How I got Elizabeth Taylor I'll never know. As far as I know it was all diamonds, empty whisky bottles, Richard Burton and marvellous wigs.
So I have decided to live my inner Elizabeth Taylor for a week. Liver failure notwithstanding.
Day 1:
I'm starting Day 1 of my experiment with the fun part - Elizabeth Taylor's make up.
Even as a small child Elizabeth was noted for her startling looks - she would easily unnerve people with her direct stare and her actress mother was soon pushing her into the world of movies. Blessed with incredible blue/violet eyes and a DOUBLE row of eyelashes, Elizabeth was destined to be Someone.
Some of her finest leading men would turn out to be horses and dogs.
She said in an interview when she was 55: "God must have had some reason for giving me bushy eyebrows and black hair. I guess I must have been pretty sure of my sense of identity. It was me. I accepted it all my life and I can't explain it"
That sense of self is something that I do struggle with (hell, I'm pretending to be Elizabeth Taylor for 7 days!), but leaving that aside, I'm either straightening my hair, dreaming about getting my teeth straightened, trying to lose weight...I'm always wishing that I was somehow different and therefore BETTER.
Well, for the next 7 days, I'm not having any of that shit - I'm Elizabeth Taylor.
 |
| Working a white bathing costume I won't be trying this in the Clyde anytime soon, I can assure you. |
So, here we go:
It is raining, but I am going to meet a couple of gal pals for coffee mid morning. I decide to go for the Taylor make up look today.
I settle myself down at my dressing table with a rather dust-laden make-up collection in front of me. With gritted teeth, I get to work.
After the foundation, it's the brows. Liz always kept her brows thick and dark. Mine used to be like hers when I was young, but now they are sparse and, in a poorly lit photo I seem to have none at all and resemble a surprised vole. A very anaemic-looking vole. Well, today it's goodbye Mr Vole!!!
I am meeting my friends at 10.30am for coffee. At 10.20am I step back from the mirror to admire my handiwork:
And off I popped to meet my friends......
Result: no one mentioned my diamond earrings, nor my heavily made-up eyes. Not even in jest.
Day 1: Taylor Failure
Stay tooned for Day 2 tomorrow - when I start wearing BIG JEWELLERY
It is raining, but I am going to meet a couple of gal pals for coffee mid morning. I decide to go for the Taylor make up look today.
I settle myself down at my dressing table with a rather dust-laden make-up collection in front of me. With gritted teeth, I get to work.
After the foundation, it's the brows. Liz always kept her brows thick and dark. Mine used to be like hers when I was young, but now they are sparse and, in a poorly lit photo I seem to have none at all and resemble a surprised vole. A very anaemic-looking vole. Well, today it's goodbye Mr Vole!!!
I am meeting my friends at 10.30am for coffee. At 10.20am I step back from the mirror to admire my handiwork:
- Taylor Brows (check)
- Lashings of eye-liner and mascara (check)
- Smouldering dark shadow (well, maybe not smouldering, but plenty of it is in place) (check).
- Coral lippy (check)
- Blusher (a quick smear over my cheeks with Nars Orgasm. Yes. Really.)
- Diamond earrings (check)
- Diamond ring (check)
And off I popped to meet my friends......
Result: no one mentioned my diamond earrings, nor my heavily made-up eyes. Not even in jest.
Day 1: Taylor Failure
Stay tooned for Day 2 tomorrow - when I start wearing BIG JEWELLERY
Go girl, I am routing for you
ReplyDeleteGood! I am throwing down the gauntlet to everyone else who took that quiz to bring out their inner (insert film star's name) in some way - see if it is a life-enhancing experience ;-D
Deletei have to say that despite the whole perpetual battle of "the last 10 pounds" i've really come into my own in my thirties. i've made peace with my hair (finding a hairdresser who cuts MY hair into something that looks good on MY head is invaluable) and other features. i always figured that's what the 30's were for - to embrace who you are. makes me sad to see so many people hating what they were given.
ReplyDeleteand maybe you're looking at it the wrong way! maybe it wasn't a fail, but a raging success. your friends probably just figured you looked as awesome as always, with a bit of extra sass, and it just wasn't worth mentioning. ever thought of it that way?
You are a darling! Here '*flings a diamond ring* have a bauble for your lovely words :-D
DeleteYou're right about the hairdresser. I am very fond of the girls in the salon - they are so wonderful with wee old ladies when they come in for their weekly shampoo and set. My problem is that I was trying to lighten my hair because it is so grey...when the roots come in, it's like a shaft of lightning down my parting! So I was gradually taking it lighter and cooler. Last time I got my roots touched up they said that I needed a 7 and I just agreed (WTF is a 7 anyway?!) and when the colour 'matured' it was really much too dark. With no makeup on, my features are utterly washed out. So I must go in and have words with them lol!
yes, yes you must. good hair is not so important when you're 20 and effortlessly gorgeous, but the years do demand a wee bit more effort. and there's nothing like ladies who continue to wear the pitch black hair they sported in their youth, looking deathly pale, and not in a good way. so march over there and DEMAND they fix it!
DeleteAnd where are the pictures?
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the Experiment period, there will be a picture. I'm hoping that you will be unable to distinguish between my goodself and the lovely Mrs Burton ;-D
DeleteYou go, Liz-Ali! Actually, I love that Taylor bucked so many of the beauty trends of her era. Do be careful of your liver this week, though. ;)
ReplyDeleteTartarus is home this week, so I'll leave the Boozing Experiment Day until he's back and we can Burton and Taylor it out together ;-D
DeleteI am going for the Bardot look. When she had become a crazy animal lady - supereasy to maintain that one :D
ReplyDeleteoh noes! You don't get to pick a period - you must work through the entire 'ouvre' of your Film Star. So you too would need to do the heavy-lidded sex kitten Experiment before you sink into Mad Old Cat Lady Mode ;-D
DeleteI agree with Ali, Vivianne. If you're going to do it, you have run the entire spectrum. But does that mean you'll get plastic surgery before you're done, Ali? And black wigs? I dutifully went to do the quiz and kind of knew where they'd end up once I picked 1940s and Bacall's famous line about whistling. But there you go. Lauren Bacall, it is. She didn't become a cat lady, though. Still has gorgeous and her inimitable self as ever.
ReplyDeleteOh, and like Ania said, you definitely owe us pictures. :)
Ha, just cos the ladies didn't comment, doesn't mean that they didn't notice! And even if they didn't notice, that's probably down to their myopia (whether lenticular or mental). You go, Ali!
ReplyDeleteCxx