Pandemic Beauty. It's All In The Eyes. And The Hair.
By Damien and Louis
Is this you?
You barely get out of bed. Your hair is a mess. Your roots are an inch long. You cut your own hair because it looked so easy on YouTube. How did that work out? Worse yet, you attempted to color your own hair and have convinced yourself that the lovely shade of orange you are sporting is actually presentable—at least when you pull your hair back into a ponytail or hide it under a hat that you would never have touched two months ago. But you know you do not look your best. And let’s face it—if you don’t look good, well, you don’t look good. Even if no-one sees you.
Welcome to Covidland. What to do?
Life for all of us as we knew it was changed without warning by the virus, and pretty much everything else was thrown into sharp relief by recent events, showing the best and worst of who we are. We hope some things will be different forever.
But we have had enough of lockdown. It has to end! One of the trials of lockdown—not the worst but not the least—is that you don’t have the usual resources to keep your appearance in fighting trim. Maybe it has taken a while for you to care. But now you do. You are ready to take action. The weather is warming up. Summer has officially started. You want to take on this virus—and everything else—looking and feeling good.
So let’s start with hair. It truly is your crowning glory. Give it love and conditioning treatments at home. (Stop cutting and coloring it!) Get a head start on the crowd and call your salon, leave a message, and ask to be put on a waitlist as soon as they open. You know there will be a crowd on Day 1. We may need a lottery!
In the meantime, put a little effort into styling your hair—even if you are just going shopping for groceries. Take a careful look at yourself. Perhaps the two month growth doesn’t look so bad. Maybe it is time to consider other styling options. A little longer? A little softer? Or maybe your hair has been driving you crazy, and you want the shortest cut possible. Maybe even a shaved head.
Whatever you choose should reflect the new you—a woman who is ready to stop quarantining or sheltering in place and wants to look and feel her best when she gets back into the swing of things.
Then there are the masks.
Let’s talk about the obvious. We are respectful and bright so we understand the importance of wearing masks in public. Pick out masks that suit you and reflect your personality and who you are. Go for color or design. We can still add a little levity and creativity to our lives.
But there are issues. One is that now the only part of your face that can be seen is your eyes. It is actually amazing that people you run into at the grocery store recognize you when only half your face is visible. Make the most of that half. Consider getting new eyeglasses or sunglasses and learn how to have them not fog up.
And now that eyes are a central focus, learn how to do interesting things with your eye makeup. It’s the least you can do considering you don’t have to worry about the rest of your face.
Finally—if your eyes are not perfect, there are solutions. “The masks make the eye area compressed, accentuate crow’s feet and make wrinkles look worse,” says Dr. David Abramson. But he has solutions. While he predicts the first thing women will do when they shed their masks forever is Botox and fillers, his favorite remedy is Cryoskin, one of the newer non-surgical series of treatments that gives instant results after the first of a series of five treatments. “Cryoskin will help lift eyes, lift the forehead, and lift the eyebrows and the beauty is there is no incision and absolutely no down time. The results are instant.”
It’s good to know there are some instant remedies. We promise your hair stylists will have some too. We wish we had instant remedies for everything.
See you soon!
Damien Miano and Louis Viél are co-owners of Miano Viél Salon and Spa. They have had years of experience with fabulous clients. They await the reopening go-ahead date and getting back to the work they love.