However, I saw my reflection recently and was surprised to
find that there was mascara all over my face. The person looking back at me
looked like they’d just woken up in the sand after a late night of doing B-52
shots at a beach party. High school all over again. But, I chalked it up to a
recent heat wave and gave myself a good scrub.
Later that day, and back in my car, I took a quick look in
the mirror. I looked paler than usual and a bit pasty. Of course my mascara
coming off would have explained a lot of that, but something was different. And
then I realized that I hardly had any lashes. My
tiny, but magnificent hairs were all but gone.
I’ve heard of that happening. Ladies I’d spoken with have
reported that their lashes fell out twice. One during chemo, then, following a
quick regrowth, falling out again. Though I’d heard about it – I didn’t expect
it to happen to me. Grrr. My whole face had been planned around my
friggin’ eyelashes. The only way I can get by with my ridiculously short bangs
is to have hair in the middle of my face. And it’s not just cosmetic (but mostly). Eyelashes are very
good at keeping tiny particles out of one’s eyeballs. And they serve as radar
that something is nearby the eyeball, automatically forcing the lid shut should
there be some sort of peril, in the manner of a sharp pencil, or the fizz from
a bottle of Veuve Clicquot.
I thought back to that morning, and how I’d applied my
mascara. (Paraben free! Not tested on animals!). How could I not have noticed
my sparse lashes? And how cruel that they could fall out again virtually
overnight. It’s a nasty turn of events that I lost my most valuable hairs, rather than say – oh – the ones on my big toe that were a post chemo bonus. The good news is that they’ll grow back. The bad news is
that once again I look like a giant thumb with teeth and a headscarf.
But I’ll get over it, and work my way around it as I’ve
managed to do for the last year. So for now, it’s back to giant sunglasses. And avoiding my
rear view mirror. Unless of course, I choose to check for traffic.
Mitzi has good crop of whiskers that she might lend you to get you over the hump!! 5 inch mascaraed eye lashes would be a terrific traffic stopper??!!!
ReplyDeleteNot to minimize your lack of eyelashes, we will love you with or with out ( maybe they grow fast!!), so don't worry about the sun glasses on our account!! We have ordered a bumper crop of sun for the next few weeks!! And Cape Breton heat,as well!
It is beautiful here today..... warm and sunny!!
Eyelashes take 6 weeks to grow apparently. I would take you up on your very generous offer to borrow Mitzi's 5" whiskers, but then I'd have to get specialized sunglasses, and I would look like a Welder.
ReplyDelete