Another question for you

[constance]

A conversation:

Me: J, I have a favor to ask, and you might think it's kind of gross, and feel free to say no, but the thing is that I forgot my makeup bag at home this morning, and I need to put some kind of lip balm on or my lips will start cracking. Is it okay if I borrow yours?

J: *looks at me as though I am totally insane* Yeah, sure it's okay.

J loaned me her lip balm, and I was happy, and she was bewildered by the thought that it might be impossible for her to share her makeup on account of hygiene issues. A few years ago I would've been with her on that front. Actually, I still am, since I don't myself have a problem with sharing (years of living with pets have made me immune to the idea of being germ-ridden). But then one day back when I was still in New Orleans, I was talking to another friend and she confessed that loaning people her makeup seriously weirded her out; she'd do it, but she never did it without being tempted to just throw the makeup away when she'd gotten it back. And ever since then I am conscious of wanting to give people an out if they need it.

How do you feel about loaning people your makeup?

Comments

[gmth.livejournal.com]

Ew. No. Sorry. I don't wear it much, but I will never forget the time I borrowed another woman's lipstick to wear at a wedding for which we were both bridesmaids. I didn't find out until a few hours later that she had just gotten over a bad case of strep throat. I was sick as a dog for about a week after that. Never again.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

You know, I think it's interesting that the people who're horrified all have bad experiences to report. I mean, interesting in an OKAY CAMMY MAYBE THIS SHOULD TELL YOU SOMETHING way. :D

[trickpie.livejournal.com]

As long as the person doesn't have strep throat, I have no real issue with it. My housemates and I often do the sharing lip balm thing if one of us has forgotten our own.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm the same way; probably wouldn't even ask someone who was visibly ill, but wouldn't think too much about it otherwise.

[laurelwood.livejournal.com]

I don't know if it's because I've always been really lucky health-wise or whether I'm just naive, but I've never really been concerned about germs from sharing. (Well, there was that one sample bottle of citronella essential oil at the health food store I worked at that I knew this customer used to "kill the critters" nesting in his dreadlocks, and I made a point of giving that bottle a wide berth.) I mean, I wash my hands regularly and am always careful with raw meat, and I'm conscientious about keeping food prep/bathroom areas clean, but sharing lipgloss and makeup never seemed like a lurking menace to me.

[amelia-eve.livejournal.com]

Lip balm is pretty easy to clean, in the sense that you can just kind of rub off the contact layer with a tissue and freshen it up. Otherwise, I'm pretty much in the camp of powder yes, liquid no.

I've used hand lotion on my lips with no ill effects, and that is something I share freely, since you squirt it out of the bottle with no direct contact.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

I might be tempted to use hand lotion on my lips if I'm ever in a bind, but I find the taste and texture to be a bit of a deterrent. Which is a little weird, considering that I don't have a problem with most glosses or balms or sticks. I guess it's just a matter of getting used to the feel of it.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

Nor me, but I am rethinking this one. Well, I can't help but rethink things; a little constant, vigilant reeavluation is good for the soul, right?

[djin7.livejournal.com]

As a teenager, I contracted both Conjunctivitis (Pinkeye) as well as Impetigo from makeup that wasn't my own - one was a makeup counter tester. Never again. Blech.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

Oh, my God, I am never going to so much as get within touching distance of a counter tester ever again. :O

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

Makeup? What's that? :-) Oh, okay, I do indulge, a little.

Lip balm strikes me as being in a different category; I don't think I'd share lip stuff with anybody I wasn't willing to kiss. But I'd have no problem loaning out blush or eyeliner or anything like that.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, I think the kiss rule is a pretty good one! I'm gonna keep that in mind. Anyway, I'd be totally willing to kiss J-the-receptionist. Not a deep soul-kiss or anything, but you know.

[bowdlerized.livejournal.com]

This is probably deeply unscientific of me, but for me it depends on the consistency of the makeup product.

