Well behaved women rarely make history

  
Thanks to my Aussie psychologist friend for buying me this inspiring picture 

Yesterday, David Bowie died. As a conservative, convent educated girl, Bowie puzzled me and left me cold as a teenager. What was wrong with a nice short back and sides? Why constantly change your image like that? Odd. Just odd. 

As I’ve got older, I now understand the attraction of playing with one’s image, the comfort in experimentation with all sides of yourself. Indeed my recent heart break prompted a huge image change for me – from red hair and natural make up to emulating Marilyn – all blonde curls and red lipstick. 

Sometimes I stare at myself in the mirror and hardly recognise myself. 

Damn I look hot 😉

Marilyn said that well behaved women rarely make history . It seems true to me. Many well behaved and very bland men (yawn), get to the top – you only have to look at boring David Cameron….but women are required to have something about them… Women who make history are challenging.

In praise of eyelash extensions

“I’d like to grow up and be beautiful. I know it doesn’t matter, but it doesn’t hurt” 
Kirsten Dunst

I was brought up to believe that to try to look nice was the devil’s work. As a teenager there was no make up, no hair dye, no ear piercing allowed and my sense of style came from C&A rather than Top Shop. Within six months of starting university my 18th birthday saw me in a horror of a slash neck, peach silk, drop waist number teamed with granny glasses on a cord, topped by a permanent wave. My best friend’s jaw actually dropped “is that what you’re wearing?”. She promptly took me on a shopping trip which yielded spotty leggings, a cap and a white top with “in caso di pericolo”  written on it (Mr Byrite) which pretty much saw me through university.

I’ve got a large bosom and fine straight hair. These gifts of nature need more careful nurturing to look good than some …and yet through to my mid thirties I was in white blouses and grey skirts with cropped hair and no make up.

Doing Landmark education courses transformed my life in so many ways and none more so than the leadership course I took for a year which had you take on games in your life. One of mine was to look attractive, nay sexy. I went for a colour and style consultation, built a new wardrobe in autumn colours, lost a few pounds. That together with the sexual revolution in my early 40s and now I make an effort to look not just good but fairly glamorous every day. It goes with being a queen 😉

Yet the crowning achievement has been the false eyelashes. My eyes are small and mascara made a big difference but by the end of the day I always had the panda look. A couple of years ago I discovered salon installed eyelash by eyelash extensions.  It was then that I also met Nikki.

I wasn’t brought up to believe there was much value in being a hairdresser or a beautician but these days I would argue with anyone on that point. Nikki worked in a salon and it was expensive to go to her for lashes so I was delighted when she fell out with the owner and set up on her own at home. My eyelash in fills cost £20 a fortnight and I have seen her pretty much every other week for more than a year. 

Nikki is ferociously organised, very fast, goal oriented and she cultivates the Jordan look. She doesn’t gossip about her other clients, takes absolute pride in her work and whilst she is brilliant at up selling me new treatments (including the dreaded herbalife for a while) doesn’t try the Jordan look on me… I have the utmost respect for her . 

I feel absolutely great after I’ve been to Nikki, I think she does me a power of good. 

Yes it is about who you are underneath which counts and I know my appearance has improved since I grew truthful about who I am, since I lost all subterfuge, and since I got happy in myself (in spite of recent events) , but there’s no harm in doing your absolute best with the physical raw material you have available.