Mom Beauty: Color Sticks

After wearing the new Color Sticks from Cargo for my son’s birthday party, I was smitten

It’s hard to know what’s appropriate when it comes to the right makeup to wear to your child’s birthday. Anything too made up looks ridiculous and like you’re trying to steal the show. Going bare faced isn’t an option either, not with all the photos being snapped of you and your tyke. So when it came time to put on the war paint for my son’s fourth birthday party this past weekend, I chose to go minimal with a happy touch of subtle color. The color came courtesy of a new Color Stick from the Canadian beauty brand Cargo.

The party venue was a gymnastics-inspired play space, which meant there’d be plenty of running around to catch up with the pintsized partygoers. Plus I always seem to break a sweat at kids’ birthday parties. The Color Sticks are made with a velvety color that blends in like a dream and stays put, thanks to an oil-free formulation. The Color Stick I used was Santorini, a lovely and sophisticated deep pinkish shade, which I smeared onto the apples of my cheeks and my lips. I even smoothed a dot onto my eyelids. The overall effect was natural, symmetrical and not too makeup-y. It gave me the kind of effortless and carefree look that every mother-of-the-birthday-kid craves. The party may have had a few glitches (my rambunctious 18-month-old stuck his hand right into the birthday cake before the party started), but at least my makeup looked pretty. —Melissa Schweiger