Hair Dye and DIY

The lockdown continues and with hair salons being closed and no one having any idea when they might open Rosemarie took things into her own hands and got some hair dye.

Surprisingly, as I assisted, things went well and when I wasn’t assisting I took some photographs. Stock sites need more pictures of people dying their hair.

With hair rinsed and dried she did her own makeup.

With hair dressing salons closed during the Corona Virus crisis a woman dyes her hair at home
Home hair dying

On a more glamorous note. In an article about the supermodel Naomi Campbell in DP Review yesterday we are told she did her own hair and makeup and took her own photograph with an iPhone for the cover of Essence magazine. The Coronavirus lock down prevented the magazine from dispatching the team that had been booked. You could say it was Supermodel DIY.

Naomi Campbell was one of the super, supermodels of the nineties along with Linda Evangelista and Christie Turlington. They were as famous as film stars and pop singers. Evangelista is remembered for the quote “We don’t wake up for less than $10,000 a day.”

Naomi Campbell is not alone. Actor Robert Patinson is on the cover of GQ Magazine having also photographed himself although he used a DSLR rather than a phone. I’ve no idea how much he gets paid for waking up but he looked like he just got out of bed. Somebody said that’s the look many aspire to nowadays.

Some photographers expressed concern about celebrities taking their own pictures. If supermodels can still demand $10,000 for getting out of bed they shouldn’t worry.

It will get worse, then it will get better

We’ve been in lockdown now for nearly two weeks because of Coronavirus or Covid 19. We were told it would be for three weeks but now there are mutterings of it lasting much longer, possibly until the end of April. They say this will save lives so no argument from me.

I heard an epidemiologist on Radio 4 recently talking about the pandemic. He said it would get worse and then it would get better. Simple and to the point. His words had the ring of truth.

Few will have seen anything like this in their lifetime. I’m in my sixties and I certainly haven’t. I stare in disbelief at closed shops, closed schools, the queues at supermarkets and people wearing masks. And it’s happening everywhere. It feels like the world is closing down.

I’m practising social distancing as are most people. It is amazing how quickly talking to someone from six feet away has become the norm. People avoid getting too close to each other when passing on the pavement.

Some Health professionals are putting their lives on the line every shift they do. Some have died. Essential workers, many doing, what were previously classed as everyday jobs, expose themselves to danger by continuing to work and are now spoken of with a new respect.

Using a thermometer
A woman taking her own temperature

I’ve become very selective where I get my news. Online forums are overflowing with advice on how to deal with the pandemic. Many keyboard warriors have moved from Brexit and climate change to Coronavirus. I have little interest in politics but It quickly becomes obvious that many opinions on what action should be taken to fight the pandemic are coloured by dislike of those currently in power rather than any basis in fact.

The coffee shops are all closed or at least the ones I go to and I’m working on learning how to make a decent cup of coffee. Lesson one is that it tastes much better when someone else makes it.

On the photographic front things are quiet. I go out most days for a walk as my daily exercise and of course bring a camera. Having said that most images are from around the house and garden as my routes for walking don’t offer many opportunities for photography.

I think I need new routes.