Mascara

First, I cut the material into squares and rectangles. Next, I slathered Vaseline all over my face, including my ears, nose, chin, and hairline. Then, I sat patiently as a woman named Shawna delicately applied the strips to my face. Originally, I thought that I wanted the mouth to be closed and the eye holes to be tiny, but as she began applying the pieces, and while I could still object, I decided that I probably couldn’t handle having my mouth covered over. A good choice as I felt as if I might drool most of the time she was applying the pieces. I might’ve drowned in there! Two or three layers of mummification later, and she was done with her part.

Ten minutes with my mask in the sun (and the rest of me, too), and it was dry enough to begin removing. First, I had to scrunch up my face; the forehead was the hardest part. Then, she began to pull the mask from my skin. A few strands of hair came along as well.

Vaseline and traces of plaster still on my face and clothes, it was my turn to delicately cover her face. I was especially nervous around the nose and eyes. Her dainty lips were easy to cover over, and I was even able to put plaster between them should she want to keep most of her own face for the mask’s design.

As far as my own mask’s inspiration, I am grateful that I am going to be two days behind the rest of the students by the time I return to class on Thursday. This will give me a good idea of how the others turn out, what works, and what is just ugly. My first instinct is to make flowers (I already cut some out of cardboard) and pretty designs, but after seeing some of the scarier ones and the more creative ones, I might go for a unibrow and a mustache and a sombrero or some horns. Each one I saw made me think again about what I want: the Minnie Mouse, the Devil, the Frida, the girly one with giant eyelashes, the gangster with the cigar… I could be anything!