Dry (blush, eyeshadow): no problem
Moist (lip balm, lipstick): depends on person asking and situation
Wet (lip gloss): nooooooo

I had a traumatic incident at summer camp of being peer pressured into sharing my Old Navy butterscotch-flavored lip gloss (with someone who the year before had given my crush a blow job, at that!). I never could bring myself to use the lip gloss again. :(

[tofty.livejournal.com]

No, your strange earth customs make sense to me. And your camp story! I'd be traumatized, too. Were you turned off butterscotch (I originally wrote "bitterscotch," which feels strangely appropriate in this context) lip balm permenently, or just that tube? Because a permanent estrangement would be a shame.

[bowdlerized.livejournal.com]

I actually think Old Navy had discontinued that lip gloss by that point, which made my inability to use the rest of the tube even more traumatic. :O

[badgermoonhare.livejournal.com]

I think I may have to go one creepier than you on this subject, but I honestly can't help relishing a little bit in sharing lip balm or sandwiches or clothes with other people - it is such a bonding experience, you know? That being said, I would never ask to borrow lip balm from a complete stranger, and I would very seriously consider whether to give my own away to one. I still feel good about the breaking down of barriers, though, when circumstance makes me sit too close to someone else on the bus, or when I end up speaking to someone who has just cried, or after crying myself, and so on and on.

It may or may not shine through here that I am Danish, and that amongst my people dour-faced handshakes are widely considered a form of light petting.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

I actually agree with you as regards food and clothes especially. I love sharing food. I used to have a couple of friends who predictably scavenged about half my food at any given shared meal, and now that we don't live near each other any more, I miss them terribly.

amongst my people dour-faced handshakes are widely considered a form of light petting

Ahahahaha ♥

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

I wear so little makeup that this is largely hypothetical, but for what it's worth:

Mascara: Absolutely not.

Things that can be applied with Q-tips that are then thrown out: Sure.

Eyeshadow with a little sponge applicator: Um, OK. (I'll either wash the applicator or replace it.)

Things that can be applied with the finger of a recently washed hand (e.g. lipstick or lip balm from a tube, lip gloss from a pan, powder eyeshadow): OK, if you're sure you just washed your hands.

Things that have applicators that are part of the container (e.g. some lip glosses, sponge-on liquid eyeshadow, brush-on eyeliner), or things where you want to put my product directly against your skin (lipstick/lip balm from a tube): Gross. No.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

You are not the only one with this system, I see! It makes perfect sense to me.

[venivincere]

Foundation stuff, yeah, as long as they put it on a cotton ball first, then put it on their face; I don't want their fingers in the bottle.

Lip stuff, only ONLY if the person feels "clean" to me. Not touching their lips, I mean, it's more like if that person seems clean enough to kiss (which goes without saying they have impeccable dental hygiene), then they can use my lip makeup.

Eye makeup, I never share. Too many illnesses get in through the eyes, some of them rather serious.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

Well, I like to think I wouldn't ask anyone who didn't feel clean to me -- I guess someone borrowing from me would be a slightly sketchier proposition, as I seem to be incapable of saying no, but if they seemed especially filthy and I couldn't claim not to have the thing in question, I suppose I'd just have to retire it quietly. Or "lose" it.

[venivincere]

Oh, you're good. I'd probably get a pained look on my face and say "I'm sorry. I just... don't share makeup."

[octoberstory.livejournal.com]

...Are you saying it would be a bad thing for me to groom my eyebrows with your toothbrush when I visit? Just, uh, hypothetically.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

Eyebrows are negotiable, especially as opposed to other grooming spots. But remind me to change out my toothbrushes next time you visit, just in case.

[octoberstory.livejournal.com]

You don't already do that? >:O Yecch!

[octoberstory.livejournal.com]

P.S.: I MISS YOU SO BAD >:D

[tofty.livejournal.com]

I MISS YOU TOOOOOOOOO.

[laurelwood.livejournal.com]

Totally off topic here, but aren't you the one who was totally into hobo signs as a kid? We saw "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" today, and hobos/hobo signs were featured prominently and I so wished that you were on hand (well, when don't I wish you were on hand?) to consult as to how good a job was done of depicting them.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

I am, and I'm delighted that the KK movie plays with hobo culture! I wasn't tempted to see it before, but I totally am now.

I always wish you were on hand too.