Image via YouTube
Mastering the art of putting on makeup can be tricky.
It’s not a matter of just smooshing the stuff on – a whole lot of dexterity, balance and steadiness is required to ensure the colours stay in the lines and your cheeks (and carpet, and bathroom sink…) remain eyeshadow-free.
So imagine what it’s like to do all this when you only have one arm to work with.
Last September, 22-year-old Melanie Waldman had her right arm amputated after she had an allergic reaction to a blood clotting medication she was using to treat lupus. Having been right-handed for her whole life, Melanie – a graduate of theatre and journalism/media studies – has had to adapt to life with one hand, as “a leftie”. In March, she was fitted with a prosthetic arm.
She’s been documenting her experiences on her blog, Where’s Waldman, and in a series of Youtube videos. When The Glow stumbled on Melanie’s one-handed makeup tutorial, we were transfixed by the various techniques she uses to put on her face and overcome the little difficulties that would never have occurred to us.
For instance, she buffers her powder compact against her laptop while loading up her makeup brush to stop it moving around, and uses her chin and mouth to help her open containers.
She also totally nails one of the hardest makeup looks for any woman - cat's eye liquid eyeliner. Impressive.
The video also includes some great beauty advice that Melanie dispenses as she goes along - who knew lip balm could be used to tidy eye makeup errors? Genius.
In case you don't have time to watch the whole clip, we've provided time annotations below.
1:11 - Melanie applies her concealer.
5:15 - Melanie reveals the trick to applying powder.
6:40 - Bronzer
12:10 - Eyebrows
17:40 - Eye makeup
20:10 - Melanie tackles one of the trickiest makeup looks - a cat's eye with liquid eyeliner
25:20 - Mascara
27:14 - Melanie finishes off her look with lipliner and lipstick
Check out Melanie's blog here, and watch her one-handed hair tutorial here.