As a novice femulator circa 1970, I knew bupkis about makeup and I thought that blue eyeshadow was the cat’s meow. Didn’t all the bikini-clad girls in those 1960s’ beach movies wear blue eyeshadow? If it was good enough for Shelley Fabares and Barbara Eden, then it was good enough for me.
As I began researching the art of makeup, I quickly learned that blue eyeshadow was not the best choice for someone like me who has green eyes. I also learned about shading with different hues of eyeshadow, applying eyeliner and mascara, thinning and coloring eyebrows, etc.
Who knew that the doing your eyes was so complicated!
I read books on the topic that were informative, but not hands-on. I figured that “hands-on” meant getting a professional makeover, so I pulled up my big girl panties and dared to have a few makeovers primarily for the purpose of learning how professionals would apply makeup to my face. The problem is that it is difficult to see what the artist is doing if you are the canvas.
One pro proffered a handheld mirror so I could watch what he was doing. In theory, that should work, but in practice, it did not because holding a mirror up to my face impeded what he was trying to do. I could view the results of each step of his makeup application, but I could not see how he performed the application.
Videotapes were popular back then, so I bought a VHS tape called The Eyes Have It by Donna Mills, a drop-dead gorgeous actress, who had beautiful eyes. On the tape, Donna showed how she did her makeup step-by-step.
After watching the tape once, I set up my makeup mirror next to the television and played the tape again applying each step of Donna’s routine to myself. Almost 40 years later and I am still following her routine (more or less) to do my eyes sans blue eyeshadow.
(The Eyes Have It is no longer for sale unless you can find a used copy on eBay or elsewhere, however, the video is available on YouTube in various forms.)
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| Wearing Cynthia Rowley |
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| Bert Errol, professional femulator, circa 1930 |