Credit: Publisher
Books
“My appearance has always been of great importance to Mom”: read an extract from Jennette McCurdy’s memoir
3 years ago
2 min read
The former Nickelodeon star’s new memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died, reveals the years of abuse she silently suffered at the hands of her mother before her death in 2013. Read an exclusive extract below…
“Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?”
Mom is tinting my eyelashes with the over-the-counter brown eyelash tint she picks up from Rite Aid once a month or so, during the same trip where she picks up the L’Oréal blond highlights, the three-dollar tube of clear mascara, and the store-brand version of Crest Whitestrips.
It’s the “maintenance trip” as she calls it - the trip dedicated solely to the enhancement of my “natural beauty.”
Mom calls it “natural beauty,” what I have. She says my eyelashes are long, but so light that it looks like I don’t have any. She says that my hair has golden highlights, but only toward the bottom and that it’s important I have some golden highlights around my face, too, to frame it. She says that my hair is very thick, which is good, but that it has a mind of its own, which is bad, and that it needs to be tamed. She says I have a good smile but my teeth aren’t quite white enough. Each “good” thing Mom says about my “natural beauty” is followed up by its downside, which serves as the justification for its need to be enhanced by a little good old-fashioned store-bought beauty. And since it seems like every single “naturally beautiful” thing about me comes with a downside that needs to be enhanced by store-bought beauty, I’m beginning to wonder
if I’m really naturally beautiful at all, or if Mom’s use of the term “naturally beautiful” goes in the same place where others would just use the term “ugly.”
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