"...just your typical prototype."

Remember the episode of Sex & The City right after demise #2 of Carrie and Aidan? The girls are lunching in their usual spot, and Charlotte is spouting off some lame shit she read in a magazine at the dentist, which said a woman only gets two "great loves" in her lifetime.

Charlotte names Big and Aidan as Carrie's two great loves, but then realizes this means Carrie is done in the love department.  Charlotte is quick to say it's just a stupid article, and Carrie responds...

Lucky for me, (and Carrie come S&TC The Movie) I married one of my great loves.

Although, I'm still not sure if I ever had a first great love... I wasn't very nice to my college boyfriend. I couldn't have loved him that much, right?

Anyway, I imagine one day my headstone will say something similar to Carrie's. Except, while I do love me some shoes, I'm a sucker for all things makeup. MAC Cosmetics to be exact.

Here lies Marla, she had two loves and lots of MAC

Much to my Hubby's dismay, the majority of our bathroom drawers are filled with an assortment of cosmetics. I don't discriminate against brands, but most of what I own is from MAC.

I always remember how my Mom-Mom never left the house without her "face" on. She was beautiful, regardless, but always had her porcelain skin powdered and her lips painted with her signature hot pink lipstick. (MAC's Girl About Town lipstick is my tribute to Mom-Mom.) She was stunning.

I like to think I inherited the girly-girl gene from my Mom-Mom. The older I get, the more willing I am to leave the house without my "face" on (laziness perhaps?) but a face full of perfectly applied makeup ALWAYS lifts my spirits.

One of the worst things that comes with a lupus diagnosis is the malar rash (click for pictures) better known as the butterfly rash. This varies from person to person, and can be anything from a slight blush to a bright red/purple, scaly, raised rash.

Mine never goes away, but tends to change in severity depending on sun exposure, environmental triggers, if I'm flaring or the amount of prednisone I'm taking. On days when I don't feel like covering it up, I've had people ask me if I was skiing and had wind burn. (really???) It gets really bad.

In the wise words of Mama June... smexy!

Before lupus, I was a self-proclaimed beach princess. I can get to Ocean City, NJ in an hour from our house, and Hubby and I loved nothing more then spending long summer days at the beach. Post diagnosis, the sun makes me sick, and my rheumatologist believes it was the sun exposure on our honeymoon in St Lucia that triggered my initial lupus flare. 

I will forever tease Hubby that that was my body rejecting the idea of marriage.

Either way, days on the beach that were once me frolicking in the sand sporting a tiny bikini and amazing tan are now me slathered in SPF 75, wearing a cover-up with a towel wrapped around my body, wide-brimmed hat on my head, hunkered under a large umbrella.

Oh, times have changed. Fucking lupus.

My healthy beach glow is a thing of the past, and finding a foundation to match my pale skin can get troublesome. I'm extremely picky when it comes to my makeup. I need a good amount of coverage to hide my malar rash, it has to be a matte formula, must have SPF, and there are specific ingredients it cannot contain due to allergies.

You wouldn't think so, but this actually narrows down my choices quite a bit. I have always favored MAC Studio Fix Fluid foundation, but the lightest shade has always been a touch dark. I would wear it anyway, switch to something else, then return to my MAC.

Well MAC, you've been listening to the complaints of us pale girls (and boys), and you have FINALLY introduced some paler foundation shades. When I read on one of my beauty blogs NW10 and NW13 (two days after buying a new bottle of NW15...typical) were getting released in stores January 3rd, I whooped for joy! WHOOPIE!!!!

You know my sweet ass was at the mall on January 3rd. The counter at Nordstrom hadn't received their shipment, so I tried the store in the mall. I couldn't help but laugh that the sales girl had no idea there was an NW13 and kept trying to tell me that it wasn't a new shade. Yet, after a few minutes in the back, she came out with it in her hand! The NW13 was dark too dark anyway, and happily bounced out of the store with my new NW10 (yep, I'm a pale sonofabitch) Studio Fix Fluid foundation and matching pressed powder.

Thank you, MAC. There is nothing remotely fun about lupus. But your beautiful foundations allow me to cover it up, and for a small while, forget it's there.

An Ode to MAC (ie, I have WAY too much time on my hands)

Linking up with Helene for Tell Me About It Tuesday