Maybe it’s because we always wish for the things we don't (or can't) have.
Or perhaps it's because my name isn’t common enough to warrant a personalized pen, magnet, key chain, toothbrush or sleeve of stickers.
Maybe it's that even in the land of frites and croissants, where I might actually find my name on a boring white mug, it won't be spelled the way I spell my name.
In any case, I'm obsessed with things that have my name on it. Even though, to date, I have exactly one piece of personalization: a box of personalized stationery my husband gave me on our first (paper) anniversary. And I had to wait nearly 30 years to get it.
So maybe it’s for that reason that I’ve always had to settle for the next best thing.
Before I got married, my initials were CG. And so, when I was eight years old, I made a solemn vow that CoverGirl, with its CG insignia on the top of the blue, green and brown powder compacts, would be my makeup line for life. I would fill my makeup bag only with CG products, and everyone would ooh and ahh when they saw me pull out my compact to powder my nose (or something like that).
It didn’t matter if I momentarily became infatuated with a blue mascara or pink lipgloss by another brand. If it wasn't CoverGirl, I turned the other (blushed) cheek.
Eventually, I made concessions for items CoverGirl didn't produce: a sparkly blue Wet n' Wild nail polish, a Tootsie Roll-flavoured lipgloss. And, as the years went on, I finally made more and more exceptions. But I always held a special place in my heart (and my makeup bag) for CoverGirl.
Which is why, when CoverGirl launched its Exact Eyelights mascara, I fell immediately in love. I've always been a CoverGirl mascara girl: My bathroom beauty drawer is a rainbow of CoverGirl mascaras:
Red: FantasticLash
Orange: LashBlast Volume Blasting
Purple: LashExact
Burgundy: VolumeExact
(Okay, okay, that's not exactly a traditional rainbow, but it's still a bevvy of addictive mascaras).
And now, there's ExactEyelights. Which isn't about the colour of the tube, but the colour of your eyes.
The theory behind ExactEyelights is that certain shades enhance specific eye colours:
If your eyes are green, you choose Black Ruby.
If your eyes are brown, you choose Black Pearl.
If your eyes are hazel, you choose Black Gold.
And if your eyes are blue (like mine), you choose Black Sapphire.
Not only does it make my baby blues bluer, but the mascara claims to make your eyes appear four times brighter than a typical mascara.
I have no idea how it really works, but I'm in love with my personalized shade.
Now, if only I can get CoverGirl to change their logo from CG to CS.
Well, a girl can dream.