Beauty Shop Outpost

I continue my search for the perfect wedding day look.
So far, the search has been alarmingly frightful!
Actually, I've only been to one person so far, a Korean lady. Why you may ask?
Because I've seen the way some make up artists have ruined my fellow asian girlfriends' face by treating it like a caucasian face. Our noses are not so sigh, our eyes not so wide, our brow bone not so forward, and we have our own skin tone and color palette.

I made an appointment at 3pm for a hair and make up consultation with a Korean lady.

3:05pm on Saturday afternoon I arrive at 'beauty' salon. Mom is already there waiting for me.
First time in history she has shown up anywhere on time. This is the first sign that something is 'off'.
The make up and hair person is running 15 minutes late. I graciously nod my head and agree to wait.
If I knew then what I know now, that would have been the opportunity for me to excuse myself and leave.

3:28pm I am seated at the make up chair. It feels like a dental chair. This was my second sign that things were 'off'.
Korean lady pins my hair straight back. I look five years old now. She begins with make up and an insult, which is the Korean custom of beginning any kind of conversation, by telling me, "you skin is too red...too dry...you drink water, no?" At hearing this, my mother chimes in with another insult (this time in Korean to the make up lady).
"This is my oldest daughter. She doesn't take care of herself anymore like she used to. She scrubs her face hard with a louffa and doesn't moisturize because she says she has oily skin. It's foolishness." And so the make up application began.

I'm not sure I knew all that was being done to me, but I could certainly tell when she was trying to trim and clean up around my eye brows. She used a device that actually shaves the eye brow hair off. So when I started feeling a slight burning sensation on my eyelid, I made a noise to let her know she was about to dig for gold under my skin. This was the third sign something was 'off', but I let her continue her work. Who knows? Maybe in the end, I would be okay with the work.

45 minutes later, I got a full view of my new face. I had perfectly matched base color (not too white, not too dark). I also had grey eye liner on my lower lid. I haven't worn eye liner on the lower lid since junior high school. I had purple eye shadow lining my upper lid. I have NEVER worn purple eye shadow in my entire life. My lips were lined dark pink/red, then a slightly frosty pink was applied on the inside. I have not worn pink since junior high shcool and have never used a pink/red lip liner. I looked like a bar maid.

I should have left the 'beauty' salon at this point and time. But I didn't leave. I stayed and let this Korean lady attempt to style my hair. I brought in a magazine with a photo of my dress and the kind of hair style I wanted for my big day. The style I wanted was a bit wavy, toussled, and piecey on the ends with lots of volume on top and back. She curled my entire head. What I got was an 18 year old me with a perm on a bad hair day. When I expressed that my tresses were too curly, she suggested that for the wavy look I showed her from the magazine, she'd recommend I get a wave perm. I have no idea what the fascination is between Koreans and perms, but for as long as I could remember, perms and Korean ladies always went together like peanut butter and jelly. I hadn't been a willing consumer of that combination since I was 18 years old.

I was wrong. I had imagined another Korean would know how to do make up for an asian face, and in fact, they do...but for someone still living in the 80s.

My search continues this Saturday at 8:45am...this time, at an American salon where they offer you coffee, juice, water, and magazines as well as other snacks and actually ask you about you. I'm getting my deposit back from the Korean lady.