A little over a year ago, Jean Myers decided to adopt a healthier lifestyle when she started to suffer from joint pain in her knees and hips. Since then, she has lost over 80 pounds and is living pain free.
With such a dramatic transformation in her appearance, she learned about and was open to the INSPIRED Makeover Contest when a friend suggested she apply.
“The experience was fantastic from start to finish,” she says. “It was fun going to the appointments and being pampered.”
The retired Victoria resident keeps busy teaching papercraft classes and serving as President of the Royal Oak Women’s Institute, an organization that raises money for local charities. She is also a mother and proud grandmother to three “beautiful young ladies.”
“I have been married to the love of my life and best friend, John, (who never stops making me laugh) for 52 years.”
Jean’s family came to cheer her on during her makeover reveal and fashion show at INSPIRED Magazine’s annual 55+ Lifestyle Show in Victoria.
“I felt a little nervous but also very excited,” she says. “I was very lucky to have full support of family and friends and it was great to see them in the front row of the audience. My husband was especially proud of me.”
Of the makeover experience, Jean says she would highly recommend it to others.
“Initially, I was out of my comfort zone but that went away, and excitement took over,” she says. “I felt wonderful and confident. Everyone made me feel very special!”
WHAT THE STYLIST DID:
HAIR: It was a pleasure working with Jean; she has such a great attitude! Since her hair was fairly short already, I did not feel I needed to go shorter. Instead, I decided to rework the shape of her hair to suit her bone structure. Jean’s hair was flat on top with more body around her ears, so I switched it up by bringing the body to the top of her head to help frame her face. I also gave her a fringe and some softness around her face.
For Jean’s colour, we went with a very gentle product called Redken Shades EQ gloss. Her hair had picked up a yellow tone, so I wanted to cancel that out and revive her natural hair colour with a shiny polished and steely grey look. The front of Jean’s hair had quite a bit of white, so I added grey low lights for a more consistent colour throughout. This gave her hair such a beautiful shiny, healthy look, which is sometimes necessary because grey hair can look dull.
The Shades EQ colour will grow out nicely and won’t create a stark re-growth line. It’s a great “no-commitment colour.” For those wanting minimal upkeep at a lower cost, I suggest using Redken’s Graydient shampoo and conditioner. The shampoo has a mild temporary colour of purple that cancels out the yellow, and the conditioner deposits a little steely grey colour to help maintain the look.
MAKEUP: For Jean’s makeup, we kept it quite simple using a primer to smooth her skin’s surface before applying the foundation. For the foundation, I chose a BB cream foundation for hydration, and because it does not settle into fine lines.
I shaped Jean’s eyebrows and used a little brow powder to give them some definition because the colour had lightened over the years. Shaping the brows helped frame her eyes and open them up. I used a matte shadow in a lighter colour to even out the skin tone on her eyelid and then I used a slight bit of a burnt orange, which is a contrasting colour to her beautiful blue eyes. We finished off her look with a bit of mascara and a nude pink gloss.
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