Member-only story
Halloween Inspired Me to Wear Makeup for the First Time in Months
This year has been rough, and I didn’t wear makeup for more than 4 months. June 17th was the last time cosmetics found a home on my face. I only remember that because I had just gotten my hair done and wanted to take some selfies.
I spent months dealing with health problems — some new, some old — and didn’t have the physical or mental energy to deal with makeup. Self-care fell off the map. Heck, so did basic hygiene sometimes. If we’re being honest, I went 9 days without washing my hair once.
My occipital nerve was damaged 8 years ago when I fractured my skull. The pain disappears for months at a time, but it pops back up when I’m stressed, sick, or reinjured. Burning eye pain and a sharp stabbing sensation in my scalp returned a few months ago, much to my disappointment.
You might be thinking, eh, that doesn’t sound so bad. After all, many of us live with pain. What you may not know is that nerve pain of any type can be excruciating, especially when it involves the occipital nerve. During a flare-up, it’s extremely painful to brush my hair or even touch my scalp. Letting water run over my head in the shower is a nightmare.
