I was so busy patting myself on the back for having discovered Lipstick Queen lipsticks (by discovered, I mean reading about them in Jean Godfrey June's Beauty Closet column in Lucky magazine a few years back) and posting ad nauseam on Facebook that I missed out on something pretty big in the makeup and social media world.

Allow me to explain.

With the help of one of my nieces (Hi Nicole!), the same one who had set up my FB account years earlier, I  started an Instagram account last summer, posted maybe twice and quickly abandoned it.

At that time, little did I know there were people on there scooping up followers, posting about all the lipstick and other makeup they buy and, most importantly, getting tons of FREE makeup as a result.

While we're on the subject of lipstick, have to say I'm still po'ed about the tube of Lipstick Queen Medieval, best described as a super-flattering and moisturizing red tint, I LOST last fall. Unlike most of the others reds I'd bought and ended up stashing in the makeup drawer (I'm talking to you, Nars Cruella and Damned!) because they were much too bold, this one is probably the most subtle shade and wearable consistency of any red I've come across. If it were a celebrity, it would be Jennifer Aniston, not Angelina Jolie. Cate Blanchett, not Pam Anderson. Sadly, it can't be gotten locally, so guess I've no choice but to go online and order a new NOT FREE tube at some point.

So, no one told me all of this was happening on Instagram. Meanwhile, here I was spending at least $100 every trip to Sephora without posting a darn thing about it. (And I do challenge any makeup or skincare obsessed person to leave a Sephora without spending $100 or more.)

The good news? I am back on Instagram, and while I've gotten nothing in the way of free makeup, Emily Weiss (founder and creative director of one of most influential beauty blogs, Into The Gloss) did recently "like" one of my makeup pix.

Hey, that's something.