Tuesday, October 07, 2008

I don't know how to put nail polish on my right hand.

Bouchercon starts on Thursday morning, and I'm headed up to Baltimore tomorrow afternoon to settle in at my friend SueLin's and meet the members of my panel.

Bouchercon is basically one big high school reunion for the crime fiction world, and I'm looking forward to seeing lots of people I haven't seen for months or even years (Scott Phillips, find me!).

So I want to look my best, especially since I've spent the last month dressed in black in a windowless concrete bunker -- but this is where I run into a vast gaping hole in my knowledge base and skill set.

I don't know how to do any of the girly stuff, not really. A makeup artist on one of the game shows I did showed me how to put on makeup (finally, in my mid-30s), but it's still not something I do well. I get in trouble when I try to pluck my own eyebrows, and my cousin Sheila once compared my lipstick application skills to Bette Davis's in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (Okay, that was one night at Drag Queen Bingo, and I might have been Lipsticking Under the Influence.)

My fingernails have been mangled over the past two weeks of loading in and loading out, and I was thinking this morning that I might try to hide this with a bit of polish ... but then I remembered that it's one more thing I don't know how to do. I also don't know how to keep fingernail polish from chipping.

It's probably too late in the grand scheme of things, but if you see me at Bouchercon looking unkempt and have any ideas about how to fix that, feel free to offer. I'll be grateful.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Spend the $25 and get a manicure at a cheap salon (but not WalMart). The high powered stuff they use, albeit not healthy for your lungs, works and you won't need to worry about this.

Anna said...

right on, Martha!

Laura Benedict said...

When putting on lipstick, don't do the big long swipes you see the spokesmodels execute on tv. Lipstick should be dabbed on--preferably with a little brush!

Nails--I'd recommend just neatly trimmed with a couple coats of clear polish. Tidy, but not stressful. I always find nail polish stressful--though I do manage to keep my toes colorful.

JIM LAMB said...

bttmjzrSomeday when we have a lot of time, I'll tell you some of the things one of my (gay) actor friends told me about makeup and appearance.

As for toes, I can't even reach them anymore.

That's why I go to spas every chance I can.

Anonymous said...

I am in awe of anyone who can do their own polish. I can never keep it from chipping either. Best bet, keep fingernails trimmed and filed and splurge on a pedicure. The polish on the toenails doesn't chip as much and, even if you aren't wearing open toed shoes, there's something nice about having them "done."

I have been addicted to red lipstick for a while but one thing I've found handy is a good colored gloss. You get the color you want with none of the pitfalls of lipstick application.

Those are my girly tips for the day. Have fun at Boucheron.

-kathleen

Gila Brownstein said...

i beilve in u it is the inside that counts there is way more 2 a person then loooks ur amizing please do not worry