I tried, I really tried. I put every effort into being "put together". My normal routine before leaving the house is this....
1) 2 minutes brush teeth
2) 1 minute wash face
3) 20 seconds slather on some tinted moisturizer
4) 10 seconds mascara
optional:
Hair. Well, I put some coconut oil in when its wet and then I let it air dry.... who wants to actually blow dry their hair anyway? Its boring.
It probably takes me longer to locate my keys and my shoes than it takes to prep myself.
For last week's Holiday formal "event" or "ball", I decided to be more intentional. The tousled look was good last year, but this year I had a vision in my mind. I wanted to emulate Lauren Bacall's timeless look. She looks classic, elegant, finished and beautiful. I love her.
I did my research on how to attain such soft waves, and on how to do the 1945 makeup. Those women spent hours fixing their hair like that! And that eye makeup took talent and time as well!
I made a huge mistake, though. I decided to further my independence in the mystical field of cosmetology and do my nails too! I borrowed my friend's nail lights and had a couple of hours before the dinner to achieve the look. Now, I should add that I am self conscious of my nails and rarely have them painted for the same reason. And they are not long at all. Rather stubby. Its because I make art. There is no way I won't chip polish in the same day, and normally they have some sort of stain or discoloration from something I have been doing. Sometimes they look dirty, when its really just ink under my nails.
I began painting my nails.
I put on two thick coats and stuck them under the nail light. I waited a few minutes and tried to take them out. I messed up! I moved too fast and they were still gloopy.
Take two. I put on a coat of polish. Decide to curl my hair, Didn't seal the bottle. The polish is knocked over, hits the tile floor, shatters and glass and polish go EVERYWHERE.
Including my foot, which was stained with pink.
And I tried to clean it off the floor to prevent staining and ended up getting it all into my fingers and it was sticky and a huge mess. I managed to find some remover , which was good since I used the last of my other bottle on my first mishap and painstakingly rubbed off both the stickiness and most of the stains out of my skin.
Take three. I found another bottle of nail polish and put on a thin coat and somehow managed to finish my hair with semi-wet nails. I ran out of time, really.
Why did I think I could manage in this world of manicure and glamour? I am just a poor farm girl from upstate New York. I am no match for the southern belles around here!
Of course when you look at my picture below, you may realize how silly I was. My dress is too long to worry about nail polish on toes, or stained skin as well. And I was going to wear gloves most of the night anyway, so my fingers weren't going to be criticized either. (Except you can't wear gloves while you eat...)
My mother told me something importatnt when I was a girl. She said that people won't notice if you wear the same dress two sundays in a row to church. People usually don't notice trivial things which we sometimes worry about. We are consumed about little details that fill up our time and our minds, and really don't matter in the big picture.
And as a further note on why it doesn't matter, just look at my husbands lovely face and how much he loves these social events. And photos. He loves photo shoots.
Merry Christmas!
