Undereye Baggage

plus, George Washington's beauty secrets

Welcome readers, old and new!

Please press the ❤️ above to remind all HNTFUYF-ers that kernels of kindness do exist.

Starting next week, you’ll receive these missives from my tiny apartment in Tokyo, where I’ll be trying to remember how to work the microwave (forget about the electric stove) without blowing up my palm-sized kitchen. After spending 14 hours in a metal tube, it always feels a little disconcerting to land in a place on the other side of the globe—how’d I get here, again?—but my excitement at the prospect of physical contact with my “precious granddaughter” (as M calls herself), my son, and my daughter-in-law is so adrenaline-producing, I hardly notice the strangeness of it all. And Tokyo! What a city! I hope to pass along some meaningful observations while I’m there.

🧑‍🦰 🧑‍🦰 🧑‍🦰

Vanity, Thy Name Is… George?

I recently found this fascinating tidbit in an email from History Facts.

Despite all the familiar portraits depicting George Washington with white hair, America’s first President was closer to a natural redhead than many people realize... There’s… a locket at Washington’s Mount Vernon estate containing a lock of reddish hair that was presented to Treasury Secretary Oliver Wolcott Jr. in 1797. Another misconception about Washington’s hair is that he wore a white wig, which was a common style choice at the time. But Washington was blessed with a full head of hair as he aged, which he powdered to look like the popular wigs of the time (his natural hair color eventually faded from reddish-brown to gray). The white color was favored by military men, and Washington often kept his hair at shoulder length and would tie it behind his head in a ponytail or with a ribbon. He would then fluff out the sides to give the appearance of a wig, and grease the hair with pomade to add firmness to his fluffy curls. Lastly, Washington sprinkled a fine white powder over his scalp for color, and often bunched his ponytail into a silk bag to prevent the powder from dusting onto his back and shoulders.

Please don’t ever again let me hear you, dear Readers, berate yourselves for being vain. It happens to the best of us.

Another thing that happens to the best of us: undereye issues. You might think it’s weird, but I happen to like undereye bags; I think they add character to a face (including my own). But for those less enchanted with them, there are options.

The beauty Q&A in this post is available only to paid subscribers. For full access to all posts—and if you value reader-supported work—please become a paid subscriber at the current rate of $40/year. If you can’t afford a subscription, email me at valeriemonroe.substack.com and I’ll comp you one, no questions asked. 🙏🏻