Lupus Beauty Tips

Hey, come on in. Nice to meet you. I'm so glad you came over. Let's move over here. Oh, wow, look who's here.

So I found this scrapbook that my best friend made me for the Lupus Walk. Look at this. This was only a few months ago. I was on 60 milligrams of steroids. I gained over 60 pounds. Horrible.

I think we all have horror photos, before and after.

Yeah. You look at yourself in the mirror and you're just a completely different person. It's just miserable.

I gained 14 pounds of fluid. And then I'd bust out crying when I saw there was the face looking like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade float.

And only we could laugh at this.

I know.

But you have to. A sense of humor really helps when all of a sudden you're combing your hair and your hair falls out. So then I became the queen of extensions. And I feel like when I clipped them in, all of a sudden, I had more hair. And that was me in the mirror.

Exactly.

So I didn't care what anyone else said. I needed to look like the girl that I looked like when I closed my eyes. And when I close my eyes, I had more hair and it was longer.

I used to have three times this amount of hair.

Oh, me too.

But as you get older, your hair does thin out.

Right.

And I used to have to go have it thinned out. So it was kind of convenient that some of it fell out.

Exactly, yeah.

Wait, you mean we can't blame lupus for everything?

No.

CHRISTINE MISERANDINO: Because why not use that excuse?

I feel like over this last year when I went on this high dose of steroids, it's like I also aged like 10 years or something. And I'm just a completely different person. I'm not that same tiny, I've had to learn how to dress my body now. And how my cheeks and put some darker and make a cheekbone.

And even filling in eyebrows. Yeah. I have never had to do that.

I left that for like the movie stars. And now, I'm filling in eyebrows.

Speaking of of eyebrows--

CHRISTINE MISERANDINO: Looking at the mirror and figuring out, what do I need to. Wearing jewelry was something that I could just get away with running out. And now I look and go, oh, that might help sparkle up your face or just a little things.

But that's one thing when you're on steroids and you do have a heavier face, I have some really good shimmer. But shimmer does not look good with a mean face because it just goes bing.

Now you have sparkling mean face. But that's why you have to try different things. And what works for you might not work for you.

Exactly.

CHRISTINE MISERANDINO: But that's why it's fun. Have a makeup party. Have a girl party like this and figure out what works.

I mean, even as you get older, your makeup colors change. I used to do the red lipstick.

How can I get any whiter?

Well, I know. Self-tanner. Like to me, I'd rather be proactive and deal with it than complain about it. I'm going to take care of my skin if it's going to prematurely age. I'm going to put the tanner on or the bronzer. And one of the other things I did and I do quite often is I go to different makeup counters and I get a free makeover. They will give you samples for 10 days at the department stores of any line. And you can play. Because, I mean, I'm on a tight budget. And, you know--

[INTERPOSING VOICES]

CHRISTINE MISERANDINO: [INAUDIBLE] with the medicine. We got the cognitive issues going on. And so I keep a bag in my purse. I keep some in my car with an extra dose of medication. I've got a system down where I'm never caught off guard.

So, wait, I need to bring a bag and put one by my bed, one in the car, in my pocketbook.

Yes. Like if you have a sale on cosmetics.

Or when you find something you like, buy it up. Because I've had that happen when I found a foundation that really covered my lupus rash, but then it was out of stock.

Oh my God.

There are definitely some foundations that have like a redness solution that will calm the rash.

That's good. I feel like what you're saying too is sometimes it's that outside opinion that can try something new on you that you might not have ever tried before.

Yes. And just being comfortable in who you are knowing I've done everything I can do to eliminate the things that are bothering me. And thank goodness the one thing about lupus is you have the time to do this stuff, like paint your nails and feet--

Now, you may not have the energy.

--and you don't have the cold feel.

But you have the time.

Oh, here's how I put my makeup on in the morning. I'll lay in the bed or in the sofa and ottoman. And my dog's in my lap. My coffee's here.

That's good. I used to think that I had to walk all the way over to the bathroom, which the bathroom--

And sit in the chair and all that.

Bathroom? From your bed to the bathroom is at least five miles when you don't feel well. All these things, whether it's makeup, whether it's clothes and hair, like even if you're not a makeup girl, you do not need to be a makeup and hair and clothes girl. But just the idea of taking care of yourself and feeling the best you can. Because when you look good--

You feel good.

You feel better.