Guyliner

One of Matthew’s biggest disappointments last year was the cancellation of the school music, “Aladdin Jr.” After the switch to online school, they kept rehearsing the best they could in the virtual world. As the pandemic progressed, their plans for the play did as well. First, they were going to stream the performance. Then they were postponing until later in the school year. After that they planned to perform in the summer. And finally, with heavy hearts, they had to cancel the entire show. It was a moment of defeat for everyone, students and teachers alike.

With the return to school this year, the play was finally given a green light with a myriad of COVID precautions in place. Once auditions and recasting were done, the kids got to work and poured their hearts into making the musical the very best performance they could. Matthew, while not getting the same part he had last year, was one of the dedicated kids who has spent the past three months rehearsing. Dress rehearsals begin this week which means it was time to teach my youngest son about stage makeup.

Most moms of boys don’t really have the “how to apply makeup” workshops with their children. But all three of my sons have ventured into the world of theater at least once and therefore we have shopped and put on makeup. It has actually provided some moments of great hilarity. This evening added another moment to my memory laugh bank. In order to give you some necessary background info, let me explain that Matthew got the genetic lottery in terms of eyelashes. His lashes are very dark like mine, but where mine are short and straight, his are long, thick and curl up nicely just like Kev’s. Seriously, it is completely wasted on a boy. And I’m a little bit jealous. But I diverge. Let’s get back to the story.

While the boys aren’t required to wear as much makeup as the girls, they do need foundation, highlighter, and eye liner. Of the three, the eye liner is definitely the one that requires the most skill. I taught Matthew how to apply the eyeliner and he did a pretty good job for a first timer. Then we flipped it around and I taught him how to take it off. He used the eye makeup remover and rubbed his eyes. Then he looked in the mirror, rubbed some more and exclaimed, “It won’t come off!” And that’s when I started laughing. I tried to convince him that the eyeliner was in fact completely gone, but he wouldn’t believe me until I grabbed another cotton ball, applied the makeup remover, and gave his eyes a good rubdown. I held up the still pristine cotton ball for his inspection and then laughed some more. Because he is a boy and not a girl, he has never actually taken time to look at his lashes. He didn’t realize that they are so thick and dark that he naturally has that outlined eye look without any product. Let me reiterate, those lashes are completely wasted on a boy. 😂

The Manly Art of Stage Makeup

Daniel and Nathan are in the school musical this year. Today was their first full dress rehearsal and tomorrow is full dress and make up. I thought I had some stuff I could send with them, but when I went digging through all my stuff, I discovered that I had been a good little girl and thrown out everything that was old. Now the drama teacher at the school said they could share makeup with others (although they would want their own sponges), but honestly, ewwww. So this evening, Daniel, Nathan and I took a little excursion to Walgreens.

Due to some difficulty with a broken light bulb and a corroded base stuck in one of our kitchen floodlights, our Deacons quorum adviser (and friendly neighborhood general contractor) was in our kitchen. When I announced that I was taking my big boys to buy makeup, there was a definite pause with the accompanying “Did I just hear that right?” expression. And I laughed. When we got to Walgreens and had “guy-liner” in hand, one of the counselors in our bishopric and his 14 year old son walked in. They were looking for candy, a manly nighttime excursion, and there was some definite laughter and light mocking about our own reasons for an evening shopping trip. As we stood there trying to find good foundation shades (I’m not great at that part), some unknown gentleman began walking down out aisle, saw us trying foundation on two boys who are both bigger than me, gave us the “you are a bunch of complete weirdos” look, and walked the long way around to avoid us. All three of us laughed our heads off.

Yeah, it was pretty hilarious. Although my own experience should have clued me in to the fact that the boys would need makeup, it is honestly not something I had thought about until this evening. I figured I had 8-10 years until I needed to help one of my children pick out that perfect shade. But it was an entertaining experience. And as Daniel says, at least they don’t need “man-scara.”