Lipstick & Learning

Lipstick. High heels. Rainbow eyes.

We have all of these these around our house on a daily basis. It's safe to say that we love experimenting with how we look...I could probably add 100 more photos of the girls with evidence of this.

Playing with make-up empowers them to create their own persona. They are finding out what feels good to them...what makes them feel sassy and fun. It's part of their exploration into art, expression, and self-confidence.

It may seem like all of this "make-upping" is just play. And you would be right! As unschoolers, we live our life as play. Everything we do is changing us, enriching us. We are learning new things about ourselves and the world around us, without textbooks.

What is there to learn from lipstick?

Paris: Bella has been obsessed with Paris for years and years. Whenever we dress up fancy, we end up talking about living in Paris. What does a Paris flat look like? How do you get around in Paris? What else is in France? This leads us to check out books on France. And find websites telling us more about life in Paris. She has an elaborate plan to live in Paris when she turns 18.

Fashion: What kinds of careers could you have in fashion? What does a fashion designer do? What happens during Paris Fashion Week?

Perceptions of others and judgement: How does it feel when other people stare at you because you look different? Is it ok to not look like everyone else?

Careers in art and design: Painting our faces is like painting a canvas! What types of careers are available as a make-up artist? How can you turn your passions into a career?

Sense of self: How does it feel when you dress up and put on make-up? Is it something you would want to do all the time or is it just fun some of the time? What makes you feel the most like "YOU"?

What else do we learn?

Fine motor skills: Eye liner application is no joke people! Emma is still working on this one. ;-)
Cooperation & patience: The girls helped each other and shared their application advice with each other. They waited their turn for their favorite color of eye shadow.
Color exploration & theory: Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. What coordinates and contrasts? What two colors mix to make purple? How do different colors make you feel? How do black fingernails look & feel compared to light pink?

And so this is my life. Surrounded by colorful and confident little people. And I wouldn't have it any other way!

(Side note: we love to use raw coconut oil and cotton pads to take all the makeup off. No fancy makeup remover needed!)

Are you interested in reading more about our life as unschoolers?
Click here!

You can also see all of my other posts on unschooling here.

(After I imported my old blog posts, many of the photos are not sized correctly. Please be patient during this transition. I am re-sizing as I can!)