Admit it. Your eyes are ready to skim down the page for the proof that even I have used poor hair judgement.
I’ve seen ’em, the countless reminders of what was wrong with the 80’s. That poodle hair. Yipes.
Well, what if I told you that I got my first perm just yesterday? And what if I told you that instead of perming my hair, I permed… my lashes?
*surprised gasp!*
Let’s break this down. Square Piece had some gift cards to Amenity Day Spa. (If you go, ask for Mai Lynn. She’s a doll!) I don’t know why I wasted half of it on a facial a couple weeks ago. While the experience itself was lovely (she massages your arms and legs while your face goop sits), I always get beautiful results from just following the maintenance of my Beauti Control skin care routine. A wash, a scrub, etc. Voila! Perfection.
A couple of days after my facial, feeling more like Rudolf than like Square Piece, I turned to Brian and announced, “I think I disturbed the delicate ecosystem that is my nose.” Lesson learned.
But what was I to do with the remaining balance on my gift card? Get my lashes curled, of course!
I cannot believe that I – a licensed cosmetologist! – did not realize that THIS was a possibility in the beauty industry!
Okay, every man and woman, if given the chance to scrutinize, would have a few things they’d like to improve upon in the body image category. Everyone notices their flaws with a magnified perspective. Something that I’ve observed about myself that I’m sure no one else has ever noticed is that 1) my lashes are straight and 2) several of them on the left side in the outer corner don’t like “going with the flow.”
Before you yell at me for being so nit-picky, let me assure you that I hear how ridiculous this sounds.
Poor Square Piece. Her lashes aren’t perfect. Never mind those of us who are concerned about jiggly bellies, flappy arms, blotchy skin, auto-immune disorders, thinning hair, broken teeth, broken capillaries, broken families, affording food, maintaining shelter, having access to clean water…
I know. I know. I KNOW! But I had a gift card! It’s not like I’ve been obsessing for years over these lashes! It was more like a well-that-could-be-neat kind of a moment.
Moving on.
Of course I had a teensy bit of concern that the process could go horribly wrong and the Bennett would have to be raised by his blind mother. I had already begun to fantasize about the prospect of being a blind blogger (’cause, let’s face it, I wasn’t gonna be a blind hairstylist!). But I had nothing to worry about. The process wasn’t as wet and liquid-y as I thought it would be and I wasn’t squinting as much as I thought I would to spare my eyes the chemical invasion. In fact, it was a rather dry procedure! Dry, but stinky, of course. It smells like any other sulfuric batch of rotten eggs you’ve enjoyed at a hair salon.
All for the cause! All for the cause!
Mai Lynn knew that, except for blindness, my only concern was the she’d curl my lashes so tight that they’d be curling backwards, towards my eyelids. So she erred on the conservative side and used a large rod to just give them a gentle upsweep. I like waking up looking a little more alert! But perhaps next time we’ll be bolder and go for a more dramatic curl.
Here’s 1) a before, 2) an after and 3) an after-mascara-is-applied photo:
Before:
After:
With mascara, too:
Whatcha think?
Update: I went back about a month later and used the “medium” rods for curl. This time the perm seems to be lasting longer, stronger and, no, they didn’t look weird. Just as natural as ever with a tad more drama!
Nice eyes!
Why, thanks, Charley! XOXO!
Oooooooo! Love it!!!!! So awesome! A little scary, but I’d do it! Looks perfecto. Beautiful!!
Thank ya! Yeah, I can see this becoming an obsession.
Glad you didn’t go blind!!!
I am soooo doing this!! We need to chat! Did I tell you about my Christian Dior heated eyelash curler experience or my daily dance with hair blow dryer and eyelash curler?? Allll fails. Droopy eyelashes = bane of my existence. People are always asking me… Are you tired? Sigh.
I knew you’d be interested! Mai Lynn was explaining that not everyone can get superior results and that Asian lashes are more difficult. Thinking of you, I asked, “What about half Asian?” Ya never know till you try!
Rofl…seriously? ! You asked for me?? Love it. You ARE a kindred spirit.
Yes, because I remembered your interest in curled lashes!
My initial reaction….Boo. I was expecting a before and after picture. Sounds kind of cool. Glad it worked for you!
Sorry to disappoint! But if you’d like a hair history, here’s the best one: https://www.iwantasquarepiece.com/2011/11/more-looks-than-the-cia/
Ohh man! I was sure I was going to find a picture of the before and after! 😉
OK, Suzy, so this is definitely NOT an eyelash “perm” story, but I’ll never forget a home hair perm that my mother’s friend/neighbor gave to me when I was living in Rockford, IL. I was about 9 or 10 (I’m too old to remember that far back nowadays), and my hair was long. When I say long, I mean it reached down to my backside (hehehe….). It was a beautiful blond color, that sun-kissed look you get from spending a ton of time playing outdoors in the summertime months. I wanted a spiral perm, which was pretty new at that time, and this friend of Mom’s had always permed her own daughter’s hair. Everything went really well, and the spiral curls came out looking soft, natural, and plain ole spectacular, exactly what I’d wanted. However, and to my absolute horror, my hair broke off from the top of my head 2 days later. And not just a few hairs!! I ended up with a head full of long, lovely spiral curls and a mohawk up on top. I remember crying for days over it, and trying everything to cover it up (headbands, pushing my longer hair over the spikey stuff, etc.). Every time it tried to grow back, it would break off again. I can look back on it now and laugh, but when you’re teased at school, it’s no fun at all. Oh, the stories I’m sure we all could tell about hair horrors, right?!
OOOOH NO! What a shame. A shame! Thanks for sharing your hair horrors!
No problem with procedure. Gift will not feed masses and will give you bit of pleasure.
However, NO PICTURE IS WRONG!
Oh my goodness! Somehow half of this post is deleted and all the pics are gone! WHAT?! Fixing NOW!
Thanks so much. Lashes is definitely what we were missing. Don’t see big difference between #1 & #2 because #1 looks like does have mascara on lower lid and therefore highlights the lashes even uncurled.
#3, however, is spectacular!!!!
I am tempted to show you my 80’s poodle perm picture… It was when I was in 8th grade….it will make you laugh…I had the metal band braces too!
Cool!
I see a slight difference. But you should know you already had beautiful eyes and lashes. I def think Bennett has your eyes.
Not too shabby. I think that I will stick to my eyelash curlers. 😛