Mama had a way about her, and she had a captive audience with her little boy in the front row of the Mary Lou Show. Maybe it wasn’t at Radio City Music Hall, and she couldn’t do a high kick like the famed Rockettes, but it was all pretty spectacular to me.
I sat for hours on that ivory chenille bedspread near her dresser entranced by the smell of Estee Lauder’s White Linen and Mama’s silhouette in the mahogany mirror. If I shut my eyes, I can still feel the plush carpet beneath us as we sat together, usually her in a slip and stockings, hair rolled in prickly curlers with pink picks, as we opened all the dresser drawers while accessorizing. Time stood still as we unhurriedly flipped through old photographs, trinkets from my daddy, and keepsake homemade holiday cards from my older brothers. Mama was in her mid-30s at the time with an adoration for lipsticks — mauve, wine, rose, all shades — whether it was from the department store or the Avon lady.
Mama was every bit the woman Estee Lauder was, without the empire, of course, but both loved beautiful things and shared a fondness for night creams, dusting powder and rouge. Things have changed since I was knee high to a grasshopper playing in my small world with Mama. Nowadays we call the same things skin serums and blush, and how lovely indeed that dusting powder is still, well, dusting powder. Some words just cannot be improved.
It was announced recently that the new face of Estee Lauder is Kendall Jenner who signed a multi-million dollar deal to represent the iconic brand. It was a bold move, but I like it, and if I’m honest, I miss watching the Kardashians with Mama. Kendall isn’t just Kim’s baby sister anymore, and somebody very smart realized how to get granddaughters just as interested in the brand as their grandmothers have always been, poetic since the founder’s granddaughter Aerin Lauder has taken the helm of the company. “Beauty is an attitude, there is no secret,” said the great Estee Lauder herself, and this fresh visage will bring a new attitude.
In her 70s, Mama still loved an Estee Lauder gift box with perfume and body lotion. Every holiday I came home with several wrapped boxes, and she would smile from ear to ear and say, “David, I bet I know what’s inside.” The next thing that happened was the two of us forgot the others around us and sat in the middle of the floor ripping away bows, giggling as if we were magically transported back in time with each lipstick or spritz of perfume.
I say, when you have show-stopping memories like those, who needs Fifth Avenue!
Former Columbus resident David Creel owns Beautiful With David salon in Ridgeland. Contact him at [email protected].
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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