Glam 101 - A Beginner's Guide
| Published date | 02 August 2023 |
| Author | Rose O'Connor |
| Publication title | West Coast Messenger, The |
When Eilis ran her first Buller mini marathon as a two-year-old, she crossed the finish line carrying pink and purple furry handbags ensconced in her bling covered fingers - much to my horror.
How did I end up with a Barbie-type daughter?
Many, many moons ago, I proudly took my new wedding album to show the children I was teaching. When we reached the end, one little girl said, "that lady is very pretty but who is she?" Well, to be fair, she had probably only ever seen me wearing sports gear and certainly never clad in a dress nor wearing makeup.
Even when I attended my son's Year 13 formal - at $160 per ticket - I arrived in Christchurch from the Coast after rushing home from school at 3pm with five minutes to 'prepare'.
Who holds a school leaver's ball on a Friday night?
I threw on the secondhand dress I had found for $20 in a Reefton op shop, slapped on some makeup - borrowed - and flew in a flurry out the door, looking a million dollars of course. Yeah, right.
So, when I was invited to attend the Young Farmer of the Year grand finale in Timaru recently (thanks Nick O'Connor), I thought I needed to up my game.
When the ticket was upgraded to attend with my politician brother as a VIP I knew I had to up my game - even if I was only bound to end up sitting at a table of Labour Party bigwigs. So, off I went to my friend Donna and her beauty salon to tint those eyelashes.
Years previously, when sharing a lane at our kids' swim meet, she commented my lashes were so long I needed them tinted. It really is funny how comments like that stay with you.
Anyway, it felt preferable to using the muchdreaded mascara which always leaves me looking like a panda.
"You mean I have to get this done every four to six weeks," I asked, totally stunned.
On route to the awards in Timaru and passing Christchurch, my daughter decided she wanted her nails done for her birthday treat. Off she dragged me, rather reluctantly, to Delux Nails.
Did I say the smell of finger nail polish gives me an instant headache?
I guess you only turn 19 once and she wanted to hang with me - or my credit card - so nails it was.
But then to choose what I wanted: it was seriously worse than selecting a McDonald's meal under pressure. Did I want added fries with that?
Much to my daughter's chagrin, I shoved my hardworking hands at the...
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