She laughed at me when I suggested she ask her husband on a date.

“Yeah, THAT’ll be the day!” she said in her Seattle girl moved to Texas accent as she stood in my driveway… barefoot.

“No, Seriously” I said “Why the heck not??”

“Just a baby sitter alone would be nice! Much less a date.  With the homeschooling, and now the twins.. it’s just…” and she drifted off ….

This is a real conversation I had with a neighbor from down the street.  She knocked on my door to discuss me giving child #3 of 4 (the 8 year old boy) drum lessons; which I do for free for the kids on my block.

The talk turned to Red Apple Lipstick and how she like what the “brand” stood for.  She is gluten free, her mom and sister both have Celiac disease, and she really loved the page on our site that showed photos of 75 of our customers.

She said “Before the kids, I used to LOVE red lipstick…the dark red kind…”

I said “It sounds like Rebel! would be your color…”

I continued “You see, I want Red Apple Lipstick to be an ‘encouraging’ brand, an ‘everyday’ brand, a ‘real life’ brand. You don’t see photos of skinny minny models in crazy high fashion outfits on my site… that’s just not real life… real life is you standing in my driveway, with no shoes on, holding your sister’s two month old (which she was) with 4 kids at home discussing whether or not you should still go on dates with your husband of how many years??  Oh yeah 17…. I want to be that brand that has a red [lisptick] that encourages YOU to ask YOUR husband on a date, just so you have an excuse to wear it AND make a positive move in your life…”

and she laughed, and said, “Yeah, THAT’ll be the day…” in a tone that suggested her life of any type of “date” or “night out” was completely over. Is it??

I’m writing another book.  This time not on the topic of toxic makeup, but on the stories of transformations and encouragement.

What I’m seeking, are stories of how Red Apple Lipstick has encouraged YOU.

If you have a story of encouragement you would like to share, I would love it if you posted it in the comments section at the bottom of the post.  You don’t need a user account.

Please use your real email address (and it’s completely hidden from the public) so that I can contact you if I use your story in the book.