Mascara - A special riding problem
When I look at other riders, I don't think about what they might look like behind their visor, or without their goggles. I'm glad they can't see me because by the time my nearly-an-hour ride to work is done, my glasses and the tops of my cheek bones are smudged.
My helmet cheek pads press my cheeks so when I blink, the mascara transfers from my lashes to the top of my cheek bones. And, because I don't have the really expensive Arai helmet that has channels for the earpieces of my glasses, my glasses get squeezed against my lashes which leaves this filmy coating on the lenses. There are three obvious fixes for this problem: a) stop wearing mascara when riding to work, e.g., put on the mascara after I get to work b) wear waterproof mascara c) wear less mascara, d) change helmets e) wear contact lenses. Okay, so five obvious choices.
The switch to glasses was age-related - believe me, my vanity is such that if I could go back to contacts, I would do it in a heartbeat. Waterproof mascara makes my lashes break off. Switching to a different helmet is just a matter of time; I have a couple more good years left on this one. Now we are at the heart of the matter, why bother with mascara at all? See previous comment about vanity, and, add to that the time factor. I know how much time it takes to remove the caterpillars from my cheek bones, it adds a few seconds on top of the time needed to replace the shine on my nose with the professional matte surface required for professional corporate female presentation. Putting mascara on bare lashes is inviting the gods of chaos to visit just before a morning meeting - too much risk.
This morning's ride to work was consumed with this thought, "you there, yeah you on your squidly machine, or you on your HD soft-tail, or you on your retro standard, or even you on your CanAm trike (were you really lane splitting on Highway 237?) - how the heck do you deal with your mascara?




