X-rated lipgloss

BEAUTY ,n. The power by which a woman charms a lover and terrifies a husband.

I came across this definition in The Devils' Dictionary written by Ambrose Bierce. I find it rather amusing as there may be a hint of truth to it.
While I am not a shopper, my favorite store aside from Bloomingdales is Sephora. I believe this store is to women what a candy store is to a five year old. As I approach the black and white awning, I don't know which direction to turn in and there are so many wonderful options. Should I make a bee line to the lipgloss or the perfume or perhaps the skin care. The air is filled with scents such as vanilla, passion fruit, cotton candy and patchouli. Everything is packaged in bright, sexy and beautiful colors with promises of beauty and delight all around.

I went into Sephora last week with Giavanna. She knows that this is the only store in which I will take longer than fifteen minutes so she smiled at the suggestion of venturing inside. Actually, it was not a suggestion as I knew we were going whether she liked it or not. I was on a mission to add to my lipgloss collection.
Im addicted to Lipgloss and I believe it began in 7th grade. Perhaps there is a 12 step program for us addicts, but then again- it's not the worst addiction that I could have. It's fun and girly and everything that I like. Urban Decay is one of my favorites, so I headed right on over to that area and immediately found a nice extra shiny coral lipgloss. I saw the color and bought two boxes without much thought. I then looked around a bit and discouraged Giavanna from the Hello Kitty perfume section. Im not ready to spend 65 dollars on a bottle of perfume for her just yet.

We left the store within twenty minutes and I could not wait to open up my new lipgloss. I anxiously tore open the box and was surprised when I looked at my tube of lipgloss. The shape caught my eye and then the words on the tube screamed out at me. Oh God, my new lipgloss that was the perfect color was called Urban Decay Pocket Rocket. Um, yikes-I thought and then was further surprised that there was a little picture of what appeared to be a model posing as a handy man or something along those lines. As you unscrewed the top, his pants fell off and he was standing in his underwear. Lovely- unscrew the lipgloss and his pants fall down.
Are you kidding me I thought as I tried to hide it from Giavanna. I was humored but also a bit annoyed as it was the perfect color. Giavanna persisted to see the tube and kept asking me why there was a man in his underwear on my lipgloss. For the first time ever- I did not have an explaination that made a great deal of sense. I did not want to get into the fact that sex is used to sell everything in our society. Too much for a seven year old girl to have to comprehend.

When I returned home I went to view my lipgloss collection as I had never paid attention to the names on the tube. To my surprise, it seemed as if I was reading off the list of a porn collection rather than my cherished lipgloss. My collection consisted of names such as Prrrr, Oh Baby, All Nighter, Smashing Desire, Hourglass, Buxom, Girl meets boy and Sweet and Juicy. I can't even repeat the rest or I might blush.

Our culture is riddled with sexual advertising and the rate of sexual activity among our youth is alarming. It's a huge problem in our society and yet there are signs of encouragement in every direction you turn. The break down of morals and respect will undoubtedly create a society in which intimacy is no longer valued. As I encouraged Christopher to jump in the shower this morning- I handed him a bottle of Axe shower gel. He smiled as he said - hey Mom, did you know that using this may result but is not limited to unrelenting female attention and or late nights. Great- sounds wonderful I thought.

I smiled and told him that it was a silly advertising campaign- he agreed. Since children are bombarded at an early age about sex- parents must be diligent and comfortable in addressing the topic or they will learn the wrong message from a bottle of shampoo or a yummy smelling lipgloss. Thank you advertising world for making parenting and it's challenges even more difficult.