I was reading about the unglamorous part of Cheryl Fox from Cowboy Caleb’s a gonzo journal. “She was dressed in a pyjamas sweatsuit. Her hair was in a mess. She didn’t have any makeup on. Her complexion was rotten. Damn, she looked like a hag. A slightly overweight hag on a bad hair day.”

There are many young moms in my estate and around my area. I see many of them everyday, and most of the time, it is a bad hair day just like Cheryl Fox. This morning, I met two Chinese ladies, mother and grandma downstairs. They were taking a stroll with their son (grandson). The mom was wearing high heals and the grandma even more fashionable, wearing wedges! No baggy t-shirts, but nice blouses and well cut shorts. Not that I am inspired to dress up like that everyday, it just presented to me the different attitude towards personal grooming between locals and foreigners.

I am not going into those big theories on wisdom, character or attitude, just the more superficial personal appearance. We all like nice and pretty thing. While we (the auntie homemakers) blend in perfectly in the wet market, do we stand out like an eyesore outside the market? And with lesser attention paid to our personal grooming, it seems to spiral off and release more auntieness from our inner self.

I am not a celebrity; I don’t have to worry over my image like Cheryl Fox does. I don’t get up early in morning, shampoo, blow dry and set my hair silky smooth. No need to put on make up, since the husband is obliged to accept my most “natural beauty”, the baby doesn’t care, and the cleaning ah pek doesn’t even look at me. I will reserve those nice nice clothes when I go out, so they can have a longer life span. Come on, what is more comfy then those baggy t-shirts, especially those ultra thin, smooth ,completely seasoned ones you have been wearing since your secondary school days, yah?

Should stop finding excuses to allow myself degenerate into a true auntie. It is not difficult to wear stain free, hole free and crease free t-shirt that fits well. It doesn’t need a lot of time to comb my hair properly and tied them up nicely. And I should just stop scratching my nails to allow them to grow neatly. I should at least look tidy and presentable and perhaps doll myself up occaionally to rid that ah soh shadow.