Discontinued Shade

They discontinued the shade of my lipstick.
To someone who does not wear lipstick, that seems like a trivial thing.
To someone who does wear lipstick, it is a nuisance.
Only lipstick wearers can understand.

I always get my lipstick at a department store.
I never buy lipstick in the cosmetic section of a drug store.
I would not know the shade that would best suit me.
There is no way to try it on when it is packaged in plastic.

Discontinuing my shade has happened before.
I went to the appropriate counter at the department store to buy a spare lipstick tube.
The woman checked the stock in the drawer.
We don’t seem to have it, she said.

Then she checked the book with the list of discontinued products in that line.
I looked at the book from the other side of the counter.
I secretly hoped they were just out of the shade.
I heard the dreaded words, your shade has been discontinued.

That made me go from one cosmetic counter to another.
None of the other shades from my former line worked on my lips.
The shades were too light.
It seemed as if I wasn’t wearing lipstick at all.

The woman, behind the counter told me, your lips eat color.
What? I remember thinking.
I asked her to explain.
She said that a shade, which appeared dark in the tube, was light on me for some reason.

I trusted the woman behind the counter to guide me in the right direction.
When Vintage Wine was discontinued, I went over to another cosmetic counter.
The woman took the Vintage Wine tester to try to match the color.
After a few attempts, she succeeded.

She put some of the new lipstick on a Q-tip.
She told me to apply the new shade.
It was a perfect match.
I was actually quite impressed and so grateful for her keen detective work.

I have been wearing the same shade, called, Emotional, for years.
Some lipstick wearers match their shade to their outfits.
I never did that.
Wearing one shade, all the time, was my choice.

It happened the other day.
I bought two shades of my lipstick from the cosmetic line.
I bought them online and they were shipped to me.
I put them in the drawer in my bathroom.

I ran out of the lipstick that is always in my desk drawer in the kitchen.
When I opened one of the spare tubes, it had an odor.
That had never happened before.
The lipstick itself was very dry.

I called the company.
They found my online order, which was placed during quarantine.
I explained the situation to the woman on the phone.
I would like another tube to replace this defective one, I said.

Certainly! The woman said.
Oh, I’m not seeing this shade online, she said after checking.
Let me look in another place, she added.
I am so sorry; your shade has been discontinued.

To put this in perspective, imagine you’re going to the hair salon.
The person who always cuts your hair is moving away.
You feel lost.
Other people in the salon know how to cut hair, but they have not cut YOUR hair.

You have a friendship with the stylist.
She knows your hair.
She knows your story.
You trust her.

For someone who tries to hold things loosely, I was not doing a very good job.
I was disappointed that my shade of lipstick is no more.
MY shade; How could they?
I knew I was being ridiculous.

I called two local department stores that carry the cosmetic line.
I decided, that if they had any of my lipstick in stock, I would buy extra tubes.
Only one store had the lipstick.
That store had only one tube.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also…Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
(Matthew 6: 19-21; 25-34)

After I ordered the lipstick, I thought about my focus on this rather insignificant thing.
While everything else is swirling around me, I was disappointed about a lipstick shade.
Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.
I thought of that verse and was convicted.

It is not wrong to be disappointed that the shade of my lipstick is discontinued.
It was not wrong to search for my lipstick in a few stores.
However, in the busyness of my day, there was something I neglected.
With all the things that demanded my attention, one thing was put aside.

My Bible sat on my desk, unopened.
The Word that grounds me, guides me, and teaches me, sat closed on my desk.
I made time for a lot of trivial things.
I did not treat the Word of God, that I love so much, with importance today.

I cannot get the day back.
I cannot regain the time that I did not spend with God in His Word today.
I can only start again tomorrow.
I can intentionally put God’s Word first before I begin my day.

I do not spend time in God’s Word as a, have to.
I spend time in God’s Word as a, want to.
Today, something else took precedence.
Tomorrow, with God’s help, that will be remedied.

2 responses to “Discontinued Shade”

1. Good morning! I always appreciate your transparency and wisdom. Were you aware that most brands have an area on their website for discontinued items? Also, I did a little research for you. There’s a company called Three Custom created by Make-up Artists who would will recreate your shade.

   Reply

   • Thank you, Lynne. How kind of you to pass that information along. My brand of lipstick has something called, Gone But Not Forgotten; however, my shades have never been included on that list. I am delighted that you are blessed by these Whispers. Thank you for your encouragement and the time it took for you to investigate that for me.
     Blessings,
     Gina

     Reply