around.
Okay, so now she looked more like Cleopatra than she did Audrey Hepburn. All in all, that had been fairly easy. She’d just take it easier with that dark shade the next time.
Mascara came next. Mascara, according to the magazine, gave eyes impact. Enthusiastically she twirled the wand around and around in the tube, then began swiping it on her lashes.
The end result looked as if caterpillars had crawled up on her eyelids and died.
“Oh, no!” she moaned, staring in the mirror. What had she done wrong? This didn’t look anything like the models in the magazine! Her lashes stood out in thick,clumpy spikes, and whenever she blinked, her upper and lower lashes wanted to stick together. After she had pried them apart the second time, she did her best not to blink.
She would be a coward if she stopped now, wouldn’t she? She had to see this through. Blusher couldn’t be as bad as mascara. She swiped the small brush across the oblong of color, then carefully applied it to her cheeks.
“Gracious,” she whispered, eyeing the little container of color. How could it look so much darker on her face than it did in the container? Her cheeks looked sunburned, except sunburn never attained that exact shade of hot pink.
Grimly she applied the remaining items, the lip liner and lipstick, but she couldn’t tell if it helped the situation or made it worse. All she knew was that the end result was hideous; she looked like a cross between a rodeo clown and something from a horror movie.
She definitely needed help.
Grimly she went downstairs, where
Wheel of Fortune
still spun. Evelyn and Jo stared at her, eyes round and mouths agape, stricken into silence.
“Holy shit,” Aunt Jo finally blurted.
Daisy’s cheeks burned under the blusher, making the color even brighter. “There has to be a trick to it.”
“Don’t be upset,” her mother begged, getting up to put a comforting arm around her. “Most young girls learn by trial and error in their teens. You just never bothered, that’s all.”
“I don’t have time to learn by trial and error. I need to get this nailed down, now.”
“That’s why we suggested a beauty consultant. Think about it, honey; that’ll be the fastest way.”
“Beth could show me how,” Daisy said, inspired.Her younger sister didn’t slather on the makeup, but she knew how to make the most of her looks. Besides, Beth wouldn’t charge her anything.
“I don’t think so,” Evelyn said gently.
Daisy blinked. Big mistake. Prying her lashes apart, she said, “Why not?”
Evelyn hesitated, then sighed. “Honey, you’ve always been the smart one, so Beth staked out being pretty as her territory. I don’t think she’d handle it very well if you asked her to help you be pretty as well as smart. Not that you aren’t pretty,” Evelyn added hastily, in case she’d hurt Daisy’s feelings. “You are. You’ve just never learned how to show yourself to advantage.”
The idea that Beth might be even the teensiest bit jealous of her was so alien that Daisy couldn’t take it in. “But Beth always got good grades in school. She isn’t a dummy. She’s both smart and pretty, so why wouldn’t she help me?”
“Beth doesn’t
feel
as if she’s as intelligent as you. She finished high school, but you have a master’s degree.”
“She didn’t go to college because she married her high school sweetheart when she was eighteen and settled down to raising a beautiful family,” Daisy pointed out. In fact, Beth had what she herself had always wanted. “Not going was her choice.”
“But you always wonder about the choice you didn’t make,” Aunt Jo pointed out, underlining Daisy’s last thought. “Evelyn just means you shouldn’t put Beth in that position. She’ll feel bad if she turns you down, and if she helps you, it’ll be like wearing wool during the summer: miserable and itchy.”
So much for that idea. Luckily, she had another one.“I guess I could go to a
Okay, so now she looked more like Cleopatra than she did Audrey Hepburn. All in all, that had been fairly easy. She’d just take it easier with that dark shade the next time.
Mascara came next. Mascara, according to the magazine, gave eyes impact. Enthusiastically she twirled the wand around and around in the tube, then began swiping it on her lashes.
The end result looked as if caterpillars had crawled up on her eyelids and died.
“Oh, no!” she moaned, staring in the mirror. What had she done wrong? This didn’t look anything like the models in the magazine! Her lashes stood out in thick,clumpy spikes, and whenever she blinked, her upper and lower lashes wanted to stick together. After she had pried them apart the second time, she did her best not to blink.
She would be a coward if she stopped now, wouldn’t she? She had to see this through. Blusher couldn’t be as bad as mascara. She swiped the small brush across the oblong of color, then carefully applied it to her cheeks.
“Gracious,” she whispered, eyeing the little container of color. How could it look so much darker on her face than it did in the container? Her cheeks looked sunburned, except sunburn never attained that exact shade of hot pink.
Grimly she applied the remaining items, the lip liner and lipstick, but she couldn’t tell if it helped the situation or made it worse. All she knew was that the end result was hideous; she looked like a cross between a rodeo clown and something from a horror movie.
She definitely needed help.
Grimly she went downstairs, where
Wheel of Fortune
still spun. Evelyn and Jo stared at her, eyes round and mouths agape, stricken into silence.
“Holy shit,” Aunt Jo finally blurted.
Daisy’s cheeks burned under the blusher, making the color even brighter. “There has to be a trick to it.”
“Don’t be upset,” her mother begged, getting up to put a comforting arm around her. “Most young girls learn by trial and error in their teens. You just never bothered, that’s all.”
“I don’t have time to learn by trial and error. I need to get this nailed down, now.”
“That’s why we suggested a beauty consultant. Think about it, honey; that’ll be the fastest way.”
“Beth could show me how,” Daisy said, inspired.Her younger sister didn’t slather on the makeup, but she knew how to make the most of her looks. Besides, Beth wouldn’t charge her anything.
“I don’t think so,” Evelyn said gently.
Daisy blinked. Big mistake. Prying her lashes apart, she said, “Why not?”
Evelyn hesitated, then sighed. “Honey, you’ve always been the smart one, so Beth staked out being pretty as her territory. I don’t think she’d handle it very well if you asked her to help you be pretty as well as smart. Not that you aren’t pretty,” Evelyn added hastily, in case she’d hurt Daisy’s feelings. “You are. You’ve just never learned how to show yourself to advantage.”
The idea that Beth might be even the teensiest bit jealous of her was so alien that Daisy couldn’t take it in. “But Beth always got good grades in school. She isn’t a dummy. She’s both smart and pretty, so why wouldn’t she help me?”
“Beth doesn’t
feel
as if she’s as intelligent as you. She finished high school, but you have a master’s degree.”
“She didn’t go to college because she married her high school sweetheart when she was eighteen and settled down to raising a beautiful family,” Daisy pointed out. In fact, Beth had what she herself had always wanted. “Not going was her choice.”
“But you always wonder about the choice you didn’t make,” Aunt Jo pointed out, underlining Daisy’s last thought. “Evelyn just means you shouldn’t put Beth in that position. She’ll feel bad if she turns you down, and if she helps you, it’ll be like wearing wool during the summer: miserable and itchy.”
So much for that idea. Luckily, she had another one.“I guess I could go to a
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