The makeup guardian angel

A couple of weeks ago I sent my friend Nerma this message:

“Would you teach me about makeup? Apparently I missed that class in high school and you got an A+.”

You may remember Nerma from the day of trying on wedding dresses.  She’s fresh out of college and worked for a while as our intern in the newsroom.  Now that she’s full time, the advertising department has stolen her away.  But I still get to see her around and I really enjoy her.

Sweet Nerma

She really knows how to use makeup.  She can carry off wearing a lot more makeup than I could because of her skin tone and features, but no matter how much she wears, she always looks natural and comfortable in her own skin.  And like I said last week about my hairdresser, one of the most important things for me when I’m looking for a stylist or  style consultant is that they have a style that really works for them.

A few minutes after I sent her that initial message, Nerma wrote back an enthusiastic, “Yay!  You know I love makeup!”

Tonight she came over to my apartment.  When I pulled out my teeny tiny makeup bag for her to look through, we both cracked up. Next to her “travel case,” which was at least four times the size, it looked like nothing.  And her travel case only contains about a third of her stuff. 🙂

She figured out what I needed and we headed out to Rite Aid.  Here’s the best part of the story – as we were browsing the shelves, a woman who clearly overwhelmed approached us and asked, “Are either of you good with choosing makeup?”  Nerma gave her advice and helped her pick out the right products.  I’m betting that she’s still talking about the little guardian angel she met in the makeup aisle.

Once we’d gotten the supplies I needed, we came back to my apartment and Nerma proceeded to do my makeup.  She explained everything she was doing as she did it.  Then I washed my face and she talked me through doing it myself.

Let me be perfectly honest here – I’ve done this with someone before.  But I guess I wasn’t ready because I was overwhelmed by the process and didn’t retain anything I’d learned.

Tonight I felt ready.  We had fun playing together and I think I’ll remember what we did.

Plus, Nerma has promised to come again.  She told me that I should take “baby steps” as I get more comfortable with makeup, and she’ll take them with me.  She understood that I’d feel overwhelmed if she tried to teach me too much at once.

I’m encouraging Nerma to start doing this for others – she’s great at it and she loves it.  She can do makeup for people’s special occasions, but she can also help you figure out what you need and then learn how to use it.  She’s committed to helping people find what they’re comfortable with, not making everyone look the same.

So here’s the deal ladies – Nerma is excited by the idea.  If you’re in the greater Littleton/St. Johnsbury area and you’re interested in that kind of service, leave a comment or send me an email.  I’ll put you directly in touch with her.

Me, made over