota winter, and had to do some shopping around — take that, Burt’s Bees.

UPDATE:  Woo-hoo!  The inexpensive moisturizer I decided I liked best months ago is, according to Begoun’s compilation of free online product reviews, not a rip off at all!   (It costs about a third as much as the stuff Begoun sells from her own website.)