Here’s this week’s Smartmom from the Brooklyn Paper:

Smartmom is wearing new shade of lipstick lately. It’s called “Emerging” and she picked it out at MYR, a make-up shop on Seventh Avenue.

Emerging. It’s the perfect name for the soft burgundy color that goes so well with her skin tone. And it makes Smartmom feel like a butterfly emerging from her schleppy chrysalis in her journey to add a little flair to her appearance.

Hepcat hasn’t said a thing. OK, so he’s a little distracted these days — consulting as a software engineer — but he could comment on her new shade of lipstick, nu?

Truth is, Hepcat has never been one for make-up. Hell, he grew up on a farm. He hates perfume, and he gets all edgy when Smartmom wears foundation or rouge. He says he likes his Smartmom au natural.

Same with her hair. Hepcat doesn’t believe she should color it. Her “blondes-have-more-fun” phase last year left him cold. He actually loves the patch of gray that makes Smartmom look like Susan Sontag.

“I just find it so sexy,” he’s told her again and again.

But Smartmom pays no attention to that man. She’s been covering her gray since just days before her 40th birthday nearly nine years ago. And she likes it that way.

Since Hepcat didn’t notice her new lipstick color, Smartmom got to thinking: Would more radical make-up action get a rise out of him?

She decided to give it a try. Recently, she went back to MYR and decided to buy some eye make-up. The saleswoman helped her pick out a Kohl pencil, mascara, and, would you believe, eye shadow.

When Smartmom got home, she stood in front of the bathroom mirror and used her new pencil to try to make herself look like the Anais Nin character in the film “Henry and June.”

Then she applied the mascara carefully. She’s never had great luck with the stuff. It tends to smear if she rubs her eyes, has a crying jag or a laughing fit. But the MYR brand is smudgeless. Suddenly, Smartmom felt like she was being watched.

“What are you doing?” asked the Oh So Feisty One.

“Just putting on some make-up.” Smartmom replied.

“I like you better without make-up,” OSFO said.

Scram, she felt like saying. I’m in the mood to try something new. Like, is it possible to get some alone time in this apartment?

So, why this sudden desire to do something new with her face? Maybe it was that post on Park Slope Parents titled, “How Did I Get to Be Such a Frump?” that got her going:

“I just turned 50, and am in desperate need of a makeover. I’ve been a stay-at-home mom; can I blame it on that? My makeup and hairstyle is from 10 years ago, and my wardrobe consists of eight pairs of black elastic-waist pants, and different colors of the same Lands’ End shirt. I wish I was joking.”

Ms. Frump went on to say that she wanted to look more polished and professional. Clearly, she could use some SOS in the make-up, hair, and clothing department.

Smartmom immediately did an accounting of all the ways that she has absolutely NOTHING in common with this woman.

First of all, there are at least 15 months between Smartmom and 50.

Second, Smartmom regularly gets her hair cut at a trendy salon on the Lower East Side.

OK, she does wear black elastic-waist pants, but they’re from Eileen Fisher so that doesn’t count.

But most importantly, Smartmom is not now, nor has she ever been, a shopper at Lands’ End. In fact, Smartmom has never even tried on a Lands’ End shirt.

Whoa. Calm down. Nobody ever said that Smartmom and the Frumpette had anything in common. So why the over-reaction?

Well, on one level, Smartmom worries about becoming a frump, too. While she does obsesses about the way she looks (and she loves to window shop at Bird and Flirt), the pressures of her kids, her work, the family’s money situation, and her writing sometimes keep her from having a more, shall we say, polished appearance.

The trouble started after Teen Spirit was born when Smartmom found that she was still wearing her black Belly Basics way longer than she needed to.

Then the Oh So Feisty One was born, and Smartmom became self-employed in the Slope. Why dress up when the only people who see her are her MacBook, her office mate, and her family?

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Whether you’re getting dressed to go to the office, the gym, or a PTA meeting, you can still make an effort to look good.

Case in point: Smartmom’s friend, writer and blogger Mom After-Hours. She’s a bit of a fashion plate, who always looks terrific on Seventh Avenue whether she’s wearing jeans or one of her creatively coordinated outfits.

“Women who are so dedicated to being good mothers, good caregivers, and good partners end up neglecting who they are,” she said last week. “Since when did being a mother come to mean a life of self-denial? Since when did motherhood mean getting rid of stilettos and wearing in their stead, dare I say it, Birkenstocks?”

Stilettos? Smartmom doesn’t have one friend who wears stilettos. But Mom After-hours does have a point. While comfort and efficiency are the buzzwords of Park Slope life, comfortable doesn’t have to mean a lack of creativity or style.

Smartmom felt like calling Ms. Frump. She wanted to tell her to go to MYR to buy some eye shadow. She wanted to tell her to check out the clothes at City Casual, Living on Seventh or Flirt. She wanted to tell her to take a run in the park and meditate. She wanted to meet her for lattes at Sweet Melissa’s and compare shopping woes.

Hepcat still hasn’t noticed Smartmom’s lip color. But he did make a comment about her eye make-up.

“I think that stuff makes you look like a ferret or maybe a raccoon,” he told Smartmom over udon soup.

But Smartmom didn’t care. She is doing it for herself. Just playing around. Having some fun. And when that bathroom door is closed, OSFO now knows she wants to be alone.