Schooled: Outer Beauty

Saturday, May 8, 2010

So, I'm traveling. I'm visiting family, celebrating birthdays and my sister's wedding. It has all been good. Our experience going through the airport with baby (see Schooled: Air Travel) taught us a lot for this time around. The more I travel the better I pack. I have just enough for me and a little bit more for LP. 
The more I travel, the more I learn the importance of beautification. I don't know about you but not every location I travel to looks like paradise. Good thing you can feel like paradise everywhere you are. Of course that comes from the inside. Most times when I hear about beauty at church, people are talking about inner beauty (and they should). I Peter 3:3-4 talks about having incorruptible beauty which is precious in the sight of God. This weekend I have found value in outer beauty. Queen Esther went through beauty treatments as well as many women around the world do. I'm the Queen of my home and most of the time I justify not doing more for myself because of being a busy mom. The awesome experience I had this weekend might just change all that. I have already told you that I live in a county where the large majority is white. There are no Black owned salons so I have to make do. My whole family live in more diverse areas of the country, so this time I decided to go to a Black beauty shop to get my hair done. I had to talk myself into doing it. It's challenging to get out of the frugal housewife mindset but I'm glad I got out of it for a bit. I had a great time. I got my hair washed, cut (third time this week. I guess you can say I changed my mind a couple of times) and styled. I loved the environment, the conversation and the final product! I also got my eyebrows arched (a first) and I got some eyelash power going (another first). Everything looks very natural as you can see in the photo. I did my own nails before we left home (major savings, there you have it) so I had the whole package. This is the most beautiful I felt in 8 months. My husband loves everything and my son didn't notice a thing - meaning he just really loves me for who I am :) 
Some of you might go to the beauty shop often and this post might not be a big deal. For me,  it was nice to find value in outer beauty. It's a nice enhancement to my inner life for sure. As we approach mother's day weekend, I am looking forward to making more investments in this mother's looks more often. 
Talking about that, I have given my mom and my mother-in-law their mother's day gifts already. They loved it, so it's all good. Happy mother's day to all of you and your mothers. Remember to invest in outer beauty and reap the awesome feelings that come with it.