I ventured into my first Sephora and allowed someone to brush a powder foundation on my face. While I stood there, another woman entered. She wore garments whose conservative cuts indicated her fundamental religious stance.
This interested me. She bundled her hair into a bun and wore a white net cap over that, and the garment's skirt skimmed the top of her feet, its sleeves ended past her elbows, and the collar buttoned closely at her neck. The whimsy of the fabric, in addition to the manner of her head covering, led me to assume she was Christian rather than Jewish or Muslim: white with multicolored polka dots in a pattern I would choose only for a romper for a toddler. She stood at a shelf inspecting products a few feet from where I stood, so I could see further that she wore white flip-flops, and makeup on her toenails--pearly pink translucence, but still color. I was befuddled: her body and hair disguised but nail polish? and looking at cosmetics?
And me, yeah, considering how foundation looks on me. What it looks like, applied by someone who supposedly knew what she was doing, is powder accumulating in and therefore enhancing the fine lines around my face: a lot more offensive than whatever is allegedly wrong with my 38-year-old skin.
Two puzzles.