On Saturday, Jorie and I are getting makeovers at the M·A·C Counter in Macy's Garden State Plaza. I'm so so so super excited! That's all.

That's not all. I got a new shadow yesterday: Black Tied.

And on saturday I'm getting a primer for my eyes and two more shadows: Swimming and either Sushi Flower or Star Violet.

I think this make-up obsession began last year, when Jackie invited a M·A·C artist to the dorms to show some of the girls how to apply cosmetics. After that, I was hooked. Last year, I spent all my Christmas money at M·A·C buying brushes and shadow and primer and liners and lashes and more brushes. My face, literally, is becoming my canvas.

I suppose it's not healthy to be applying make-up everyday, but their line is helping my skin look and feel better. Besides, I only apply eye makeup, blush, and lip gloss on a daily basis anyway, reserving the heavy foundation for special occasions.

One thing that I wish M·A·C, as well as other cosmetic companies, would do is to gear some makeup products and application techniques to the ethnic population. The faces they use as the "model" or "standard" face really just represents Caucasian women. What about Asian, African, and Latina women, whose skin tone and features are not at all synonymous with M·A·C's "model face?"

Sure, M·A·C offers a variety of shades from which to choose, but most of the looks can only be pulled off by women who have the face depicted above. Unfortunately, or fortunately because the world would be a bland place without the variety, not all women have the those luscious lips, the high cheekbones, the perfectly sculpted brow bone, the sleek nose, or the deep-set eyes/eyelids.

When I look at that face, it makes me wonder about how strong and eminent the ideas of standardization are in American culture. I, myself, attempt to standardize not only my way of life, but my family's as well. When my mom mispronounces an English word with her Filipino accent, I'm very quick to correct her. But in thinking about and deconstructing the situation, I realize that there is something entirely problematic in my terming my mother's speech as a mis-pronounciation. It is not a mis... not a mistake at all. It is just different. Yes, rules of grammar and pronounciation and syntax and all that exist in the English language, as they do in all other languages, but English is not universal, nor should it be. I'm more careful now about how modes of standardization slither into my life, which is why, even though I love applying make-up, I do question that I am unknowingly subscribing to a standardized image of, not only beauty, but of woman.

And the only way I can resolve this inner dillema is to insist that cosmetic companies develop more "ethnically responsible" products, images, and techniques. I can't scold M·A·C completely though, because they are making strides for the better. The other day, I noticed that the model in the new ad campaign image for concealer products is Asian. And props to M·A·C for the concept of this ad. It seems to evoke a sense of multiplicity and unity in the different shades that piece together the puzzle on the woman's face. Now that's what I call beauty.