Staging Your Comeback A Complete Beauty Revival for
Women Over 45
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All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time
plays many parts …
—William Shakespeare
ENVISION
Contents
Foreword by Christine Schwab
Introduction
1 It’s Your Turn
Making the Effort
The Four As
Aspire
Approve
Assume
Affirm
Chapter Cues
2 Expressing the Authentic You
Feeling Right for You
Defining Your Inner Image
Revealing Whom You’ve Become
Discovering Your Image Profile
Chapter Cues
3 Second-Act Essentials
Fad, Trends, and Classics
Five Fundamentals Every Woman Should Know
The Patina of Wisdom
The Importance of Being Current
What Were We Thinking?
What’s Age Appropriate Now?
Chapter Cues
4 Costuming the Body, Clothing the Self
Your Ideal Silhouette
Your Body Type: Horizontal
Your Body Type: Vertical
Your Body Type: Total
Working with a Second-Act Body
Reshape, Reduce, and Restructure
Accentuating the Positive
Getting the Full Picture
Chapter Cues
5 Hair Ovations
Hair as a Reflection of You
What Your Image Profile Says
Your Perfect Haircut
Communicating with Your Hairdresser
Budget Adjustments
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
When It’s Time to Let Go of Length
Managing Curl
Your Ideal Hair Color
Gray or Nay?
Giving Yourself the Time
New Hair Myths and Misconceptions
Chapter Cues
6 Makeup as Art and Spirit
What Your Image Profile Says
Setting the Stage
Face It
The Eyes Have It
Nobody Knows Noses
Getting Lippy
Out Damn Spots!
The Hands of Time
Happy Feet
Makeup Myths and Misconceptions
Chapter Cues
7 Lights, Camera, Action!
Devising Your Strategy
Beauty Regimen Design
Designating the Time
Delivering the Goods
Life Is an Event
Makeovers
Chapter Cues
Conclusion
Appendix
Acknowledgments
Credits
Index
FOREWORD
here comes a time in every woman’s life when she asks the
T question, “Is this too young for me?” She might ask a family
member, a friend, or a salesperson. Most of the time she won’t
get an honest answer. Who wants to be the one to say, “You’re too
old for that”?
It’s not only a matter of what’s too young or what’s too old. It’s a
matter of what is appropriate for your body type, your age, your
lifestyle, and your personality. We are each unique individuals, and
our approach to aging must be as individual as we are. But we need
guidance.
In today’s youth-obsessed climate, guidance is very misleading.
Television and print are often concerned with offending so they
waffle when they should be honest. The philosophy that you can
wear whatever makes you feel good misleads and confuses many
women who are looking for answers.
Christopher Hopkins has decided to speak out. And speak out he
does, in a wonderful, warm, and insightful manner. He wants to
help women look their best. He wants to tell the truth and teach
women how to make it all work. His many years of experience and
his stylish eye make him a perfect person to help women move into
their prime with panache.
Staging Your Comeback will entertain you with Christopher’s
humor. It will inform you with his experience. And it will guide you
with his knowledge.
Staging Your Comeback will become the book you go to for advice
over and over again. Christopher will become your trusted friend-
the one you know will always have your best interest at heart, the
one who will keep you always looking your best. Christopher will be
the guy you can totally depend on.
–Christine Schwab
Author of The Grown-Up Girl’s Guide to Style
POTENTIAL
Introduction
I Was raised by a glamorous mother. Each morning I’d watch
intently as she created her look. It was methodical, artistic, and
ceremonial. Not a day went by without this ritual, and not a day
went by when she wasn’t stunning.
As she leaned over the vanity in our 1960s suburban home, the
process began with the opening of a small glass bottle. Contained
inside was a flesh-colored fluid, which she meticulously applied
with her fingers over her entire face.
Each morning I’d watch intently as she created her cook.
“It’s very important to blend it into the hairline,” she’d say.
Next came pressed powder: Coty Airspun. It had a distinct smell
that whispered “Mother,” and she applied it vigorously, sealing her
entire face. With her eyes shut she was featureless, like a Styrofoam
wig stand. Then, out of a little floral makeup bag that rattled and
clicked with possibility came her trademark: Maybelline black
eyeliner. With a deft hand she surrounded the entire eye like
Catwoman complete with wings.
“See how this lifts the eye?”
Her brows were created, then her eyelids were contoured with
artfully placed color—sometimes green, sometimes brown.
“I have wide-set eyes, and this helps draw them in.”
As each tool was pulled from the magic bag, nothing held my
interest like the eye cage. With skill and precision, she pinched and
pointed her lashes upward, against their will, with a contraption
that “opened” her eyes. Mascara was applied, brows were penciled,
and blush was dusted. When it came to her lips, however, her tone
grew serious.
