Last Tuesday I received a call from a journalist asking me if I’d be interested in having a makeover for the fashion supplement that comes with every Friday’s newspaper. She had gotten my contact from her colleague who was the editor I had worked with recently for a magazine article I had written. She went on to explain that they were looking for people who are currently looking for a job and are open to having a makeover – apparently it’s really difficult to get people to agree ‘cos most people aren’t willing to let their bosses know they’re looking for something new.
I pretty much agreed on the spot, ‘cos I thought it sounded fun. I mean, why not? How often do I get fussed over by professionals and be made to look pretty? I was full of bravado and then I started getting cold feet yesterday, thinking how embarrassing it would be to get criticised left, right and centre for my usual blah interview attire.
But my try-everything-once attitude to life prevailed and I went for the photo shoot yesterday. I was made to wear my usual interview attire of a black blouse, grey skirt and black heels, and carry my usual olive green handbag. The photographer then took a ‘Before’ shot of me and after a few poses I went to sit down on a chair in front of a mirror to get dolled up.
Like a magician, the makeup artist wielded her brushes like a wand and performed magic on my face. With tiny deft strokes of the brush on every little area of my eyelid, applying and blending earth-based tones of beige, brown and cream, she gave my eyes a rather smoky look after the application of eyeliner and mascara. A few dabs on concealer on my nose bridge made my nose appear sharper – nice touch.
The first outfit they had styled for me wasn’t me at all. It was a black knee-length pencil skirt, with a bright purple shirt and a colourful box jacket that made me look like some taitai. Way too flowery and over the top! I didn’t feel right and they also realised it looked a bit wrong. The second outfit was right – a khaki coloured pleated skirt with a thick black trimming, a black tank top and a dark pink cardigan. A thin brown belt held the cardigan together with the rest of the clothing and gave my waist (whatever little that’s left of it) some definition. A black pair of heels added the finishing touch to my new look.
Getting fussed over by the makeup artist and stylist while taking the ‘After’ shot made me feel like a superstar for that moment, what with them flicking my hair to adjust a loose strand and adjusting my clothes with tiny tucks. Haha. Seriously, so much work goes into making what you see in fashion spreads look good.
It was an interesting experience and for what it’s worth, at least I’ll have a newspaper clipping of myself come next Friday. So yes, that was my very brief superstar moment. 🙂