Brand Loyalty is like that first love gone wrong.

It's morning; I head for the bathroom and watch my reflection in the mirror staring back at me. I feel bored looking at this lifeless face standing before me. My face is like a bad painting, absent of any expression or meaning, unable to connect with its audience. But I know that underneath this canvas is the opposite, there is a painting full of life, colourful and animated, drawn to make you wonder. I question why these mousy brown eyelashes, blemished skin and small lips have to tell the world different? It’s not fair, but I can’t change it. I splash water over my face, pick up my paint brush and turn to my palette and get ready to do something about it.

First, I reach for my Nivea moisturizer. I've been using this moisturizer every day, twice a day since I've been eleven years old. My mother swears by it and I believe her. I too, hope that one day I will also have a line free face when I reach the age of 48, so I will take any ‘Mom’ advice I can get. But Mom really does know best. After working in top of the line spas for the past four years and using moisturizers costing hundreds of unnecessary dollars, claiming to solve all my skincare problems, I have always secretly gone back to that plain, white, thick and odorless cream. It comes in a blue, plastic container that almost looks like it would be filled with Vaseline instead, and can be found at the drugstore for only eight dollars and lasts me months on end. What makes this worse, is that I get paid to tell my customers that the high-end cream is the way to go, when myself, I prefer what is considered to be the cheap stuff. The guilt I feel from my infidelity disappears as I rub the Nivea into my skin. I can see it transforming, my fingers circular motions are breathing life into my skin, awakening it and giving it that healthy and alive glow, making it feel supple all day, everyday. I think ‘does this really make me a cheater? Or am I just being loyal?’

A big improvement already, but the picture is still lacking. There are dark under circles looming under my eyes and a mysterious growth forming on my chin. I turn back to my palette and reach for my Lancome Clair II concealer. Discovered three years ago, working at the Lancome make up counter, it has never left me since. It comes in a little black tube that looks like it holds about enough for twenty applications or so, but like magic it never runs out. I know that I need to purchase exactly two tubes, for the price of $26.50 each and I'm set for a year. I blend the formula into my problem areas and am still as amazed as I was on that fateful day that I found it. Amazed at how close it comes to my natural colour. No one will ever know its there and for this reason I am forever loyal.

My painting is beginning to take some shape, but the windows to my soul still reveal nothing, they’re not yet ready to tell today’s story. I hear my Dad saying I should think it a blessing to be born a blonde to two brunettes. But what is a blonde and blue combination, when those blues are lost in a tide of colourless eyelashes? I’m not satisfied and return to my palette for my Voluminous mascara by l'Oreal in Carbon Black, the greatest gift to all women in my shoes. Discovered before my days at the Lancome counter, I loved everything about it and stayed loyal until the fear of missing out on something in my life got the best of me and I did the inevitable, I bought a tube of Hypnose, "the Godfather” of all mascaras. Although a good end result, far too much work and high maintenance for my style. I miss my eight-dollar Voluminous and like Nivea, I go crawling back. I’m ashamed for having bought Hypnose for $32, calculating that I could have bought four Voluminous for that price. It’s Karma, I know this. I coat my eyelashes with the black liquid, thickening and separating them, one by one they are giving me the depth I know. I eventually learn that l'Oreal is Lancomes parent company and happily let the guilt of my fornication disappear. If buying within the family brand isn’t considered loyal, then I no longer comprehend what the worlds definition of this word is.

The painting now standing before me is almost there, but it’s still lacking something.
I reach for my brush and turn back into my palette and search for that final touch. I select 'Gotham' by Cargo, my final touch, my blush. I also found it three years ago and like the others it was well rounded and brought me satisfaction. But like they say, ‘once a cheater, always a cheater.’ I was faithful until I found Sugar. ‘California Sun’ by Sugar was a blush/bronzer combination that came in a sleek, fun, gold and pink compact. It looked so cool and its two-in-one combination would save me money. The best part was, I found it at Sephora in New York. Nobody else would have Sugar...that is until Ottawa decided to get a Sephora, (not that I’m complaining). And, by that time, I already made up my mind, I was over Sugar. Once I started wearing it all the time, I didn’t like how it looked anymore and I found the bronzer combination a nuisance, the pink and brown spilling into each other and making a big mess. I missed Cargo like I missed Nivea and Voluminous. I missed Cargos young, but timeless colours and fantastic quality. It costs a bit more, but I don't mind because it’s a Canadian brand and I rather pay, then settle for stupid 'trend of the moment, I want to be in a rap video' Sugar. I brush the blush on to my cheeks in an upward motion and my painting is finished, reflecting how I feel inside. I no longer feel like the meaningless painting that stood before me six and a half minutes ago. My lips are still bare and small, but its ok now, I’m confident and I’m set. But, just for good measure I reach for my palette one last time and choose a gloss to throw in my pocket for later. I am an admitted player in this area, but everyone needs a sense of adventure.

I feel that in comparison to my story, brand loyalty could be compared to that first love gone wrong that you never really do get over. But, in this case, you hold the power in the relationship. Like my makeup staples, it’s love at first sight. They are what help you get through your day and you could see yourself with only them for a long time. But the world lures you in, there’s pressure and temptation, but you hold strong. Time passes, you start to panic, because you’re not yet ready to settle down and fear your missing out on the rest of your life, so you leave. Only realizing everything you’ve lost when it’s already gone. And they are succeeding and doing just fine without you, you want them back. Reality is, rarely do we get a second chance when dealing in terms of loss, but the one difference between brand loyalty and love gone wrong is that brands will always take you back to that familiar and comforting place with loving arms. The second time around, if your wise, you stick around for a while.