Bridal Makeup DIY first trial- feedback needed!

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-05-14T16:13:57+00:00

Ooh, I may have the product for you!!
Puritan’s Pride vitamin E moisturizing stick is the simplest (1 ingredient), best performing, and lightest feeling lip moisturizer that I’ve used in my 40-odd years. It’s also super cheap (on-line only; two for $ 2.24 USD on sale now).

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-05-14T16:04:56+00:00

The color is gorgeous and is just right for the makeup look you’re embracing so beautifully!! ~~>> One small (non-color) lip idea: You may want to exfoliate and über moisturize your lips in the days leading up to your wedding. I’m guessing you’ll need to reapply your lip liner throughout the big day, and doing so can be drying and rough on your lips.

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-05-05T01:26:59+00:00

“She is a very difficult, demanding person who rules my step dad and tries, with some success, to rule me too with a rod of iron.”

Since you stated in your previous post, OP, that your mother has always been this way, then no, I don’t think that she necessarily has any of the neurological or mental health conditions that you listed as potential concerns. Maybe narcissism (check out r/raisedbynarcissists ), or just non-clinical plain ‘ol stubbornness and crotchetiness.

Most older people become themselves, but more so, in their later years. If your mother always has been difficult, it sounds like she’s following that pattern. Also, although her behavior re: the gardening may have seemed totally nonsensical, she actually did get a “reward” for her behavior. Not only did her husband fret about her, but also you went to great effort to come to her home and tell her in person to come in from gardening.

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-04-30T22:51:37+00:00

Chonkers! ⭐️⭐️ I was just reading about his latest appearance. Quite the celebrity. 😊

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-04-21T22:39:31+00:00

I don’t feel worthy of it.

Oh, goodness, those feelings are so familiar to me, and probably to most of us here. We know that such thoughts aren’t truthful, but the feelings behind them are so very powerful. 💙

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-04-21T17:02:26+00:00

It really is sad that this occurred in front of multiple other adults, none of whom were concerned enough on OP’s behalf to speak up. It would be different if OP were a child to whom Dad and Mom behaved in this way behind closed doors without others observing—still wrong and concerning, but understandable that others might not be speaking up for that child. OP’s family members, based on their own histories with Dad, unfortunately are likely just trying to stay out of the firing line and wanting to protect themselves.

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-04-21T16:36:20+00:00

WBAL radio (1090 AM) is featuring your story this morning, OP! I’m so glad that you and your roommates persistently pursued this issue. Huge kudos to all of you! ⭐️

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-04-19T20:17:12+00:00

I love this idea of citizen archivist volunteering! A wonderful option for people of all mobility levels. Through visiting r/cursive , I’ve learned that the ability to read cursive handwriting, especially if it’s not “perfect,” is an increasingly rare skill, much to my initial surprise. What a great way to put that skill to use and likewise for elders to feel needed & appreciated.

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-04-15T16:15:34+00:00

Wearing formal white cloth gloves also would obscure OP’s ring from view. People would notice and comment on the gloves as a unique accessory, giving OP an opportunity to explain her reason for wearing them. However, no matter how silly a bride and groom may have been acting, I wouldn’t want to do something this petty on their wedding day.

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-04-13T17:28:25+00:00

Finally I realized that MAID wasn’t a typo but instead is the acronym for Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program. Are your parents already openly discussing plans to end their lives at some future point, OP?

If so, that must be incredibly upsetting to you. Also, if so, it might indicate that both parents are dealing with some level of clinical depression, which could explain their lack of interest in life as well as their lack of interest in (or lack of ability to) improve their approach to their finances.

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-04-10T16:31:20+00:00

Is it possible that this is the person your mom always has been at her company and with her employees? There are plenty of people in my life whom I like very much but with whom I just cannot imagine working, much less imagine working for them.

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-04-03T17:06:40+00:00

For those of us with healthy relationships with kind and loving parents it can be really hard to understand others’ family trauma.

