Kim Michelle

korbybanner.com photos

Kim Michelle before, left, and after her Style By Jury makeover.

What’s your first impression of Kim Michelle?

Kim is an unusual woman … even for a harp player. She came to Style By Jury because she wanted to change her look, but was conflicted after we accepted her, and wasn’t sure she had the courage to get her hair cut.

Kim was obsessed with her hair, which hung down to her waist. She sees it as one of her defining features and was terrified she would lose part of her personality if she cut off even a few inches. When our jury saw her they were unimpressed. They thought her long braids, straw hat, theatrical clothes and heavy mascara made her look like “Ann of Green Gables on acid.” Kim was stunned. At 50-something, she believed she looked young and girlish, rather than like an aging cartoon character.

The first stop on Kim’s makeover journey was to see our cosmetic dentists about her crooked, uneven teeth. The suggested a set of beautiful Pro-Art dental veneers, but she said “no thanks” to a perfect smile and opted for a whitening and tooth re-contouring.

She was much more agreeable when she saw our cosmetic dermatologist Dr. Kucy Pon who gave her some Botox to smooth out the lines around her eyes, and some Restylane to plump up her thin lips. Kim responded by serenading Kucy with her harp.

Then it was time for a meeting with our wardrobe expert, David Clemmer. He discovered that her closet was loaded with outfits from Broadway plays which she mixes with her everyday outfits.

David says, “Kim wants to stand out and look unique, but there’s a fine line between unique … and ridiculous.” She needed some new clothes, so David took her shopping at Tzatz Boutique (www. tzatz.com), which specializes in dressy-casual and career looks, and features exclusive designer labels. He showed her how to indulge her flamboyant side and still get stylish outfits that would allow her to be taken seriously.

When Kim stopped in to see our make-up artist Korby Banner his first reaction was, “Wow, that’s a lot of mascara.”

Kim was using the mascara to highlight her beautiful teal-coloured eyes, but she was overdoing it. He suggested keeping it light and working the brush so the lashes are separated for a luxurious look. When it came to eye shadow, he advised using muted colors of the same tone as her eye colour so it didn’t compete with her natural colour.

Finally it was off to see our hairstylist Johnny Cupello (www.jcsalons.com) who had the biggest challenge of all. When he asked Kim how much of her waist-length hair he could trim off she reacted like she was about to lose a limb. Johnny asked for 12 inches, she said no more than two inches. Then Johnny came up with a plan that would let Kim keep most of her hair and still look great.

But would she go for it?