Here are the main points of my morning:
- I had no power
- Could not see anything (apply makeup, do hair, etc)
- I did not have hot water, so no shower
- The bus I took to commute to my job in Boston broke down and I was late for work
- I lost a mitten
My boyfriend and I were staying at his parent's house (dog-sitting) when we lost power on Thursday night. When we got up Friday, and saw that there was still no power, I demanded to drive to our apartment which is in a larger city, assuming that there would be a better chance of power. No, there wasn't. Apparently the entirety of New Hampshire shut down due to a crazy storm.
I had picked out my outfit the night before, thank God. So I threw that on sans shower, piled on the perfume and deodorant. There was the tiniest bit of sunlight, so I had just enough to halfway do my hair (I put it up in a bun and slicked it back with hairspray--not ideal). But there was no way I could apply makeup without proper lighting.
And if you know me at all, then you know that I simply cannot go in public without makeup. So I had quite the dilemma. Here's what I did: I applied the basics while parked at the bus station facing away from the sun. I stuck with neutral colors and very simple techniques. Basically, I only used concealer, a tiny bit of bronze eye shadow, mascara and a swipe of blush. It still wasn't great, but at least I could walk around in public.
When I got on the overly shaky bus, I tried to fix my look even more. Luckily I have a couple of emergency products in my purse for weird occasions like this...unfortunately, my entire bathroom does not fit in my handbag. I went into the bus "restroom" to work my magic. I didn't end up having any sort of hair mousse or gel for my curly hair, so I opted for some hand lotion. It actually tamed my curls, and ended up looking pretty good. By this point, the slicked-back portion of my hair had dried, so I combed it out with my fingers and my bangs were straight and flyaway-free. So I did a cute side ponytail and moved on to makeup.
With me, I only had dark brown eyeliner, a shimmer powder and more mascara. I applied the eyeliner to the top lids. I made the lines fairly thick so that I could smudge them in with the bronze shadow I had previously used.On the bottom lashline, I applied only a fine line to the outer half of the eye.
The shimmer came in handy. It was a very light pink shade--I used it on the inner corners of my eyes and also on my cheekbones for definition. As for the mascara, I added a second coat.
I went back to my seat on the bus looking almost like my normal fabulous self, and feeling a whole lot better.
I meant to take a picture for you ladies, but by the time I got home, I was so exhausted that I could not function.
My main advice for all of you is to keep a tiny bag of essentials with you at all times; especially products that can do more than one thing, like the shimmer I have. Another good product to have is a pink or coral lipstick. You can always use lipstick as a cream blush, and blush is really one of the most important makeup items to have (lipstick is too). A small eyeliner is good to have also, and perhaps a tiny tube of concealer. Be creative and think of new uses for small trial products that you already own.
Take it from me: You do not want to find yourself stranded without a way to beautify yourself. Keep an emergency kit with you at all times!