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When you walk into some department stores you often find several counters where sales ladies are offering to let you try out make-up, lipstick, powder and perfume in all shades and scents. They sell powder to make your face less shiny and liquid make-up to give you a shiny glow. With either there will be the perfect shade of rouge to brush lightly over your cheeks. Take your pick.

There is usually a stool for you to sit on in front of a mirror as you try the various products. You are caught up in getting something for free. They call it a free skin evaluation or something similar to make it sound more elaborate. There is day make-up and night make-up and indoor make-up and outdoor. You get the picture, lots of different products they can try to sell you.

But if the samples are open and being used by many women before you- - pass up the opportunity. Finding out if you look hot in the latest shade of eye shadow isn't worth going to the doctor and being treated for pink eye -- or worse. Often next to the eye shadow samples you will see q-tips. You know, the ones that are used to clean ears. Rub the q-tip in the eye shadow and apply it to one eye. Now, do you take another one for your other eye -- or do you double dip. What about the woman who tested the eye shadow before you? If the woman before you did dip the q-tip back in after it had touched her skin, you will be putting whatever germs she carried on your skin and very close to your eye. It's not possible to determine how many women tried the eye shadow before you. The woman before the woman before you may have had a cold and possibly sneezed into the eye shadow. You never know.

Besides, department store make-up is way overpriced. Many of the liquid make-ups are over a hundred dollars an ounce. Yikes, who needs to be that beautiful. Better to shop at Walgreens and for $20 you can look almost as good. No, seriously, the $20 bottle of liquid make-up may be as good or better than the $100 bottle. It has been tested on television shows where the hostess did half of one woman's face with the $100 make-up and the other half with the $20 version. It looked identical. The packaging on the department store version is better and that's the only difference...

A safer way to try out different colors and textures is available. Avon ladies still come to your home if you call and ask to connect with one. They have little tiny lipstick samples, eye shadow samples, etc. They'll sit with you and advise you if one looks better on you than the others. You can check the colors for how they look outside if you sit next to a window. They have little samples of liquid make-up too. It is important to get a shade that works on you. Even a pretty woman can look terrible in the wrong color make-up. Always remember the purpose is not to hide your face but to enhance it. Remember "less is more" meaning " less" make-up makes you "more" attractive.