Quirky characters need a little schtick, some
idiosyncratic tendencies to define them and establish their personality. In my
current WIP, (work in progress), I have a lady with a manic attachment to her
wigs and make-up. We immediately know a lot about her appearance as well as her
personality.
Who knows? I may create a character with a fetish for having their face waxed, or their bunion straightened, or I may have a character who simply can't resist walking past that "You Saw It On TV" rack near the Wal Mart checkout. So what must I do to accurately portray such situations? Conduct a little personal research. . . Of course.
(Are you buying any of this pseudo-logic?)
Today was my experimental day. Well, my face-waxing yesterday actually kicked off the trend. I mean, if I can remove my unsightly miss-tache and bride-burns, what other improvements could I, (I mean a future character), make?
Today I headed off to conduct some research. My test products? The bunion corrector, the home-waxing kit, and the eyelash curler. (I know, I know. You're wondering how I have gotten through life without one of those.)
The truth is, this torturous-looking eyelash curler is actually quite practical for glass-wearers. I gave that squeezy thing a try, and after nearly puncturing my eyelid, I managed to curl my extra-long lashes into a lovely up-do, and for the first time, I can actually wear my glasses properly without the annoying swish of lashes on the lenses. Long-overdue success number one!
Item two--the home-waxing strips. In years past I asked for, and sadly was the unfortunate recipient of, several hair-removal tools, including the hair-ripping "Epi-Lady." That thing could double as a blood draw tool. I watched a dozen replays of an infomercial with smiling users applying this delicate product to their legs, then sliding a nylon stocking over their clean gams to prove the absence of stubble. Well, I'm woman enough to admit I cried when I revved that puppy up. All I can say is this. Those models must have either been masochists, or they received advanced pain management prior to the shoot. Today I'm going to give the pre-waxed strips a try. We'll see.
The home bunion corrector. This little marvel looks like it may have been designed by alien abductors bent on restructuring humanoid bodies, but alas, after fifteen minutes I managed to get the contraption on and must admit I was pretty impressed with how straight my incredibly crooked toe looked when strapped into this harness. Will it make my toe straighter? We'll see. But if it saves me a reportedly painful surgery and recovery, I'll count myself blessed.
I'm two-for-two with crazy new products. Let's see which of these items shows up in the next story I write.
NO to waxing the face! I have used a lovely invention from Sally Hansen. It is a cream and you apply it, leave it on for 8 minutes and then remove it (along with unwanted hair) with a warm washcloth. Why anyone would want to hurt themselves unnecessarily is beyond me! :o)
ReplyDeleteLolawid
(Lori Widdison)
Laurie, I'm sitting here laughing because that's exactly why I started curling my eyelashes, so they would slide against my lens. Of course that was in my younger days when my hair was luxurious and thick lol. But it worked. Who knew that wearing my eyelashes in a flip would make wearing my glasses comfortable. :)
ReplyDeleteBut as far as I'm concerned those wax strips were first used as torture devices against the enemy. But I agree with Lori above. I use the Sally Hansen cream and it's wonderful and oh so easy. .
Sally Hansen also makes the cream just for the face as well for your Brideburns and miss-stache. )
I haven't tried the other products though. We're all rooting for you Laurie in your research. :) Good lauck.
Carol L
Leg waxing should be included in special ops training as a means of testing pain tolerance.
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