Tuesday morning, 1 February 2017, the foster dog, Misty (Donate to Misty’s Training Fund),  raced toward an obstacle alongside my bicycle as we had done almost every day for months. This particular morning a squirrel decided to venture from the tree and paused briefly in front of us, on the sidewalk where we were running. Instead of continuing its trajectory, the bushy-tailed critter decided not to cross into the street and quickly scurried back from whence it came, to our left.

As I continued straight, Misty suddenly veered left, not completely convinced that herding squirrels was a waste of time at her tender age of two. The bicycle skidded and I hit the concrete sidewalk, eternally glad that I was wearing a helmet. My glasses didn’t break, but they did get pressed into my face hard enough to cause swelling that swiftly turned into a large bruise. 

The area around my eye became swollen and puffy. Feeling started to return, Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday evening, there was that dark shadow that by Wednesday afternoon had become purple and kept getting darker.

Saturday afternoon, I was covering an event where the attire was “California Luxury” and didn’t want to become the subject of conversation. How to cover up a black eye?

The photos you see above are the after photos. Here’s a before:

Saturday morning, the area around my eye was both yellow and dark purple. 

Here’s what I go after a bit of makeup magic. The little line below my eye is from the glass frame.

 

1.  Gently clean your face.
2. Apply your usual moisturizer.
3. Use primer. I used Bare Essentials Prep Step which also has ultraviolet protection at SPF 50. If you need more than that, you should remain underground.
4. Joe Blasco Cosmetics concealer. Joe Blasco cosmetics is made for movie and professionals.  I visited a Beauty Shop and the person there helped me find a match to my skin and to the bruise. The bruise is purple. I needed to use the complementary (opposite color) to counteract the purple. The opposite of purple is yellow. When the bruise goes green, I’ll need red. I applied this lightly with my fingers and applied the concealer slightly over the actual bruise.
5. Now apply your regular foundation. Mine is L’Oreal Visible Lift Serum.
6. Now take a look in the light. I could still see a slight shadow. Because the darkest part at the bottom was sharply defined,  I used the applicator in the Wet N Wild Poster Child palette and put a brighter yellow on.
7. I finished this off with finishing powder.

In this photo, you can still detect the barest shadow of a bruise, but no one should this close to your face.  The luncheon was in a sunlit venue and I was wearing glasses, but no one noticed. The makeup stayed on and in place. If you wear glasses, the foundation will smudge on your classes if you don’t use a finishing powder. Please donate to Misty’s training fund.