put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty

Is it strange that one of my favorite things to do is put on makeup? There is something so calming, so spiritual, so superficially life-affirming about the process that I quite enjoy. It's lovely to see dolly girls that I love who enjoy the process of primping themselves in front of a mirror as well

These two models admire their own reflections with fab updos and great cat eyes (I'm digging the white cat eye on the left!)

Known for her gamine gorgeousness, Audrey Hepburn had the best eye makeup in the history of all of Hollywood (at least, according to me)

The fabulous makeover scene in Vertigo takes Kim Novak from dowdy brunette to blonde bombshell

Brigitte Bardot knows what to do to perfect her sex kitten look

A Playboy Bunny from the '60s knows the perfect compliment to bunny ears is heavily lined eyelids

Catherine James, muse extraordinaire, paints her eyes (also, can you spot those Edie-inspired shoulder dusters that she's wearing? Must be during her Factory days)

Donyale Luna gets some assistance from a fellow model

America's original sweetheart Doris Day always kept her makeup sweet and simple

Edie Sedgwick was known for her obsession with makeup - taking hours every day to contour her cheeks and define her doe eyes

Elizabeth Taylor adjusts what looks to be some pretty killer glitter eye makeup

Natalia Vodianova for Guerlain's Fall campaign last year

Here the 1944 Rockettes are caught primping in front of their mirrors

Jane Birkin fixing her appearance both offscreen and on (in Wonderwall)

The fabulous Miss Faithfull on the set of The Girl on a Motorcycle, in a magazine spread, and backstage at Saturday Night Live

The ultimate bombshell Marilyn Monroe appreciated the beauty and femininity of cosmetics, oftentimes being photographed applying them

Natalie Wood enhances her already amazingly wide eyes with coats of mascara

Mischa Barton pencils her eyelid as Rachel Bilson looks on in The O.C.

Pattie Boyd several times did spread for magazines documenting her famous dolly look

The Shrimpton girls always looked camera ready 

Sue Lyon on the set of The Night of the Iguana 

Sylvie Vartan admires her own appearance

Here all of the Polly Maggoos ready their looks in the famous film 

It's easy to see why Sophia Loren attracted the likes of Cary Grant and Carlo Ponti

The women of The Women primp themselves

I love everything about this look - from the perfect cat eye to that dark red lip

A young pre-Marilyn Norma Jeane smiles as she puts on her 'stick

Modern day dolly Drew Barrymore puckers up

Title: from "Atlantic City" (Bruce Springsteen)

i read about her in a magazine, the writer painted her in colors of a queen

It's incredible that it's been over two years since I wrote my review of the epic music/muse memoir Dandelion, because my love for its authoress, Catherine James, hasn't wavered a bit during that time. Her story is too wild, too dramatic, too epic to believe it all really happened to one person. When I think of Catherine James' life story, I think of a quote by Tom Clancy: "The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense." Fiction has to be rooted in some plain, identifiable commonness in order for an audience to connection. Memoirs by incredible women, like James - who embodies the word 'survivor' in every sense - or Pamela Des Barres, Marianne Faithfull, Chris O'Dell, Peggy Lipton, Bebe Buell, Pattie Boyd and the so many others run in the opposite direction. The stories and lives of these women are within the realm of the fantastical, the unbelievable, the jealousy-inducing beauty of a particular moment in music history.
While I certainly was not born into the family of a cruel socialite mother, a starlet aunt, and a cross-dressing father, I identify with the desire Catherine had to get out of her home environment and create something all her own. It wasn't the insistence of Bob Dylan or the hyper-creative atmosphere of Warhol's Silver Factory that inspires me to pursue something grander - like it was for Catherine - but I still connect with her story. I'm not alone in finding inspiration in Catherine - Jackson Browne wrote "Under the Falling Sky" for her, and John Mayall penned the tune "Miss James," not attempting to hide the identity of his muse. In an interview, Catherine said, "I have received several amazing letters from people who have wanted to relate their own extraordinary experiences. Many wrote that my book deeply inspired them."
I know I'm not alone in this and that there are a lot of people out there like me who have found someone's life story to offer wisdom and inspiration to welcome into their own lives.

Who are some of your personal heroes whose lives have inspired you in some way?

Title: from "Miss James" (John Mayall)

Good Read - Dandelion: Memoir of a Free Spirit

Raised by a mother who makes Joan Crawford look loving and an alcoholic absentee father (later fond of gender-bending), Catherine James always dreamed of breaking free from her family’s control over her. Throughout her childhood, Catherine was abused physically and emotionally by her mother, a shamelessly destructive and self-involved woman who believed that socializing with the Los Angeles elite to be more important than raising her young child. James recounts times when her mother would tie her to a chair or lock her in a closet before she went out in order to keep her daughter out of “harm’s way,” or would feed Catherine stale rotting food doused in Tabasco sauce for dinner. The abusive relationship Catherine has with her mother becomes the pattern for every relationship to come – time and time again, she is left emotionally pummeled by the person closest to her. But even still, James’s optimism remains and she can find the silver lining in the more heartbreaking of experiences.
By twelve Catherine James was declared a ward of the state, living in an orphanage. At a performance in Santa Monica, she had a chance meeting with a 22-year-old Bob Dylan, the first person to really inspire her to break out. And break out she did. In 1964, Catherine moved to Greenwich Village to seek out her new mentor when she was only 14 years old. Soon enough she was partying with rock stars and landed herself a screen test with Andy Warhol. When she was sixteen, she became involved with Denny Laine (of the Moody Blues, Airforce, and Wings) and moved with him to London where she had a son with him, Damian James. For a while when Laine comes into the picture, we think that he is Prince Charming here to save our damsel in distress; he treats her well, takes her partying with the Beatles, the Who, and the Rolling Stones, but soon his own abusive nature is revealed and our dear Catherine is forced to endure more torment from someone she loves. She finally leaves him, moving with her son back to California and enjoying a romance with Jackson Browne, but is lured back to London by Laine, who promises he has changed and wants them to raise their son together. After a few blissful months together, their relationship once again becomes abusive and she one again leaves him. By nineteen, James is living (platonically) with Eric Clapton, cooking his meals and aiding him through his then-unrequited obsession with Pattie Boyd. She also enjoyed dalliances with Jimmy Page throughout the seventies while she lived in Connecticut with her son and became a model for Wilhelmina.
The memoir of a child living in an adult world, the story of Catherine James’s life is a compelling one. Through all the heartbreak that she lived through, “Dandelion” does not wallow in past unhappiness but shines with the author’s sweet optimism. James’s journey to find love and flee abuse is so that at times it reads like fiction. I believe Miss Pamela (authoress and memoir-extraordinaire of “I’m With the Band” and “Let’s Spend the Night Together”) said it best with, “‘Dandelion’ tells the courageous nine-lives tale of an exquisite beauty’s great escape from a turbulent childhood, free-fall into the revolutionary rock music scene, a child raising her own child amidst chaotic upheaval. Audacious and dauntless, Catherine James maintains her sweetness and vulnerability, even when facing down her demons. From the Hollywood heyday to swinging Mod London, to the streets of Greenwich Village and back again, she takes us to shadowy and brilliant places, introduces us to ghastly and illustrious characters, sprinkling heartfelt wisdom and insight on every page.”