“I have an ugly mouth. You don’t want to draw attention to an
ugly mouth.”
Finally, from the enchanted bag of hope, a tube was drawn that
contained a frosted coral cream. With a twist the cream was exposed
and skillfully applied, reshaping her lips. Blot. Powder. Reapply.
I knew the makeup ceremony had concluded when I saw a single-
toilet paper square stained like a tiny watercolor painting, with
perfectly shaped lip prints—the same prints that for many years
would seal the note next to two Xs and two Os in my school lunch
box.
Once a week, right after the makeup ceremony, I would watch
with amazement the “mane” event. After unrolling her long coffee-
brown hair from green and blue brush rollers, she would vigorously
brush it into a black waterfall of waves. Although I thought it was
beautiful like that, she wanted it in place and done for the week.
“Once it’s done I don’t want to mess with it.”
To ensure this, she would then mercilessly tease it (“I like metal
combs, they work best”), creating an explosion of frizz like a troll
doll on steroids. This massive expanse of fibers was then shellacked
with Aqua Net and coaxed with a boar bristle brush into a large ball
that was bound into a ponytail at her nape. The tail was again
teased, then sculpted into a second ball, which was brushed upward
and attached to the first with hairpins. At last the completed
architectural masterpiece was irrevocably sealed with a final coating
of hair spray and securely smoothed with her hands. After applying
perfume, powder, nail polish, and earrings, she was then ready to
clean the house, rake the yard, do the laundry, and go to work.
The makeover: It absolutely inspires me. Improvement and
response. Thrilling. At three years old I was obsessed with the hair
of my Tootie doll. This miniature doll, packaged in a plastic cameo,
had a tiny body and very long hair. It was perfect for little hands to
hold and style. I spent hours on that thing, bobby pins everywhere.
Later I graduated to my sister’s Barbie dolls. You could do more
with clothing for them, because they had full figures for which you
could create tissue paper and Scotch-tape fashions, complete with
stickpin earrings.
When my uncle returned from Vietnam, seeing my bent toward
beauty, he bought me a baseball bat and glove. He gave my sister a
beautiful Asian doll on a stand wearing a traditional mandarin-
collared red-and-gold brocade dress with her hair in an intricate
updo. The bat and ball remained virtually untouched in my closet,
but the idea of getting into that hair and creating my own “do” was
the source of many daydreaming hours.
I began doing my own makeovers in junior high. As early as
eighth grade I gave Kelly Wall bangs in the driveway between my
neighbor Sandy’s house and mine. Sandy was the recipient of more
than a few makeovers, and even my high school sweetheart allowed
me to do her makeup, style her hair, and help to choose the pattern
for her prom dress.
I began doing my own makeovers in junior high.
After graduating from high school, I moved on to a private liberal
arts college where I pursued my love of music and theater. I made
extra money cutting hair and spent free time doing mini-makeovers.
After leaving college I headed to Minneapolis, where I performed as
a professional singer and dancer. I enjoyed creating the period styles
and makeup as much as performing, so, for something to fall back
on, I went to beauty school. Upon graduating I traveled in the
natural direction of anyone obsessed with entertainment and
glamour: California.
After living the “reality” that is Los Angeles and the expense that
is San Francisco, I moved back to Minneapolis and opened my first
salon. There I was responsible for the looks of the ABC affiliate’s on-
air talent. I also performed makeovers regularly on a popular
daytime talk show and had the good fortune to cater to such
notables as Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Lauren Holly, Robert Wagner,
Stephanie Powers, Roger Clemens, Tom Arnold, Caroline Rhea,
Gabrielle Cateris, Mary Stuart Masterson, Jay Thomas, Steve
Guttenberg, Art Linkletter, and Billy Graham, to name just a few!
After relocating my company, I got a call from The Oprah Winfrey
Show for my first major international makeover segment, telling
people what not to wear. I returned years later to create her “Age-
Defying Makeovers” with Joan Rivers.
I believe that as women mature, the more beautiful they
become.
My best work and most respected advice is most often with
women at midlife and beyond, what I call the “second act.” I believe
that as women mature, the more beautiful they become but the less
attractive they often feel. Younger women tend to gravitate toward
trendy, trivial, and temporary fashion advice. It is the woman who
has “been there and done that” who seems to get what I’m about:
helping her realize her ultimate image.
Creation of human physical beauty is what I do. I love the
process. It borders on obsession. I envision potential. A friend put it
into perspective. She said, “Christopher doesn’t see women for what
they should be, he sees women for who they can be.” I think that
says it all.
I am aware that when it comes to image, we all have our own
truths, so some of what I offer in this book might not feel right to
you. As you read, use your own wisdom and discernment to find
what rings true to you. Use this book as a tool, write in it, do the
