Hair and Make-Up and All That Stuff

As I mentally try to remember all that I need to do to prepare for this upcoming dance competition, I start to go a little squirrelly when I think about the grooming part of the equation.

Fake nails are the way to go. Despite the fact that it has been two months since my last ordeal with them and they all but destroyed my real nails ... it is the one thing that I won't have to worry about.

Then there is the hair. I've spent the better part of the year outgrowing some very bad hair cuts. My hair is now long enough to have some choices as to how to style it. And what has the suggestion been? Short and sassy. The Dorothy Hamil look. It's a look that I always aspired to have. It's a look that I have asked for on numerous occasions. Short and sassy ... I like that. Then, I come out of the hairdressers looking like ... me. It disappoints me every time.

Then my hair color. Lots of words tossed in my direction but the ones that stuck in my mind, are that you don't want to blend in when you are on a competitive dance floor. Mousy brown is probably out. My present hair color sounds like it is too dark. Highlights. Lots of highlights. Okay ... I'll cross my fingers and hope that between my comprehension of what was said and my hairdresser's talent, we get it right.

Make-up. My dramatic, over-the-top make-up look is ... everyday stuff for most people. I attended a make-up workshop that one of the dance pros put on for us after a dance showcase. It's a lot about contours, eyes and eyebrows. Fake eyelashes are common place, but despite many determined attempts, I have never managed to hone the skill of gluing fake body hairs onto my eyelids.

And there is the tanning. You don't want to have lily white skin on the dance floor. I usually buy some fake tanning cream and spend a few nights prior to a dance showcase trying to darken my skin tone. But this time, I will be away from home, sharing a hotel room and working within the restrictions of what sizes and amounts of lotions, liquids, etc. that I can bring on a plane. The self-tanning process is tedious and I can't quite imagine squeezing in this 'process' while I'm on the vacation-of-my-lifetime-so-far. I'll have to check the alternatives ...

This aging process takes away some of the ease in which one prepares for something like this. There was a time (that I thought may last forever) when I looked in the mirror and a youthful reflection looked back at me. Now ... I see crevices forming around my mouth, bad hair and facial features that fade into oblivion unless I dress them up with some kind of pencil or mascara.

What is happening to me?? I still feel like I'm 27 (or my early 30's, at worst)! Who the heck is living on the other side of my mirror?

I have always wanted to be like the Noxema Girl. The wholesome girl-next-door. I want to wake up in the morning with that fresh and unpainted Noxema Look ... with my Dorothy Hamil hair and be ready to face the day without 'hair and make-up' before I even walk into the kitchen in my own home!

The primping required for these dance events always drives me crazy. I'm grateful for fake nails. How about fake hair and face? Hey Noxema, what miracles do you have within your jars of cold cream these days?