Me glamourous…
“There’s no such thing as an ugly woman, only a lazy one,” declared the queen of style, Coco Chanel, many fashion pages ago. And this is our fashion focus this week. We wanted to transform a most unlikely person from “Cinderella” before the clock struck midnight. We looked around and pointed our wand in the direction of Eleta Williams, who works as an office attendant. We saw behind those constantly lowered eyes, and slumped shoulders, a beautiful swan just waiting to glide down the stream.
We set off Thursday at midday.
Our first stop is La Rona’s Beauty Shoppe. Eleta, with her natural plaits, has always wanted to relax her hair, add a little colour, and have it blown and styled. Her major concern is, naturally, that of maintenance.
Clare Ferguson, chief stylist at La Rona’s, took careful note of the condition of Eleta’s locks. The ends had been streaked, and the colour was quite brassy.
Clare decided on Design regular relaxer for the virgin hair and then used a combination of rinses by Affirm: Auburn ablaze, natural light brown, and flaming copper brown. This was left on for a total of 20 minutes before the hair was rinsed, shampooed and conditioned with a moisturising conditioner.
To allow Eleta to manage the style, Clare trimmed the ends leaving enough length to wear hair up, or down.
A blow-dry and curl followed.
Beautician Kahan Hoilett soaked Eleta’s nails before her French manicure. Kahan chose a French manicure to add length to the short, stubby nails.
Kahan then waxed Eleta’s eyebrows in preparation for her final make-over.
Eleta is all smiles. The make-over is going very well, and she’s absolutely thrilled at the pampering she’s getting; not to mention the transformation right in front of her eyes.
With her brows waxed, her eyes became incredibly beautiful, and were finally wide open. Waxing the eyebrows is a much quicker and less painful option for many than tweezing to perfection, advises salon owner, Ruth Cummings.
Cummings now takes over, opening her trunk of make-up.
Ruth tells All Woman that she wants to give Eleta as natural a look as possible with just a little oomph.
Eleta has good skin and strong cheekbones. To this was added Black Opal foundation and powder to even out her skin colour. Muted earth tones were used on those fabulous eyes. Black eyeliner further opened the eyes, and lots of Maybelline, Great Lash in black to add both length and dimension, and to really open the eyes.
A bit of blush ú Obsidian by Jean Pierre, a bronze lip liner and Russett Gold by Espere brought the make-up session to a close.
From Worthington Terrace we made our way to Signatures Boutique at Dilcoosha Avenue. Eleta loves elegant and glamorous clothes and was very impressed with the atelier and the collection of clothes, shoes, and handbags.
We had lots of fun, telling Eleta to hold her tummy in and smile. An all-in-one foundation must-have gave her a svelte look and the wonder bra section that much-needed lift.
Eleta settled on an elegant two-piece black and white Misook ensemble, an olive green Gilar evening gown with fashionable antique accessories, and finally a season must-have by Laundry featuring ruffles, tiers, wrapped around in fuschia, lilac, green, and black.
Before and After Crew:
Eleta Williams – Model
Novia McDonald-Whyte- Make-over Co-ordinator
Garfield Robinson ú Photographer
La Rona’s Beauty Shoppe: 16 Worthington Terrace Kingston 5
Ruth Robinson-Cummings, Clare Ferguson, and Kahan Hoilett.
Signatures Boutique:
4 Dilcoosha Avenue Kingston 10
Patricia Samuels and her staff
Makeover tips
And finally we give our own tips for your summer makeover.
Do not be too drastic . Gradual change allows you to get in touch with the new you.
Do not be afraid to look in the mirror and be your worst critic.
Embrace change. Last year’s look was just that, last year’s.
Embrace the new you. Step boldly, and bask in the positive feedback.
Email or send us your before and after pictures. We’ll publish the first five received.