Daring to Lash Out at Work

Women have it tough in the work place; we are expected to be well-groomed and attractive but also strong and competent.  Unfortunately, these two characteristics seem to be at odds with one another and if you portray too much of one aspect it is likely that co-workers and/or clients automatically associate it with an insufficiency in the other.  For example, long acrylic nails are the signature of a secretary and not a CEO.

In my profession, geology, there is little room for make-up and dresses.  I frequently work outside in the dirt, sweating and being...well, manly.  Every pair of jeans I own has dirt stains and I keep numerous cheap T-shirts that I can wear to work and get mud and sunblock on.  Going home and putting on my face is one of my favorite ways to relax, even though I have to take it off only a few hours later so that I can go to bed.  Recently I've been working my way up the ladder and now spend most of time in the office writing reports and managing others.  Now that I'm spending more time in the office, I've been trying to add a feminine touch to my daily wear.  Although I still can't wear dresses (in case I have to go out to the field unexpectedly) I first started wearing pink on a regular basis.  No biggie, everyone knows I like pink.  Then, I started wearing hair clips; I started with stars and small flowers, but gradually progressed to Hello Kitty clips and pink bows.  This week I dared to do something I had never done before - wore false eyelashes to work.  This was really terrifying for me and a huge step from my mud-stained jeans.

To make the transition less obvious, I bought the Natural Dolly eyelashes from Dolly Wink (#9) and wore only top lashes and no contacts.  These eyelashes make your lashes look longer and thicker without looking unnatural.  Of course, I couldn't leave the house without asking my sister what she thought, but she hadn't noticed that they were fake.  At the office, only one person even commented - he asked, "do you usually wear mascara?" as if he knew I always had but couldn't understand why my lashes were so much darker.  Success!  No one else even looked like something was amiss but I spent most of the day avoiding eye contact with everyone.  I was really filled with dread that my co-workers would change their opinion of me because I wear fake lashes, even though they've had five years to determine whether I'm competent or not.  I'd love to hear about any experiences others have had trying to wear gyaru or lolita-style make-up to work.

And for a quick review of these lashes: Here's a picture of the top lashes (pretend the contacts and lower lashes aren't there...).  I trimmed very little off these lashes because they look good extending across the entire eyelid.  They don't have too much flare on the outer portion of the lid that makes some of the other lashes look fake.  Also, the criss-crossed pattern seems to make them look more random, and therefore natural.

From afar they look dramatic but natural! ^^