First, prep with moisturizer.
Humidity and lotion blend,
Make a base for your case,
A tenuous foundation for
Your evening’s battleship.
Next, slap on the goop,
Three shades pinker than
Your steadfast brown,
So your neck and face look like
Distant cousins, four times removed.
Darken the brow, line it with dots of color,
Interchangeable, like men & destiny, then
Brush on a violent fuchsia, as vivid as your
Dreams, your natural blush buried deep within,
Like practice for latent desires.
Line your mouth, the boundaries of
Your speech, carefully crafted in
Lurid tones, soon to seep away.
Don’t stretch its corners, for cracks will
Show, and it is too soon for that: yet.
Trace the hoods of your
Eyes, lowered in compliance,
Unfilled with dreams, you just want your
Liner to dry. Sweep on mascara, brush-on dark pleasure,
Gaze wide and unseeing at the throngs that come to view.
Garish and ghastly, you’re the pink-faced bride,
Another for a day, admired in hi-definition avatar,
Brightness and color at max. When the war paint is off,
You’ll revert to someone you know, and I’ll rejoice that
Wedding days are rather few in a lifetime.
Wisdom Wears Neon Pyjamas 
So lovely, so true and I esp love these lines:
So your neck and face look like
Distant cousins, four times removed.
I know of so many brides who could kill their makeup waalis if they saw them again. Crime? Ghastly unnatural make up forcibly put on the bride.
I did mine at my wedding. Swift and simple. Saved money. And saved face–literally. 😀
alice: You know what’s scarier, so many of these women believe this *is* the way to look, “otherwise your face will look dark in the lights”. So you look like the Bride of Frankenstein in front of 1000 people on your wedding day just so you can reminisce over your pasty face in the wedding album for the rest of your life?! Err, duh much?
Pallavi: 😆 Smart woman. At least you could be sure your spouse would recognize you.
This reminded me of my wedding day make-up disaster. I am a dark skinned gal, but on that day I looked like a Geisha!
This reminds me of the stunned silence that followed, when I told my cousins of my desire to not be subjected to ‘wedding makeup’ – too many of the lovely chocolate- skinned women in my family, who looked anything but beautiful, under the many layers of white paint (it doesn’t deserve to be called make-up) that was brushed upon them.This, on the one day that most of them expected to look their most beautiful. So many photographs to remind them of the disaster that it turned out to be.
Absolutely loved this ….!!!!. ESPecially loved the line your lips bit…..master piece really…
Thank God I escaped the gloop! I had a daytime wedding, and a good friend did my make up! Gorily graphic and spot on as ever, OJ!
sukanya: Believe me, honey, you have plenty of company. If that is any consolation. 😦
roxana: Exactly. Thank you for understanding!
Vishakha: Thanks. 🙂
dipali: Good thing too! The best wedding make-up I’ve seen is my cousin’s, and her friend did it. She subtly glowed, instead of looking like she had a clown mask on.
Didn’t/don’t ever wear the goop
To me it always looks like poop
Being oneself — natural
Is always manageable
Besides avoiding the end-of-the-day scoop!
Aunty G: None at all? 🙂 Not even on your wedding day?
No, OJ, not even on my wedding day
The bT wouldn’t have it any other way
Just a pink pearly lipstick
Was what made him tick
But yes, the goop was donned when in a show or play!
Aunty G: Tell us more about your plays. 🙂