Luigi

Over the past couple of years, I've developed this annoying brownish discoloration on my upper lip. Last summer I got so sick of it that I went in for a laser treatment, which was pricey and only moderately effective. My doctor said my best bet was just to avoid sun exposure as much as possible and keep sun screen on the area, since that's what sets it off. She was right; the color faded quite a bit over the winter with my limited exposure to the sun. I do have a bit of fuzziness on my lip, and now that things are getting warmer and sunnier, I wanted to make sure it was perfectly smooth in order to get maximum sun screen coverage. So I decided to wax my upper lip for good measure.

As you experienced waxers know, the whole waxing experience can be a little bit irritating. Usually I go around somewhat red for half an hour or so after the waxing. Taking this into account, I got up early on Sunday morning so I could do my waxing a couple of hours before church.

I'm not sure what happened this time around, but the irritation was much worse than usual, and I was still bright red a half hour or so before church. This was the kind of irritated, awful red that just can't be concealed with makeup, and Jared was referring to me as "Luigi". I tried everything -- a bit of soothing balm that came with the wax strips, then a bit of lotion, then a bit of Vaseline. Finally I got out some ice and applied it to my upper lip, all to no avail. If anything, all of this stuff was just aggravating the problem. I asked Jared if he thought I could go to Relief Society and he said he would recommend against it.

Sacrament meeting is last on our schedule, so I resigned myself to possibly missing my other meetings. Jared determined that in a worst-case scenario, we could slip into sacrament meeting at the last minute, sit in the balcony area, which is usually sparsely occupied, and slip out to the car before anyone noticed my slight disfigurement. Fortunately Luigi had faded quite a bit by sacrament meeting and I was able to make myself presentable, although we still opted for the balcony. I did look a little pink throughout the day and even developed a tiny blister, which still baffles me since I used a no-heat wax.

Today, I was relieved to see that things are pretty much back to normal. I have an appointment to get my hair done and the last thing I need is a beauty professional eyeing the evidence of my amateurish efforts. Next time, I'm taking no chances. From here on out, Luigi will be restricted to nocturnal appearances only.