The Eyes Have It

You’ve heard it said that the eyes are the window to the soul. They can reveal ones thoughts, feelings and even desires. And in our new season of COVID19 mask requirements, the eyes are all we see, unless of course your inner fashionista takes over and you wear color coordinated masks to accentuate your outfit. However, eye makeup is now an important beauty essential and the mask is the new lipstick.

The eye is the lamp of the body

My friends often tell me that I don’t have to say word, they can tell what I’m thinking by looking at my face. Sometimes that’s ok but many times my inner thoughts give me away. I used to laugh it off, but truth be told it’s not always a good thing. What is in your heart shines through your eyes!

Jesus said the eye is the lamp of the body. I love how it is portrayed in the Message translation of the Bible

“Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your window, what a dark life you will have!” Matthew 6:22

Think back to my post about the value of a smile. Well, when you’re smiling your inner joy or happiness shines through your eyes. An unhappy or miserable person furrows their brows and squints their eyes bringing negative consequences to their appearance. And all the make up in the world can’t fix that.

True beauty is not external

According to God’s Word true beauty is not found in beautiful hair styles, makeup, jewelry and clothing. Rather it shines through the eyes of your heart “with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in Gods sight is very precious.” (1 Peter 3:3-4)

Make up is nothing more than a mask we paint on our face to improve or enhance our appearance to others. And in this season of quarantine, do we really need another mask? God sees the real us and loves us anyway just the way we are. Of course there is always room for improvement and He is a good good Father wanting to give good gifts to His children. (Matthew 7:11)

God can beautify your soul and that beauty will shine through your eyes. You can be more beautiful than you ever were before with a lot less external effort.

This season of isolation has afforded many of us time to self reflect. Some have been looking within instead of looking around trying to compete. If this appeals to you, let me encourage you that a good place to start is through the power of prayer, reading Gods word and listening introspectively. This is a great time for soul searching, taking your focus off the adversity that is all around us. Your introspective beauty will do wonders for your external beauty. Through a new relationship with Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is waiting to convict you of all the ways you may be missing the mark of Gods perfection and change you from the inside out to transform you into a new and more beautiful you. It can be a time of soul cleansing that shines through your eyes. After all, that’s the first thing people are probably going to notice, masks aside.

The Makeover

As a hairdresser I can not diminish the value of a beautiful hairstyle and when tasteful make up is added people notice. There was a time in my life I decided I wanted a make over. Please keep in mind this was a physical make over only and it did not reflect the beautiful person I have become in Christ, but thats for another blog. In my early years as a new hairstylist, I felt I had straight boring hair and needed a change to impress clients and up sell my business, so I went to a very exclusive salon to acquire a new look which involved a perm. It was the mid 70’s and natural looking curls was the style of the time, thanks to the actress Barabra Streisand from the movie “A Star Is Born”. I was referred to a very popular stylist who was very cunning with his flattery. I was so vulnerable that I actually let him buzz the top my hair off with a clipper and blend it down into a crazy short straight hair style that would later prove to be the rage in the 80’s punk rock era. The attention I got was wild! Although that year for Christmas many family members bought me hats. LOL! Anyway I was an inexperienced stylist working amidst some very accomplished ones. I was working in a mall salon with significant walk-in traffic and I received much of the walk-in business because people were requesting me based on my appearance and not necessarily my skill. The point here simply is hair and makeup do make a difference.

Less is More

God can beautify your soul and that beauty will shine through your eyes.

My external beauty advice to you is to get a face flattering age appropriate hairstyle. (That’s my specialty!) Add to that well defined eyebrows, mascara, (or false lashes) and maybe even a touch of eyeliner and shadow. And last but not least don’t forget to lightly blend a little concealer under your eye if you have dark circles. That is all you really need!

Have you ever put evening eye makeup on without your base foundation, blush and lipstick. I have, when I was experimenting with new eye make up looks. Let me tell you it is an awkward sight, rather ghostly and strangely unfinished. So in this season of mask wearing, let’s not get carried away with our eye make up. And as for foundation and lipstick, well it makes an obvious mess inside your mask.

Something I have noticed from friends and family in my conversations about their skin in this season of quarantine is that many of them have not been wearing any makeup at all because they have no place to go. And those who do go out don’t want that make up mess in their mask. As a result their skin has been more radiant than ever and that goes for yours truly too.  However it is important to keep up your new beauty regime, even if you’re not wearing makeup.

I love you all and appreciate you taking the time to read my blog. Next time I’ll talk about a beautiful countenance and some fresh face makeup tips for your eyes. For further information on some of the foundations for my belief in the power of new beginnings through a personal relationship with Jesus, please let me know so I may encourage you further in your walk with the Lord.