The world is opening up like a summer flower, and if you want to look good when you reappear in public, read on. The challenge is: how to look attractive when face masks are required. It necessitates a bit of planning.
Face Masks
The bad news is face masks cover about half your face – and what if your face is your one of your best assets? The good news is there are countless types of face masks on the market now, so let’s make the best of the situation. Remember: you wear a mask not necessarily to protect yourself (because most, especially fashion masks, don’t provide adequate safety from the virus) but to protect others (just in case you have the virus and don’t know it and don’t want to pass it on). So choosing your masks depends in part on what’s important to you regarding your image combined with thoughtfulness toward others.
Creative face masks are on the market – personally, I’m determined to try every type — including: straw-hole masks for sipping drinks from a straw; zipper-mouth masks for drinking; clear mouth panel masks, originally designed for lip reading by the deaf, where your mouth can be seen.
My idea of a perfect face mask would perfectly match one’s skin tone with a depiction of one’s own lips painted on — or even better, clear. In the meantime, there are masks for sale everywhere: colored, patterned, fun masks – enough so that you could have a mask wardrobe to match your clothing wardrobe including high-end glamorous masks (and matching phone covers!) for a night out.
Another option, probably too warm for summer but possibly perfect on cool nights: masks that are long enough to cover your neck. A face shield can be added for extra protection, but doesn’t take the place of a face mask.
Lips
While wearing a face mask out, you may have occasion to pull it down once-n-awhile to breathe fresh air while standing far enough away from others, to drink, to eat. Because face masks rub against lips, I predict that lip glosses, especially those one applies with
one’s fingers, since that involves touching one of the most vulnerable parts of the face, will fall out of popularity almost instantly while lipsticks and lip stains that won’t rub off or get smeared will become more popular. Hopefully there are products on the market that can do that while keeping lips from feeling dry. Perhaps lip brushes will come back into vogue, so you won’t have to touch your lips at all while perfecting your lipstick on the go.
I looked online for lipsticks to suit modern needs and found: long-lasting and non-drying lip color and smear-proof lip wear.
Eyes
Since your lips are hidden under a mask, show your beauty with your eyes. Spend extra attention on your eyes and brows: if you don’t usually decorate them, consider adding a bit more zest to your look with at least a touch of eye makeup now.
At the very least, make sure your eyes look healthy and bright. This could include the use of eye drops to soothe and “get the red out,” especially during allergy season, and under-eye concealer to minimize dark circles.
Watch out for itchy eyes, because rubbing them is more damaging than ever now, since it’s said the eyes can be an inlet for the virus. Consider hypoallergenic eye makeup.
Unfortunately, your whole face might end up covered during this pandemic, between face masks that cover the bottom half of your face plus sunglasses. To maintain any sense of style, go for eye-catching eye-wear.
Hairstyle
Make sure your hair doesn’t annoy and cause you to touch your face. Hair products that irritate your skin or eyes, hair that sweeps across your face, bangs that are long enough to get in your eyes – all these could be problematic.
Speaking of hair, many of us who aren’t going to the salon regularly anymore now have “quarantine hair.” Make this a time to experiment with your hair, trying different styling techniques and hair accessories.
Jewelry
Jewelry really adds to a pretty and well-put-together look. Just make sure you gently wash your jewelry when you get home and use extra care and attention with engagement and wedding rings.
Hands and Feet
Don’t touch anything unless it’s absolutely necessary; you’ll undoubtedly encounter doors, elevator buttons and many items outside your home you never thought twice about touching. To be on the safe side, since the virus can
live on surfaces for a while, you could wear protective disposable gloves – though wearing gloves can give you a false sense of security. Better yet, carry hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes – and have them readily available, not deep in your purse where you have to rummage to find them, thus possibly contaminating every item in your purse. I also recommend carrying hand lotion to offset the uncomfortable dry-skin effect of constant hand washing and hand sanitizing.
This is a great time to go the extra mile and have pretty finger and toenails. After all, it’s summertime!
Clothing
Have fun with it. Dress with your usual flair — and then some. But do see my previous post on choosing wisely what you’ll wear when you go out. Why? Because anything that’s been outside your home should be washed and/or disinfected as soon as it enters your home, including your clothes, your accessories — and you!
Though you may prefer to be casual at home during lock-down, you’ll discover that dressing well when you do go out can be a boon to your emotional state.
These are strange times, kind of like living in a sci-fi movie, so create your own style. A pandemic generates negative feelings. Make your look something to feel good about.
MetroMermaid Chicago 