Unlocking The Beauty Secrets Of The Middle East: Alien Head Princesses

So something I have been struggling with here is how I look when I go out. Getting the proper abaya, putting on the headscarf correctly (or in a way where it won't fall off), what shoes to have on, which giant purse to take, how I will do make-up, what should happen with my hair, etc... I have never cared so much about how I look, really ever. One would think that throwing on a black robe and a scarf would make things so easy. You would never have to think again how you look to the outside world. So simple. Yeah right.

The ladies here all look like they put 19 hours into their appearance when they walk around the mall. Not all of them I guess, but a lot of them. I really want to know how they do it. I want to know how to fit in and not look like a ragamuffin. I want to know how to make that costume they all wear. I have been watching them and looking and thinking and figuring since the day I got here. Being a girl who when she was small got pissed at inaccuracies in other little girls poodle skirts and Laura Ingalls Wilder costumes, I want to do it right.

There is a certain type of young woman that Mike and I have deemed the Alien Head Princess. These girls are pale with thick black eyeliner and lashes, the abayas they have are glitzed out, they have gold and diamonds everywhere you can see, sometimes their headscarfs are all lace, but the identifying feature is the huge lump of hair they keep under the scarf. All the princess's hair is piled up and pinned to the top part of the back of her head, and with the scarf it looks like she has a giant alien head. I WANT TO KNOW HOW!!!

Tonight we went to the souk across the road from our apartment to wander around and avoid the standing water that is still in the streets. I made Mike stop at a shop that looked like a black market Claire's. I walked up and down the two aisles as he stood at the front of the store with Mariam. The walls were covered with crazy cheep jewelry, purses, sunglasses, make-up, and insane hair accessories that most seven year olds would be embarrassed to wear. I found some hints to this alien head look, so I purchased them all for about $3. Then we went by Abayat Corner, a little stand that sells abayas and accessories. There I found the secret to keeping all my hair up in a headscarf, a soft headband with a little extra brim type thing in front. Relief. None of the internet videos told me about this thing, they told me how to use 100 pins and how to fold a scarf so you can wear earrings, and how to do a formal look, and how to do this and that, but none told me how I could just throw on a little band and loosely wrap a scarf around. Finally.

So, I got home, put Mariam to bed, sent Mike down to the neighbor's, and got to work. With all my hairpins, my new doughnut bun shaper that looks like a dish scrubber you put your hair through, the lace headband thing I found at Abayat Corner, and my existing headscarf, I was ready to look like an Alien Head Princess (or at least the hair portion of her). LETS GO!


My arsenal


Huge hair


What I normally look like/Alien Princess Tontie!

Now, I will not really ever wear this look out. I have a long, far way to go. A lot of ladies here use skin lighteners that give them a grey blue pocky look, and then pile on the makeup. I need tons of powder, kohl eyeliner, fake lashes, loads of jewelry and a flashy new abaya before I can mimic a true Alien Head Princess. But it is fun to know and try. I am sure I will pull out my hair doughnut one day before we go to the mall, just to creep Mike out.