Comparison Photos of Mom and I

 Well, it's been just about 6 months since my mom passed away (March 11th will mark 6m). I can't believe how fast it's gone. I still hurt so much. I miss her all the time. I decided to finally get around to this photo idea today. 

I grew up seeing these old polaroids of my mom. She's about 17 years old in these images. It's about 1980. She rocked her natural blonde hair, mauve lips and blue eyeshadow. Fast forward to 2022 and I'm 39 and hoping to recreate the look.

 I really wanted to take polaroids of myself, but the polaroid camera i bought to do this project was producing some really awful quality images. I'll show the "best" quality shot I got using it. I'm not pleased with the Polaroid company. My mom's photos from way back are much better quality, plus they haven't been treated gingerly. They've been in albums, in boxes, in purses, and passed around. They've held up. These are even scanned copies of her polaroids and they look better. What the hell happened to Polaroid?

Well, back to mom...

 I was going through a lot of old family photos when mom passed away last September when I thought it'd be really fun to recreate a couple shots of her. So late September, a couple weeks after mom died, a few days before her funeral I went looking for a flannel and white tank top that'd come close to what she was wearing. But my hair wasn't light enough yet. It still needed a couple more sessions to get it blonde enough to do these photos. 

 The dreamin pillow in the background on the red chair and the crocheted blanket are special to me, too. The pillow was made from one of my mom's night shirts, and the blanket was crocheted her grandmother, my great grandma. The table next to the chair belonged to my grandma, my mom's mom. 

 Mom's old polaroids take me back to her bedroom. I remember when there was blue carpet still as a little kid. I remember hanging out listening to my mom's records in this room. I remember the white and blue curtains hanging up. I was pretty tiny then to be able to recall some of the thing about her old childhood bedroom. When I was still pretty young in the late 80s the bedroom changed when my aunt moved into it, so that my grandparents could have a spare room in the house. 

 I just can recall looking at photos of my mom as a teenager, not just these images, but these were ones I loved to look at when I was a kid. I remember her telling stories about meeting my dad and how head over heels in love they were as kids. She'd tell me stories about driving around listening to music with her friends. She'd share her favorite records with me. I was just a little girl, but it made me feel excited about being a teenager one day. She just seemed so cool to me as I'd listen to her talk or watch her putting on her makeup and curling her hair with hot rollers. 

 Let's get to the photos and continue the story later in this post....

 Oh and that sleepy dog in the photos with me, he's the best fur baby a family could ever dream up. :) 

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This next bit is to continue on the story about mom and her makeup. It's copied from a Facebook post I wrote back on 2/23/17. (Here's the link to videos doing makeup with her.)I was into selling LipSense at the time and I've always loved doing my own hair and makeup because of learning from my mom. Which I'm pretty certain at this point will get passed down as a pastime to my daughters.

​ (Clara and I 2017 link > ) They love watching me do  my hair and makeup and always want to join in and try to do their own, even my two year old.  I often think about mom when I turn on my music and start to do my hair and makeup, but especially now, since she's gone, as I see my own daughters watching me. God, I miss her so much.

 "My mom went back to WA Tuesday evening. I miss her so much. I took a couple of photos of us together. I thought I would share one with all of you. We had fun playing with LipSense while she was here. She is so supportive of me investing in this business, and she refused to let me gift her anything or discount anything, she bought a kit and two extra colors, and a pearl gloss. She loves the product.

When when we went shopping she told people I sold it, and I handed out a lot of cards. She will talk to anyone. In fact, when I was around 10 she sold Avon. I remember making the goodie bags with her. We would put catalogs in a plastic bag with lipstick samples. I remember just hundreds of these little lipstick samples spread out across the table as we sorted through them and dropped them one by one into bags, and I remember smelling the catalogs because there were perfume sheets in them. Then we would drive around door to door giving them to people, leaving them hanging on doors, and then going with her to deliver orders. I had fun with her doing that, and I remember feeling proud of her. These type of businesses are so good for women, and I love how empowering it can be. From my experience, it's so good for moms, like her, like me. I feel good being a part of the Senegence company.

Some of my favorite memories of my mom are watching her do her makeup. I can remember even being so little, probably like kindergarten, maybe even smaller and laying on her bed on my belly, my face propped up in my hands watching her put on blue eyeshadow, which she had since high school, by that point it was probably 6 years old, and then a few years later she gave it to me. There wasn't much left in the eyeshadow compact, but it was her favorite, and she didn't use it much, she wanted to keep the color. I felt so special when she gave me that. (This was the 80s, so you can imagine it was pretty blue lol). I held onto it for a long time too, Many years, past my high school years.

You create memories with makeup, there are passing fads, there are friends, mom and daughter bonds, tips and tricks that get passed down generation to generation, and that is what makeup should be about; fun, expression, creating memories, and feeling good. Let makeup be an extension of who you are, not cover up who you are.

I love you mom. Thank you for doing everything you could for us kids. Thank you for being a fun and loving grandma to my children."

These are the photos from the shoot I took of her and I. 

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Makeup Stuff to check out:
Fave makeup looks and vids from 2017: Pop Art and a Series I came up with called The Thor Affair

Cruella and our family as 101 Dalmatians 2017