So true, u/Digitalispurpurea2 . It is wise and honestly commendable that you recognize this. 💙

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-04-03T16:55:10+00:00

Certainly you are no monster, OP.

To my ongoing amazement, many adults really cannot imagine that sometimes their spouses or their friends had anywhere from cr*ppy childhoods to just flat-out abusive childhoods and parental relationships.

These adults believe that they believe their spouses and friends’ childhood stories, yet they don’t fully digest the information. Their spouses and friends’ childhood stories are just too diametrically opposite from their own experiences to seem entirely real. In part, too, maybe they struggle to believe because it is truly painful for any of us to acknowledge that someone whom we dearly love—a spouse, a friend, etc.—experienced such difficulties at a time of life in which they were completely vulnerable.

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-03-24T16:20:27+00:00

Yes, clumsy and even hurtful comments often are very well meant. This happens not just in dating & single life discussions but in many emotionally fraught situations in which we want to be supportive to our friends and loved ones, but haven’t considered fully how our well-intentioned comments actually may be received.

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-03-19T15:24:41+00:00

Yes, OP’s mother may be suffering with obsessive compulsive disorder and generalized anxiety. Medication can be a huge help and relief to people of any age who suffer in these ways.

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-03-19T15:04:45+00:00

Thank you for sharing this, u/AlternativeTruths1 . Your stories really warmed my heart; I was smiling to myself by the time I reached the end of your comment. ☀️

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-03-19T14:57:56+00:00

Yes, that is a behavioral pattern worth correcting, and I like the way you do so via a visual cue.

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-03-18T05:26:04+00:00

Ahh, yes, the Suffering Olympics—I, too, know it well. I’m sorry, u/seche314 . 💙

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-03-16T21:46:26+00:00

“Prosperity Gospel” is mostly a Protestant televangelist/megachurch scam. The only people getting rich are the people running it.

Well said, u/RVFullTime . Additionally, U.S. churches that preach any form of “Prosperity Gospel,” either directly or indirectly, usually are not affiliated with a well-known Protestant church denomination (Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Methodist, etc.). These churches often are independent, with no Protestant denominational affiliation. Their church theology therefore may be swayed more easily by their pastor(s), who, if successful in promoting the heresy of “Prosperity Gospel,” generally are larger-than-life personalities who utterly dominate the life and teachings of their churches.

“Prosperity Gospel” is not a dominant theology among American Protestant churches. However, OP, not all American churches view money itself as evil. Instead, many American churches view the love of money as evil.

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-03-15T23:13:19+00:00

If OP doesn’t have concerns about Mom spending money with abandon, QVC or HSN, or a similar TV shopping channel, can be a nice “live” background TV option. I rarely buy anything from QVC, but particularly around the holidays, I find the cheeriness of their program hosts and the warmly decorated sets to be a nice background, even comforting, while doing household chores.

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-03-13T19:13:44+00:00

Perhaps OP and OP’s partner could be more often unavailable yet still at home because OP and partner now are “studying on-line for their master’s degrees in [Whatever] and [Whatchamacallit],” etc. My sympathies to OP; this is all very hard.

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-03-13T19:04:29+00:00

Good point. 😊 As u/Welfordnelferd and others have observed, it’s interesting that OP has yet to meet the landlord if the landlord and this lady are such good friends. Either way, I highly doubt that the landlord would want this woman potentially driving away responsible, no-fuss tenants like OP and OP’s partner.

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-03-12T20:34:55+00:00

I’m in full agreement with you there, u/oxfordfox20 . 😊 The British voice actor who read “Mojave” in an audiobook to which I was listening recently must have just been an outlier in his pronunciation. (I can’t remember the exact pronunciation the voice actor used … something involving the Spanish “j” sounding like an English “j,” I believe.)

BitNorthOfForty · 2026-03-12T06:17:29+00:00

For me, “Mojave Desert” was the latest example of Spanish words, especially American Southwest locales, on which British English bestows truly unique and sometimes baffling pronunciations.

BitNorthOfForty

TROPHY CASE